I ran one API response through two JSON-to-Zod converters. One silently turned every field into z.string().

Short summary

This post compares json-to-zod with TypeMorph, revealing that basic converters infer only primitive types (email, uuid, timestamp all become z.string()), while smart tools detect actual formats. The key insight: false validation confidence is worse than no schema at all.

• •Basic JSON-to-Zod converters turn meaningful fields into bare z.string() regardless of actual type (email, uuid, url, datetime)
• •Advanced tools like TypeMorph detect format from values and produce z.email(), z.uuid(), z.url(), z.iso.datetime()
• •False validation confidence is worse than no validation—understand each tool's inference limits before shipping schemas

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.