ASON — Array-Schema Object Notation

ASON is a compact, schema-first data format for LLM prompts, structured APIs, and large datasets. It separates schema from data, so keys are declared once and rows carry only values.

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Why ASON?

Standard JSON repeats every field name in every record. When you send structured data to an LLM, over an API, or across services, that repetition wastes tokens, bytes, and attention:

[
  { "id": 1, "name": "Alice", "active": true },
  { "id": 2, "name": "Bob", "active": false },
  { "id": 3, "name": "Carol", "active": true }
]

ASON declares the schema once and streams data as compact tuples:

[{id@int, name@str, active@bool}]:(1,Alice,true),(2,Bob,false),(3,Carol,true)

Fewer tokens. Smaller payloads. Clearer structure.

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ASON vs JSON

Aspect	JSON	ASON
Token efficiency	100% (baseline)	30–70% ✓
Key repetition	Every object	Declared once ✓
Type annotations	None	Optional ✓
Human readable	Yes	Yes ✓
Nested structs	✓	✓
Serialization	Repeats keys	Schema once, values only ✓
Deserialization	Generic object scanning	Schema-guided decoding ✓
Data size	100% (baseline)	40–60% ✓
Binary codec	✗	✓
Typed schema support	Limited	Built-in ✓

Token Savings — A Concrete Example

JSON (100 tokens):
{"users":[{"id":1,"name":"Alice","active":true},{"id":2,"name":"Bob","active":false}]}

ASON (~35 tokens, 65% saving):
[{id@int, name@str, active@bool}]:(1,Alice,true),(2,Bob,false)

The schema header also acts as an inline hint for LLMs and humans: field names and optional types are visible up front instead of being repeated row by row.

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ASON vs TOON

TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation) is another format designed for reducing tokens in LLM prompts. Both ASON and TOON share the core idea of eliminating key repetition for array-of-object data, but they differ significantly in design goals and scope.

Syntax at a glance

TOON — indentation-based, YAML-inspired:

users[2]{id,name,active}:
  1,Alice,true
  2,Bob,false

ASON — tuple-based, schema-explicit:

[{id@int, name@str, active@bool}]:(1,Alice,true),(2,Bob,false)

Comparison Table

Aspect	TOON	ASON
Schema declaration	Auto-detected at encode time	Explicit and reusable ✓
Type annotations	None (JSON data model only)	Optional schema hints (int, str, bool, float, arrays, nested structs) ✓
Syntax style	YAML-like indentation	Compact tuple rows
Array length markers	[N] — helps detect truncation	Schema header defines structure ✓
Nested structures	Falls back to verbose list format	Native and recursive ✓
Use case	LLM input only	LLM + serialization + storage + transport ✓
Binary codec	✗	✓
Language implementations	TypeScript / JavaScript only	C, C++, C#, Go, Java, JS, Python, Rust, Zig, Dart ✓
Round-trip fidelity	JSON data model only	Full type fidelity ✓

When to Choose ASON

• You want fewer tokens and smaller payloads without losing structure
• You need rich typed data — optional fields, typed arrays, nested structs, keyed entry lists
• You want one format to work across LLMs, APIs, storage, and service-to-service transport
• Your data has rich types — optional fields, typed arrays, nested structs, keyed entry lists
• You need binary encoding alongside text
• You work in multiple languages or need a language-neutral wire format
• You want the schema to act as a self-documenting API contract for LLM prompts

When TOON May Be Enough

• Your pipeline is LLM prompt input only (you don't parse it back into structs)
• Your data is simple flat tables with no type constraints

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Format Overview

Single Object

{id@int, name@str, active@bool}:(42,Alice,true)

Array of Objects (Schema-Driven)

Schema declared once, each row is a tuple:

[{id@int, name@str, active@bool}]:(1,Alice,true),(2,Bob,false),(3,Carol,true)

Nested Structs

{name@str, dept@{title@str}}:(Alice,(Engineering))

Optional Fields

{id@int, label@str}:(1,hello),(2,)

(blank value = None/null)

Arrays and Keyed Entries

{name@str, scores@[int], attrs@[{key@str, value@int}]}:(Alice,[90,85,92],[(age,30),(score,95)])

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Implementations

Language	Repository	Status
C	ason-c	✓
C++	ason-cpp	✓
C#	ason-cs	✓
Go	ason-go	✓
Java / Kotlin	ason-java	✓
JavaScript / TypeScript	ason-js	✓
Python	ason-py	✓
Rust	ason-rs	✓
Zig	ason-zig	✓
Dart	ason-dart	✓
PHP	ason-php	✓
Swift	ason-swift	✓

Plugins

IDE	Repository	Notes
VSCode	plugin_vscode	✓
Jetbrain	plugin_jetbrain	Todo
Zed	plugin_zed	Todo

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License

MIT