import json with open("/etc/ssowat/conf.json.persistent", "r", encoding='utf-8') as jsonFile: data = json.load(jsonFile) if "protected_urls" in data: data["protected_urls"].append("__DOMAIN____PATH__/admin") else: data["protected_urls"] = ["__DOMAIN____PATH__/admin"] with open("/etc/ssowat/conf.json.persistent", "w", encoding='utf-8') as jsonFile: jsonFile.write(json.dumps(data, indent=4, sort_keys=True))