Detect whether a JSON file is using JSON lines or a single JSON object

detect_json_lines.py

import json

# try to load the entire file as a single JSON object
file_path = '/home/james/tmp/api_data.json'
try:
    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
        data = json.load(f)
    print("The file is a single JSON object.")
except json.JSONDecodeError:
    print("The file is not a single JSON object.")

    # try to load the file line by line
    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
        lines = f.readlines()
    try:
        data = [json.loads(line) for line in lines]
        print("The file is a list of JSON lines.")
    except json.JSONDecodeError:
        print("The file is not a list of JSON lines either.")