# Simple (online) AQL formatter

**Category:** [Tool Support](https://discourse.openehr.org/c/tool-support/29)
**Created:** 2025-05-05 08:48 UTC
**Views:** 92
**Replies:** 1
**URL:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/simple-online-aql-formatter/6760

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## Post #1 by @Martin_Koch

Hi there,

While working with AQLs, we noticed the lack of a simple tool to structure and format them easily.

We prefer to structure AQLs using a text editor, but when sending them to EHRbase, they must be in a compact format—without line breaks or comments—which makes them hard to read.

To solve this, we built a simple but handy tool:
[**AQL Formatter**](https://martinkochdesign.github.io/openEHR_AQL_formatter/)
You can download the formatter as a simple HTML file from [**here**](https://github.com/martinkochdesign/openEHR_AQL_formatter/blob/main/index.html) .

It's easy to use.
Just write your AQL in the **Input** field. You can format it with line breaks, spaces, or tabs for better readability. You can even add inline comments. If you're starting with a one-line AQL, simply click **Auto-Format** to automatically structure it, adding line breaks before and after "blue" keywords.

The **Formatted AQL** field displays a visually enhanced version of your query with syntax highlighting. You can also download an image of the formatted AQL using the **Download Formatted AQL as Image** button, which is especially useful for adding queries to documentation.

If you need a compact version—without tabs, extra spaces, line breaks, or comments—you’ll find it in the **Cleaned AQL** field at the bottom. You can easily copy it to your clipboard using the **Copy Cleaned AQL to Clipboard** button.

Screenshot:
![image|689x445](upload://thcK7n62sRAixvyh68Akuwn7pwG.png)

This may already exist elsewhere, but building it was a fun exercise—and we hope it’s useful to others as well.

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## Post #2 by @Martin_Koch

I am happy to anounce that the formatter has been integrated in another tool, the "AQL Manager".

![image|690x345](upload://OAcV5NXUgQA6tmRzLuoEKJqlMr.png)

Online version here:
[AQL Manager](https://martinkochdesign.github.io/openEHR_AQL_manager/)

Documentation & Instructions can be found here:
[Readme](https://github.com/martinkochdesign/openEHR_AQL_manager/blob/main/README.md)

An example collection file to start with: 
[example_aql_store_file.json|attachment](upload://6p65RRGhMOc7xkFcg02Wuouk7p7.json) (9 KB)

This is meant to be a proof of concept and might come in handy to some of you.

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**Canonical:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/simple-online-aql-formatter/6760
**Original content:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/simple-online-aql-formatter/6760