Item serialization as json

paper-api/src/main/java/org/bukkit/UnsafeValues.java

@@ -168,6 +168,36 @@ public interface UnsafeValues {
 
     ItemStack deserializeItem(byte[] data);
 
+    /**
+     * Serializes this itemstack to json format.
+     * It is safe for data migrations as it will use the built-in data converter instead of bukkit's
+     * dangerous serialization system.
+     * <p>
+     * The emitted json object's format will inherently change across versions and hence should not be used for
+     * non-development purposes like plugin configurations or end-user input.
+     *
+     * @return json object representing this item.
+     * @see #deserializeItemFromJson(com.google.gson.JsonObject)
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the passed itemstack is {@link ItemStack#empty()}.
+     */
+    @NotNull
+    com.google.gson.JsonObject serializeItemAsJson(@NotNull ItemStack itemStack);
+
+    /**
+     * Creates an itemstack from a json object.
+     * <p>
+     * This method expects a json object in the format emitted by {@link #serializeItemAsJson(ItemStack)}.
+     * <p>
+     * The emitted json object's format will inherently change across versions and hence should not be used for
+     * non-development purposes like plugin configurations or end-user input.
+     *
+     * @param data object representing an item in Json format
+     * @return the deserialize item stack, migrated to the latest data version if needed.
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the json object is not a valid item
+     * @see #serializeItemAsJson(ItemStack)
+     */
+    @NotNull ItemStack deserializeItemFromJson(@NotNull com.google.gson.JsonObject data) throws IllegalArgumentException;
+
     byte[] serializeEntity(org.bukkit.entity.Entity entity);
 
     default org.bukkit.entity.Entity deserializeEntity(byte[] data, World world) {