🔧 TL3 Tools

What Is This Tool?

Code Beautifier & Formatter is a client-side tool that parses, reformats, and syntax-highlights code across seven languages: JSON, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL, and PHP. When you click Beautify, the tool first detects the language (or uses your explicit selection), then parses the raw code and rebuilds it with proper indentation using your chosen style — 2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs. The formatted output is displayed in an interactive foldable view built with JavaScript DOM manipulation and inline styles. Each brace-delimited block or tag pair gets a fold marker (▸/▾) that toggles visibility on click, while Fold All and Unfold All buttons provide global control. A separate Raw Text view strips all formatting for plain-text copying. Because everything runs in the browser, no code is ever uploaded to any server.

How to Use This Tool

• Step 1 — Paste your code into the Input textarea. The tool handles everything from a single-line JSON snippet to multi-kilobyte HTML documents.
• Step 2 — Optionally select the Language from the dropdown. Choose Auto-detect to let the tool infer the language heuristically — it checks for JSON brackets, HTML tags, CSS rules, JavaScript keywords, and SQL statements in order of likelihood.
• Step 3 — Choose your Indentation style: 2 spaces (compact), 4 spaces (common in Python and PHP), or tabs.
• Step 4 — Click "Beautify". The result appears in the Output panel with syntax highlighting and fold markers. Click any ▸ to collapse a block or ▾ to expand it. Use Fold All to collapse everything and Unfold All to expand everything.
• Step 5 — Toggle between Formatted View (interactive, syntax-highlighted) and Raw Text (plain formatted text) using the buttons above the output panel. Click Copy to copy the current view.

Who Needs This Tool?

• API developers — Debugging a REST API often involves reading minified JSON responses. Paste the raw output into this tool to instantly see the structure with collapsible sections for each nested object.
• Front-end developers — When inheriting legacy HTML, CSS, or JavaScript with inconsistent indentation, a single Beautify pass normalises the entire file. The foldable view also helps navigate long template files by collapsing rendered sections.
• Data engineers — Large XML or JSON configuration files (CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure) become manageable when you can fold away sections you do not need to edit. Use Fold All then selectively expand the relevant block.
• SQL analysts — Formatted SQL queries with consistent indentation are far easier to read and debug. Paste a long query to see the SELECT, FROM, WHERE, and JOIN clauses clearly aligned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the tool work offline?
Yes. All parsing, formatting, and syntax highlighting is done in JavaScript on the client side. After the page loads, you can disconnect from the internet and the tool continues to function normally.

How does auto-detection work?
The tool applies a series of heuristic regex checks: JSON is detected by leading [ or {, HTML by angle-bracket tags with matching close tags, CSS by rule blocks or @ directives, JavaScript by functional keywords (function, const, =>), and SQL by uppercase clause keywords (SELECT, FROM, etc.). If unsure, it defaults to your explicit selection.

Can I format code from a file on my computer?
While there is no file-upload button, you can open any text file in your editor, copy its contents (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C), and paste them directly into the input area. The workflow is identical once the code is in the textarea.

Why does my formatted code look different from what I expected?
Each language has its own parser. JSON and XML produce consistently perfect results because they follow strict syntax rules. CSS and JavaScript formatting depends on the parser's ability to correctly identify blocks and statements. If the input has syntax errors, the output may be misaligned — try fixing errors first or using a language-specific linter.