title: How can I retrieve JSON from an HTTP endpoint, from within Excel on MacOS, and parse it?
body: <p>I have seen <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/158633/how-can-i-send-an-http-post-request-to-a-server-from-excel-using-vba">How can I send an HTTP POST request to a server from Excel using VBA?</a> </p>
  
  <p>and <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/4617566/48082">the MacOS-friendly response</a>  that describes how to retrieve data from an HTTP endpoint using QueryTables. It demonstrates how to retrieve a single string and stuff it into a cell. </p>
  
  <p>All good.  Now I would like to retrieve more than a single value.  It's a large JSON string, and I want to post-process it within Excel VBA before populating one or more cells. </p>
  
  <p>How is this possible? </p>
  
  <p>I can think of one way - place the result of the QueryTables thing into a hidden cell, and then post-process the hidden cell to populate other cells.  There are a few JSON libraries for VBA that I have not evaluated yet. </p>
  
  <p>But this seems pretty hacky.  Really I want to not rely on storing the JSON as a value in a cell. I'd like to store it only into a variable in my VBA code. Just as if I was using CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP"). (<em>NB: CreateObject() is not available from within Excel on MacOS</em>).</p>
  
  <p>And I understand that the best answer here might be:  <em>Get a Windows machine if you want to run apps within Excel.</em> </p>