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 | marcus.chen@example.com | Engineering | Senior Software Engineer | 155000 | 2019-03-15 | San Francisco |
| 3 | Priya Sharma | priya.sharma@example.com | Engineering | Staff Engineer | 178000 | 2019-06-01 | San Francisco |
| 4 | David Kim | david.kim@example.com | Engineering | Software Engineer | 125000 | 2021-01-10 | New York |
| 5 | Rachel Torres | rachel.torres@example.com | Engineering | Engineering Manager | 168000 | 2020-02-20 | San Francisco |
| 6 | James Okafor | james.okafor@example.com | Engineering | Junior Developer | 92000 | 2024-06-15 | Austin |
| 7 | Lena Vogt | lena.vogt@example.com | Engineering | DevOps Engineer | 140000 | 2022-04-01 | New York |
| 8 | Amir Patel | amir.patel@example.com | Engineering | Backend Engineer | 132000 | 2023-01-09 | London |
| 9 | Sofia Lindberg | sofia.lindberg@example.com | Design | Lead Designer | 145000 | 2019-09-12 | New York |
| 10 | Carlos Rivera | carlos.rivera@example.com | Design | UX Designer | 112000 | 2021-07-20 | San Francisco |
| 11 | Hannah Becker | hannah.becker@example.com | Design | UI Designer | 105000 | 2022-11-01 | London |
| 12 | Yuki Tanaka | yuki.tanaka@example.com | Design | Product Designer | 118000 | 2023-03-14 | San Francisco |
| 13 | Olivia Martin | olivia.martin@example.com | Marketing | VP of Marketing | 165000 | 2019-04-22 | New York |
| 14 | Ethan Brooks | ethan.brooks@example.com | Marketing | Content Strategist | 95000 | 2021-10-05 | Austin |
| 15 | Nina Kowalski | nina.kowalski@example.com | Marketing | SEO Specialist | 88000 | 2022-08-15 | New York |
| 16 | Daniel Ochoa | daniel.ochoa@example.com | Marketing | Marketing Analyst | 91000 | 2023-05-20 | Austin |
| 17 | Samira Hassan | samira.hassan@example.com | Marketing | Social Media Manager | 82000 | 2024-01-08 | London |
| 18 | Tyler Washington | tyler.washington@example.com | Sales | Sales Director | 158000 | 2019-11-30 | New York |
| 19 | Jessica Huang | jessica.huang@example.com | Sales | Account Executive | 110000 | 2020-06-14 | San Francisco |
| 20 | Ryan O'Brien | ryan.obrien@example.com | Sales | Account Executive | 105000 | 2021-03-22 | London |
| 21 | Fatima Al-Rashid | fatima.alrashid@example.com | Sales | Sales Development Rep | 72000 | 2023-09-01 | Austin |
| 22 | Kevin Dupont | kevin.dupont@example.com | Sales | Solutions Engineer | 135000 | 2022-01-17 | San Francisco |
| 23 | Megan Stewart | megan.stewart@example.com | Sales | Account Manager | 98000 | 2024-03-11 | New York |
| 24 | Laura Chen | laura.chen@example.com | HR | HR Director | 148000 | 2019-08-05 | New York |
| 25 | Brian Nakamura | brian.nakamura@example.com | HR | HR Business Partner | 105000 | 2020-12-01 | San Francisco |
| 26 | Chloe Dubois | chloe.dubois@example.com | HR | Recruiter | 78000 | 2022-05-23 | London |
| 27 | Angela Moretti | angela.moretti@example.com | HR | People Operations | 85000 | 2023-07-10 | Austin |
| 28 | Isaac Fernandez | isaac.fernandez@example.com | Engineering | Frontend Engineer | 128000 | 2022-09-19 | New York |
| 29 | Sarah Mitchell | sarah.mitchell@example.com | Design | Design Systems Lead | 138000 | 2020-04-06 | San Francisco |
| 30 | Omar Farah | omar.farah@example.com | Engineering | QA Engineer | 95000 | 2024-02-12 | London |
| 31 | Natalie Park | natalie.park@example.com | Marketing | Growth Manager | 108000 | 2021-11-28 | San Francisco |
Raw File Contents
sample-employees.yaml
