YINI Cheat Sheet

A quick reference for writing clean, readable YINI configuration files.

YINI makes data files (such as configuration files and application settings) easy for humans to read
and predictable for machines to process — like INI, but with real structure, lists (arrays), objects, and comments.
Less verbose than JSON, simpler than YAML, and more expressive than INI.

🧱 Basic Syntax

🧩 Inline Objects & Nested Data

(Objects are also known as maps/dicts.)

Simple object

db = { host: "localhost", port: 5432 }

Nested objects

service = {
    http: { port: 8080, secure: true },
    limits: { rpm: 1000 }
}

🧭 Important Rules

• Indentation is only for humans — structure is defined by section markers (^, ^^, ^^^, etc).
• Strings must always be quoted using '...' or "...".
• name: "John" creates a list, not a single value. Use name = "John" for single values.
• Trailing commas are allowed in lists and objects (lenient mode).
• Duplicate keys in the same section are not allowed.
• # is a comment only if followed by space or tab.

🔢 Number Formats

YINI supports multiple numeric formats:

All numeric forms are parsed as real numbers — no quotes required.

🧪 Minimal Example

^ App
name = "Nebula"
version = "2.3.1"

    ^^ Network
    ports = [80, 443]
    ssl = on

    ^^ Limits
    requests = { perMinute: 1200, burst: 60 }

Next Steps

• ➡️ YINI Code Examples
  Explore real-world configurations.
• ➡️ Get Tools
  CLI, parser libraries, and editor tools.