XML to YAML Converter Online — Clean YAML Output

Strip XML markup and produce clean, indented YAML mappings ready for Kubernetes, Ansible, GitHub Actions, and Helm. 100% in your browser — no upload.

XML Input

YAML Output

What is an XML to YAML Converter?

An XML to YAML converter reads an XML document tree and emits the same hierarchy as a YAML mapping — XML elements become keys, text content becomes scalars, and repeated children become sequences. It strips the angle-bracket markup that XML carries everywhere and produces a clean, indented document that drops directly into Kubernetes, Ansible, GitHub Actions, Helm, or any other YAML-driven tooling.

XML and YAML express the same data shapes — nested mappings and ordered lists — but with very different surface syntax. XML is heavyweight and explicit; YAML is lightweight and indentation-sensitive. The OpenFormatter converter walks the XML element tree, gathers repeated siblings into YAML sequences, and quotes only the strings that contain YAML's reserved characters, producing output a YAML linter accepts on the first run.

How to convert XML to YAML online — 4 steps

Paste your XML. A Spring applicationContext.xml, a legacy app config, a Maven pom.xml, or any other element-style XML.
Click Convert. The browser's DOMParser builds the tree; the converter walks it and emits 2-space-indented YAML.
Inspect the YAML. Repeated child elements become sequences (- item), nested elements become nested mappings, special characters are auto-quoted.
Copy or paste. Drop the YAML into your Kubernetes manifest, Ansible playbook, GitHub Actions workflow, or Helm values.yaml.

Sample XML and YAML output

A small application config showing how nested elements become nested mappings and repeated <feature> elements become a YAML sequence.

XML input

<application>
  <name>checkout-service</name>
  <database>
    <host>db.prod</host>
    <port>5432</port>
  </database>
  <features>
    <feature>retry</feature>
    <feature>tracing</feature>
  </features>
</application>

YAML output

application:
  name: checkout-service
  database:
    host: db.prod
    port: 5432
  features:
    feature:
      - retry
      - tracing

Hierarchy Preserved

Element tree is mapped to a YAML mapping tree with the same nesting — child elements become nested mappings, repeated elements become sequences.

2-Space Indentation

Output uses 2-space indentation, matching Kubernetes, Docker Compose, GitHub Actions, and yamllint defaults — drops in cleanly.

Client-Side Only

Conversion runs entirely in your browser. Internal config XML, application secrets, and Spring beans never leave your device.

Common use cases

check_circleMigrating Spring XML beans (applicationContext.xml) to YAML for Spring Boot application.yml
check_circleConverting legacy XML configs into Kubernetes ConfigMap YAML for in-cluster apps
check_circleTranslating Maven pom.xml dependency lists into YAML for documentation or comparison
check_circleProducing Ansible vars files from XML inventory or asset databases
check_circleReshaping XML survey schemas into YAML for human-readable review and editing
check_circleConverting XML CI/CD pipeline definitions (Jenkins config.xml) to GitHub Actions YAML
check_circleGenerating Helm chart values.yaml from XML templates and tooling output
check_circleCreating YAML test fixtures from XML SOAP captures for integration tests

XML vs YAML — when to migrate

YAML wins for modern infrastructure code: it's shorter, easier to read, and supported natively by Kubernetes, Ansible, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Helm, and Docker Compose. XML wins where you need formal schema validation (XSD), digital signatures (XMLDSig), or transformations (XSLT). For configuration files that originally lived in XML — Spring contexts, legacy app configs, pom files — converting to YAML cuts file size by half and makes diffs vastly more readable. The OpenFormatter converter is the right pick for one-off migrations and bulk file transforms before manual cleanup.

More XML transforms?

Convert XML to JSON, CSV, or back from YAML — all in your browser.

XML to JSON YAML to XML YAML Formatter

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the converter preserve XML attributes?

The current implementation focuses on the element tree — element names become YAML keys and text content becomes scalar values. Attributes on elements are not surfaced as separate YAML keys; if your data lives in attributes (e.g. <user id="42">), restructure the XML to use a child element first, or use the XML to JSON converter (which surfaces attributes as @-prefixed keys) and pipe the JSON into a YAML formatter.

How is mixed content handled?

Mixed content — an element with both text and child elements — is uncommon in configuration-style XML. When it does occur, the converter favours the child elements: text directly under an element with children is dropped. For document-style XML where mixed content is meaningful (XHTML, DocBook), YAML is rarely the right target format anyway.

Are repeated XML elements turned into YAML sequences?

Yes. When the same tag name appears more than once at the same level, the values are gathered into a YAML sequence (a list). For example, three <feature> elements become a "- retry / - tracing / - circuit-breaker" list — the canonical YAML way to represent a collection.

Does the YAML output use 2-space or 4-space indentation?

Two spaces, which is the convention used by Kubernetes manifests, Docker Compose, GitHub Actions, Helm, and most YAML linters. The output passes yamllint with the default rule set; if your team standardises on 4-space indentation, run the result through a YAML formatter to re-indent.

Are values that look like booleans or numbers automatically typed?

XML carries no type information — every value is a string. The converter preserves that fidelity: numeric-looking values stay quoted as strings unless they are clearly meant as numbers in your downstream consumer. If you need YAML 1.1 boolean coercion (yes/no/on/off), edit the values manually after conversion to avoid the famous "Norway problem" and other implicit-cast surprises.

Will the YAML drop into a Kubernetes manifest unchanged?

Almost never directly — Kubernetes manifests have a strict schema (apiVersion, kind, metadata, spec) that XML data rarely matches one-to-one. The converter handles syntax conversion; you still need to map your XML keys onto the right Kubernetes fields. Treat the output as a starting point that you reshape into a valid manifest.

How are special characters quoted in YAML?

Values containing colons, hashes, brackets, ampersands, asterisks, exclamation marks, pipes, quotes, percent signs, at-signs, or backticks are wrapped in double quotes and escaped with JSON-style rules. Strings containing newlines are also quoted. Plain strings without reserved characters are emitted unquoted, which makes the output more readable.

Does the conversion run on a server?

No. The browser's DOMParser parses the XML, and a small JavaScript serializer produces the YAML — entirely on your machine. Internal config XML, application secrets, and proprietary schemas never leave your browser. Verify in DevTools → Network: clicking Convert produces no requests.