Browse all MIME types

application/json

JSON is the default payload format for APIs, config files, and web app data exchange, so its MIME type shows up in almost every modern stack.

application
Compressible in transit

Content-Type header

Content-Type: application/json
Common extensions
.json.map

How teams usually encounter it

This page maps the media type to the file extensions and delivery behaviors developers usually care about: browser parsing, upload validation, cache correctness, and asset handling.

Compression signal

application/json often benefits from gzip or Brotli in HTTP delivery because the payload is text-like or structurally repetitive.

Server config snippets

Use these when a server is missing the right extension-to-MIME mapping or you want the expected header to survive a proxy, CDN, or custom asset bucket setup.

Nginx
types {
  application/json json map;
}
Apache
AddType application/json .json .map

Magic bytes / file signature

When you need to validate uploads or investigate a mislabeled file, the signature often starts with 7B 0A / 7B 22.

Operational shortcut

If a browser downloads this asset instead of rendering it correctly, check the response header first, then verify the extension mapping on your origin and edge cache. .json is the fastest sanity check for teammates reviewing the file outside the app.

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