Sample YAML File
A downloadable sample YAML file holding 30 fictional employee records as a block sequence — useful for testing parsers, type inference, and YAML converters.
Data YAML Text format
sample-employees.yaml
Data Preview
30 rows × 7 columns
| 1 | name | department | role | salary | start_date | office | |
| 2 | Marcus Chen | [email protected] | Engineering | Senior Software Engineer | 155000 | 2019-03-15 | San Francisco |
| 3 | Priya Sharma | [email protected] | Engineering | Staff Engineer | 178000 | 2019-06-01 | San Francisco |
| 4 | David Kim | [email protected] | Engineering | Software Engineer | 125000 | 2021-01-10 | New York |
| 5 | Rachel Torres | [email protected] | Engineering | Engineering Manager | 168000 | 2020-02-20 | San Francisco |
| 6 | James Okafor | [email protected] | Engineering | Junior Developer | 92000 | 2024-06-15 | Austin |
| 7 | Lena Vogt | [email protected] | Engineering | DevOps Engineer | 140000 | 2022-04-01 | New York |
| 8 | Amir Patel | [email protected] | Engineering | Backend Engineer | 132000 | 2023-01-09 | London |
| 9 | Sofia Lindberg | [email protected] | Design | Lead Designer | 145000 | 2019-09-12 | New York |
| 10 | Carlos Rivera | [email protected] | Design | UX Designer | 112000 | 2021-07-20 | San Francisco |
| 11 | Hannah Becker | [email protected] | Design | UI Designer | 105000 | 2022-11-01 | London |
| 12 | Yuki Tanaka | [email protected] | Design | Product Designer | 118000 | 2023-03-14 | San Francisco |
| 13 | Olivia Martin | [email protected] | Marketing | VP of Marketing | 165000 | 2019-04-22 | New York |
| 14 | Ethan Brooks | [email protected] | Marketing | Content Strategist | 95000 | 2021-10-05 | Austin |
| 15 | Nina Kowalski | [email protected] | Marketing | SEO Specialist | 88000 | 2022-08-15 | New York |
| 16 | Daniel Ochoa | [email protected] | Marketing | Marketing Analyst | 91000 | 2023-05-20 | Austin |
| 17 | Samira Hassan | [email protected] | Marketing | Social Media Manager | 82000 | 2024-01-08 | London |
| 18 | Tyler Washington | [email protected] | Sales | Sales Director | 158000 | 2019-11-30 | New York |
| 19 | Jessica Huang | [email protected] | Sales | Account Executive | 110000 | 2020-06-14 | San Francisco |
| 20 | Ryan O'Brien | [email protected] | Sales | Account Executive | 105000 | 2021-03-22 | London |
| 21 | Fatima Al-Rashid | [email protected] | Sales | Sales Development Rep | 72000 | 2023-09-01 | Austin |
| 22 | Kevin Dupont | [email protected] | Sales | Solutions Engineer | 135000 | 2022-01-17 | San Francisco |
| 23 | Megan Stewart | [email protected] | Sales | Account Manager | 98000 | 2024-03-11 | New York |
| 24 | Laura Chen | [email protected] | HR | HR Director | 148000 | 2019-08-05 | New York |
| 25 | Brian Nakamura | [email protected] | HR | HR Business Partner | 105000 | 2020-12-01 | San Francisco |
| 26 | Chloe Dubois | [email protected] | HR | Recruiter | 78000 | 2022-05-23 | London |
| 27 | Angela Moretti | [email protected] | HR | People Operations | 85000 | 2023-07-10 | Austin |
| 28 | Isaac Fernandez | [email protected] | Engineering | Frontend Engineer | 128000 | 2022-09-19 | New York |
| 29 | Sarah Mitchell | [email protected] | Design | Design Systems Lead | 138000 | 2020-04-06 | San Francisco |
| 30 | Omar Farah | [email protected] | Engineering | QA Engineer | 95000 | 2024-02-12 | London |
| 31 | Natalie Park | [email protected] | Marketing | Growth Manager | 108000 | 2021-11-28 | San Francisco |
Raw File Contents
sample-employees.yaml
- name: Marcus Chen email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Senior Software Engineer salary: 155000 start_date: 2019-03-15 office: San Francisco - name: Priya Sharma email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Staff Engineer salary: 178000 start_date: 2019-06-01 office: San Francisco - name: David Kim email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Software Engineer salary: 125000 start_date: 2021-01-10 office: New York - name: Rachel Torres email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Engineering Manager salary: 168000 start_date: 2020-02-20 office: San Francisco - name: James Okafor email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Junior Developer salary: 92000 start_date: 2024-06-15 office: Austin - name: Lena Vogt email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: DevOps Engineer salary: 140000 start_date: 2022-04-01 office: New York - name: Amir Patel email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Backend Engineer salary: 132000 start_date: 2023-01-09 office: London - name: Sofia Lindberg email: [email protected] department: Design role: Lead Designer salary: 145000 start_date: 2019-09-12 office: New York - name: Carlos Rivera email: [email protected] department: Design role: UX Designer salary: 112000 start_date: 2021-07-20 office: San Francisco - name: Hannah Becker email: [email protected] department: Design role: UI Designer salary: 105000 start_date: 2022-11-01 office: London - name: Yuki Tanaka email: [email protected] department: Design role: Product Designer salary: 118000 start_date: 2023-03-14 office: San Francisco - name: Olivia Martin email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: VP of Marketing salary: 165000 start_date: 2019-04-22 office: New York - name: Ethan Brooks email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: Content Strategist salary: 95000 start_date: 2021-10-05 office: Austin - name: Nina Kowalski email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: SEO Specialist salary: 88000 start_date: 2022-08-15 office: New York - name: Daniel Ochoa email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: Marketing Analyst