Why use TSV over CSV?
TSV avoids the escape headaches of CSV. Field values rarely contain literal tab characters (whereas commas appear constantly in addresses, prices, descriptions), so a tab-delimited file usually needs no quoting at all. The result is a smaller, simpler file that parses faster, diffs cleanly, and pastes directly into Excel and Google Sheets without an import dialog.
How are tab characters in values escaped?
Any tab character inside a value is replaced with a single space before the row is written. This keeps the column structure intact at the cost of losing the original whitespace. If preserving tabs in values is critical, use JSON or CSV instead — TSV has no standard escape mechanism for embedded tabs.
Can I paste TSV directly into Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes — that is TSV's killer feature. Click cell A1 in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers and paste. The spreadsheet auto-splits columns at every tab. No import wizard, no encoding dialog, no delimiter guessing. This is why TSV is the default copy-paste format for tabular browser apps.
How does the tool infer the TSV header?
The header is the union of every key found across all objects in the array, in first-seen order. Rows missing a key produce an empty cell at that position, keeping the file rectangular. This is more robust than libraries that take row 1's keys only — extra fields in later objects are never silently dropped.
How are nested objects handled?
Nested objects and arrays are stringified as JSON inside their cell. So {"meta": {"region": "EU"}} produces a cell containing the literal text {"region":"EU"}. For full flattening (one column per leaf), pre-process the JSON with jq or a flatten helper before pasting.
Will pandas read the output correctly?
Yes. Save the output as data.tsv and use pd.read_csv("data.tsv", sep="\t"). pandas handles tab-delimited files with the same code path as CSV; only the separator changes. This makes TSV the most pandas-friendly export from a JSON API.
Why does TSV dominate bioinformatics?
Genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics datasets often contain identifier strings with commas, semicolons, or quotes — the exact characters that CSV must escape. TSV sidesteps all of it because tabs essentially never appear in scientific identifiers. Standards like GFF, BED, VCF, and PSL are all tab-delimited for this reason.
Is my JSON sent to a server?
No. Conversion runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. JSON containing patient data, sample IDs, customer records, or proprietary research never leaves your device. Open DevTools Network tab and verify — no request fires when you click Convert.