Editorial illustration in metal-engraving style depicting an NDJSON file with each line marked as a complete JSON value
July 13, 2026 by
The NDJSON Format and Why Bulk Data Uses It

FHIR could have picked a Bundle-shaped export. It didn't. The bulk-data specification picked NDJSON — newline-delimited JSON — as the wire format for $export. That choice was deliberate, and understanding it is what makes bulk-data...

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Editorial illustration in metal-engraving style depicting an NDJSON file being read line-by-line with a small memory window
July 13, 2026 by
Reading an NDJSON Export Without Loading the Whole File

The first NDJSON file from a FHIR $export lands on a developer's laptop and the reflex is to open it in a text editor. Ten seconds later the editor locks up because the file is 800 MB. Reading NDJSON without loading the whole file is the...

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