- name: Marcus Chen email: marcus.chen@example.com department: Engineering role: Senior Software Engineer salary: 155000 start_date: 2019-03-15 office: San Francisco - name: Priya Sharma email: priya.sharma@example.com department: Engineering role: Staff Engineer salary: 178000 start_date: 2019-06-01 office: San Francisco - name: David Kim email: david.kim@example.com department: Engineering role: Software Engineer salary: 125000 start_date: 2021-01-10 office: New York - name: Rachel Torres email: rachel.torres@example.com department: Engineering role: Engineering Manager salary: 168000 start_date: 2020-02-20 office: San Francisco - name: James Okafor email: james.okafor@example.com department: Engineering role: Junior Developer salary: 92000 start_date: 2024-06-15 office: Austin - name: Lena Vogt email: lena.vogt@example.com department: Engineering role: DevOps Engineer salary: 140000 start_date: 2022-04-01 office: New York - name: Amir Patel email: amir.patel@example.com department: Engineering role: Backend Engineer salary: 132000 start_date: 2023-01-09 office: London - name: Sofia Lindberg email: sofia.lindberg@example.com department: Design role: Lead Designer salary: 145000 start_date: 2019-09-12 office: New York - name: Carlos Rivera email: carlos.rivera@example.com department: Design role: UX Designer salary: 112000 start_date: 2021-07-20 office: San Francisco - name: Hannah Becker email: hannah.becker@example.com department: Design role: UI Designer salary: 105000 start_date: 2022-11-01 office: London - name: Yuki Tanaka email: yuki.tanaka@example.com department: Design role: Product Designer salary: 118000 start_date: 2023-03-14 office: San Francisco - name: Olivia Martin email: olivia.martin@example.com department: Marketing role: VP of Marketing salary: 165000 start_date: 2019-04-22 office: New York - name: Ethan Brooks email: ethan.brooks@example.com department: Marketing role: Content Strategist salary: 95000 start_date: 2021-10-05 office: Austin - name: Nina Kowalski email: nina.kowalski@example.com department: Marketing role: SEO Specialist salary: 88000 start_date: 2022-08-15 office: New York - name: Daniel Ochoa email: daniel.ochoa@example.com department: Marketing role: Marketing Analyst salary: 91000 start_date: 2023-05-20 office: Austin - name: Samira Hassan email: samira.hassan@example.com department: Marketing role: Social Media Manager salary: 82000 start_date: 2024-01-08 office: London - name: Tyler Washington email: tyler.washington@example.com department: Sales role: Sales Director salary: 158000 start_date: 2019-11-30 office: New York - name: Jessica Huang email: jessica.huang@example.com department: Sales role: Account Executive salary: 110000 start_date: 2020-06-14 office: San Francisco - name: Ryan O'Brien email: ryan.obrien@example.com department: Sales role: Account Executive salary: 105000 start_date: 2021-03-22 office: London - name: Fatima Al-Rashid email: fatima.alrashid@example.com department: Sales role: Sales Development Rep salary: 72000 start_date: 2023-09-01 office: Austin - name: Kevin Dupont email: kevin.dupont@example.com department: Sales role: Solutions Engineer salary: 135000 start_date: 2022-01-17 office: San Francisco - name: Megan Stewart email: megan.stewart@example.com department: Sales role: Account Manager salary: 98000 start_date: 2024-03-11 office: New York - name: Laura Chen email: laura.chen@example.com department: HR role: HR Director salary: 148000 start_date: 2019-08-05 office: New York - name: Brian Nakamura email: brian.nakamura@example.com department: HR role: HR Business Partner salary: 105000 start_date: 2020-12-01 office: San Francisco - name: Chloe Dubois email: chloe.dubois@example.com department: HR role: Recruiter salary: 78000 start_date: 2022-05-23 office: London - name: Angela Moretti email: angela.moretti@example.com department: HR role: People Operations salary: 85000 start_date: 2023-07-10 office: Austin - name: Isaac Fernandez email: isaac.fernandez@example.com department: Engineering role: Frontend Engineer salary: 128000 start_date: 2022-09-19 office: New York - name: Sarah Mitchell email: sarah.mitchell@example.com department: Design role: Design Systems Lead salary: 138000 start_date: 2020-04-06 office: San Francisco - name: Omar Farah email: omar.farah@example.com department: Engineering role: QA Engineer salary: 95000 start_date: 2024-02-12 office: London - name: Natalie Park email: natalie.park@example.com 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.