Working with JSON Files

Guide for reading and writing JSON files in FiveM resources.

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Reading from JSON File

Load and parse a JSON file from your resource:

local loadFile = LoadResourceFile(GetCurrentResourceName(), "./data/fileName.json")
local extract = {}
extract = json.decode(loadFile)

After reading, you can modify the data and save it back:

SaveResourceFile(GetCurrentResourceName(), "data/fileName.json", json.encode(extract), -1)

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Writing to JSON File

Create or overwrite a JSON file with new data:

local information = {
    name = "w00pi the legend",
    age = 17,
    coolness = 1000
}

SaveResourceFile(GetCurrentResourceName(), "data/fileName.json", json.encode(information), -1)

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FXManifest Configuration

Don't forget to declare your JSON files in fxmanifest.lua:

files {
    'data/fileName.json'
}

This ensures the files are included when the resource is loaded and streamed to clients if needed.

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Best Practices

• Error Handling: Always check if LoadResourceFile returns nil before decoding
• Pretty Print: Use json.encode(data, {indent = true}) for readable output
• Path Separator: Use forward slashes / in paths, even on Windows
• File Location: Store data files in a dedicated data/ folder for organization