> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://parabola.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# JSON file step

> Pull data from a JSON file into Parabola to flatten nested objects and arrays into a tabular dataset you can clean, join, and route to other systems.

JSON is the format you get when you export from an API by hand, dump a payload from a webhook, or save a config file. The **Use JSON file** step pulls a JSON document into your Parabola flow and flattens it into a table you can transform like any other dataset.

## Use JSON file

The **Use JSON file** step pulls a dataset from a JSON file you upload. Once the data is in your flow, you can join, filter, and reshape it with the rest of Parabola's transform steps.

### Configuration

Drag a file onto the canvas or click `Click to upload a file`.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/parabola-7119dfb0/l2ex59W2cGXciVw4/images/integration/image-123.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=l2ex59W2cGXciVw4&q=85&s=d03c1c771bb24a0e8a58d0994cc03645" alt="Use JSON file step with the file upload prompt" width="820" height="672" data-path="images/integration/image-123.png" />
</Frame>

After upload, the step opens to its settings page and shows the parsed JSON.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/parabola-7119dfb0/l2ex59W2cGXciVw4/images/integration/image-124.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=l2ex59W2cGXciVw4&q=85&s=fa5512391310dfa4e9f3efddb5ea1801" alt="Parsed JSON data displayed in the step's results view" width="3218" height="1796" data-path="images/integration/image-124.png" />
</Frame>

In **Advanced Settings**, you can skip a number of rows or columns when importing — rows skip top-down, columns skip left-to-right.

### Helpful tips

* **Files don't auto-update.** Parabola can't pull updates from your computer automatically. To pull live JSON on each run, use the **Pull from an API** step or grab the file from cloud storage.
* **Nested fields flatten by default.** Deeply nested JSON gets flattened into columns with dot-notation names. If your downstream logic needs them clean, use a [Select columns](/product/transform/select-columns) or [Edit columns](/product/transform/edit-columns) step to rename them.
* **Storage and security.** Uploaded files are stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. All connections use SSL and are encrypted.

## Related steps

* [Pull from an API](/product/integration/webhook) — for live JSON from a remote endpoint
* [Pull from webhook](/product/integration/webhook) — to receive JSON pushed by another service
* [Edit columns](/product/transform/edit-columns) — to rename flattened nested fields
* [Select columns](/product/transform/select-columns) — to drop fields you don't need
* [Custom transform](/product/transform/custom-transform) — to reshape complex nested arrays