Turn a CSV export into the JSON shape an API expects

You've got a clean CSV export, and the system you're sending it to only takes JSON.

Beginner to intermediateRead 7 minDoing: 45 minutes7 steps

What you'll have at the end

A script that turns each complete CSV row into a JSON object shaped the way the target API's own documentation describes it, and flags any row missing a required field instead of sending it broken.

Before you start

You need

A CSV file you can already open in Python, and the destination API's own documentation naming the exact field names, types, and nesting it expects.

Not covered

Handling a CSV too large to fit in memory at once, and authenticating with the destination API, both stay out of scope here: this is about getting one row's shape right.

Leans on

Get every value clean, real, and named right

Read the file and inspect one row
Rename columns to the target's field names
Decide what a blank cell means
Cast the surviving values to real types

Shape the record and confirm the target accepts it

Split one delimited column into an array
Nest fields into the target's sub-objects
Check required fields, then write and test

Where to go next

Profile a brand new CSV file before you trust a single row in it

if this export is one you've never opened before, profile it first to see which columns are reliable enough to map.

Keep a script running when one row in the file is bad

for a much bigger file where some rows are outright malformed rather than simply missing one field, keep the whole run alive instead of stopping at the first one.

Checked 25 Aug 2026

Part of the Python cookbook