salary: 91000 start_date: 2023-05-20 office: Austin - name: Samira Hassan email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: Social Media Manager salary: 82000 start_date: 2024-01-08 office: London - name: Tyler Washington email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Sales Director salary: 158000 start_date: 2019-11-30 office: New York - name: Jessica Huang email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Account Executive salary: 110000 start_date: 2020-06-14 office: San Francisco - name: Ryan O'Brien email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Account Executive salary: 105000 start_date: 2021-03-22 office: London - name: Fatima Al-Rashid email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Sales Development Rep salary: 72000 start_date: 2023-09-01 office: Austin - name: Kevin Dupont email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Solutions Engineer salary: 135000 start_date: 2022-01-17 office: San Francisco - name: Megan Stewart email: [email protected] department: Sales role: Account Manager salary: 98000 start_date: 2024-03-11 office: New York - name: Laura Chen email: [email protected] department: HR role: HR Director salary: 148000 start_date: 2019-08-05 office: New York - name: Brian Nakamura email: [email protected] department: HR role: HR Business Partner salary: 105000 start_date: 2020-12-01 office: San Francisco - name: Chloe Dubois email: [email protected] department: HR role: Recruiter salary: 78000 start_date: 2022-05-23 office: London - name: Angela Moretti email: [email protected] department: HR role: People Operations salary: 85000 start_date: 2023-07-10 office: Austin - name: Isaac Fernandez email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: Frontend Engineer salary: 128000 start_date: 2022-09-19 office: New York - name: Sarah Mitchell email: [email protected] department: Design role: Design Systems Lead salary: 138000 start_date: 2020-04-06 office: San Francisco - name: Omar Farah email: [email protected] department: Engineering role: QA Engineer salary: 95000 start_date: 2024-02-12 office: London - name: Natalie Park email: [email protected] department: Marketing role: Growth Manager salary: 108000 start_date: 2021-11-28 office: San Francisco
Schema
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| name | string | Employee full name. |
| string | Work email address on the fictional example.com domain. | |
| department | string | One of Engineering, Sales, Marketing, HR, or Design. |
| role | string | Job title within the department. |
| salary | number | Annual salary in USD — an unquoted scalar that parses as an integer. |
| start_date | date | Hire date as an unquoted ISO 8601 plain scalar (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| office | string | Office location — San Francisco, New York, Austin, or London. |
About the YAML Format
This sample is a single YAML document: a block-style sequence of 30 mappings, one per employee, using two-space indentation and no flow syntax. It is the YAML equivalent of an array of flat JSON objects — in fact, the same 30 rows exist as JSON in this section, and any YAML parser that loads this file should produce an identical data structure.
What makes YAML interesting as a data format is what happens to unquoted scalars, and this file exercises the two cases that matter most for tabular data:
salaryis a plain integer scalar. Every YAML parser loads155000as a number, matching the JSON and Parquet twins.start_dateis a plainYYYY-MM-DDscalar. The spec’s timestamp resolution means PyYAML returnsdatetime.dateobjects whilejs-yaml(with default schema) returns strings. If your pipeline round-trips YAML through multiple languages, this column will surface the inconsistency immediately — which is precisely why the file leaves it unquoted.
Everything else is a string, and none of the values collide with YAML’s boolean-ish words (yes, on, off) or need escaping, so the file parses cleanly under YAML 1.1 and 1.2 parsers alike.
YAML buys human readability — no delimiters, no quoting noise, meaningful indentation — at the cost of a large spec and parser-dependent edge cases. For configuration that humans edit, that trade is usually worth it; for bulk tabular data, CSV or Parquet are better carriers.
To flatten this file into rows and columns, use YAML to CSV; CSV to YAML reverses the trip. All eleven sample formats in this section express the same 30 employee records, so converted output can be diffed against any sibling.
FAQ
4 questionsDoes downloading this file send any data to a server?
No. The sample is a static file served directly by the site — nothing is uploaded, processed, or inspected. The YAML and CSV tools linked below run entirely in your browser too.
Why does my parser return date objects for start_date?
The start_date values are deliberately unquoted, and the YAML spec tags plain scalars shaped like YYYY-MM-DD as timestamps. PyYAML's safe_load returns datetime.date objects for them, while many JavaScript parsers return strings. That divergence is exactly the kind of type-inference behavior this sample lets you test.
What YAML type-inference gotchas should I watch for?
Unquoted scalars are interpreted by type rules, not by you: YAML 1.1 parsers read yes/no/on/off as booleans, 1e2 as a float, and leading-zero values like 007 as octal or strings depending on the parser. When a field must stay a string, quote it. This sample keeps every ambiguous value unambiguous so it parses consistently.
Is the employee data real?
No. All 30 records are fictional, and every email address uses the reserved example.com domain, so the file is safe for demos, tests, and documentation.