YAML to XML Converter

Plenty of systems still take XML: SOAP endpoints, older integration middleware, enterprise import screens, and build tools configured with XML files. When the data you have lives in YAML, this converter writes the equivalent XML document, with nested mappings as nested elements and lists as repeated elements.

It suits generating XML fixtures from readable YAML, bridging a YAML config into a legacy pipeline, and checking what an XML payload built from your data would look like before wiring up code.

It runs in your browser. The YAML is parsed on your device and nothing is uploaded.

The YAML is parsed in full first, so indentation, lists, comments, quoted strings and | or > text all behave as they would in any YAML reader. The XML then follows the data's shape: a key becomes an element, a nested mapping becomes child elements, and a list becomes the same element repeated once per item.

The root element depends on the top of the YAML. A single top-level key holding a mapping becomes the root itself (catalog: followed by its fields gives <catalog>). Several top-level keys are wrapped in <root>, and a top-level list becomes <root> with one <item> per entry. Every document carries a UTF-8 declaration and is indented two spaces per level.

Text is escaped so the result is always well-formed: &, < and > in values become entities. Empty and null values become empty elements such as <note/>.

XML element names are stricter than YAML keys. A key with spaces or punctuation has those characters replaced with underscores, and a key that starts with a digit or with xml gets a leading underscore, so 2024 sales becomes <_2024_sales>. Check that renamed elements are acceptable to the receiving system.

There are no attributes or namespaces in the output: every value becomes element content. If the target schema expects attributes, adjust the XML afterwards.

YAML the converter cannot map faithfully is reported instead of guessed: anchors and aliases, tags, merge keys and multi-document files each produce an error naming the line.

Confirm the root element and the element names match what the receiving system expects, especially any renamed keys. If it expects a specific root, wrap or rename it.

Paste the output into the target's importer or an XML validator. It is well-formed by construction, but only the target can tell you whether it matches its schema.

For anything official or financial, compare values against the YAML before relying on the XML.