How to get separate syntax highlighting colors for JSON string keys and values?

[sgon00]

Hi! I started using Micro today and I am really enjoying it so far.

One thing I noticed is that in JSON files, property keys (names) and string values are rendered with the same color, making them hard to distinguish.

Is there a plugin, custom syntax file, or recommended method to highlight JSON keys and string values in different colors?

Thanks!

[jdfesa]

No plugin is required, but a colorscheme alone cannot distinguish them with the current built-in JSON syntax: both keys and string values are initially matched as constant.string.
A practical workaround is to override the JSON syntax definition. Create:

~/.config/micro/syntax/json.yaml

filetype: json

detect:
  filename: "\\.json$"
  header: "^\\s*\\{"

rules:
  - constant.number: "\\b-?(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(\\.[0-9]+)?([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?\\b"
  - constant: "\\b(null|true|false)\\b"
  - constant.string: '"(\\.|[^"\\])*"'
  - statement: '"(\\.|[^"\\])*"[[:space:]]*:'
  - constant.specialChar: '\\(u[0-9a-fA-F]{4}|["\\/bfnrt])'

Micro applies later pattern rules over earlier ones, so string values remain constant.string, while property keys are highlighted as statement. Most bundled colorschemes already assign those groups different colors.
After saving the file, run reload from Micro’s command bar or restart Micro.

[sgon00]

It works! Thank you very much for your help. I've marked your comment as the answer.