gistfile1.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

##
# A dead-simple way to display formatted JSON output that is the result
# of an HTTP GET request

require "rubygems"
require "json"
require "net/http"
require "uri"

url = URI.parse(ARGV[0])
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url.path)
res = Net::HTTP.start(url.host, url.port) do |http|
  http.request(req)
end

case res['Content-Type']
when /application\/javascript/, /application\/json/, /text\/javascript/, /text\/json/
  json = JSON.parse(res.body)
  puts JSON.pretty_generate(json)
else
  STDERR.puts "Invalid Content-Type for returned response: #{res['Content-Type']}"
end