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Insights · 6 min read

JSON vs CSV: API dumps and the last mile to spreadsheet users

APIs speak JSON; business teams ask for CSV, converters, flattening nested objects, and edge cases.

Published March 21, 2025 · Table

JSON handles nesting and arrays naturally; CSV is flat. Pipelines flatten nested API responses into tables, then humans open the CSV in a grid. Misparented flattening shows up as duplicate keys or JSON blobs inside cells.

Flattening discipline

  • Pick repeatable paths for arrays (explode to rows or aggregate).
  • Keep stable column names across API versions.
  • Validate row counts vs. API pagination totals.

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