def convert2tree(data): result = [] obj = {} for x in data: obj[x.get("id", "")] = x for x in data: parent_id = x.get("parent_id") if parent_id: parent = obj.get(parent_id, {}) if parent: if not parent.get("children"): parent["children"] = [] if not x.get("children"): x["children"] = [] parent["children"].append(x) else: if not x.get("children"): x["children"] = [] result.append(x) else: if not x.get("children"): x["children"] = [] result.append(x) return result resources = [{"id": 7, "name": "test1", "parent_id": 2}, {"id": 2, "name": "test2", "parent_id": None}, {"id": "9", "name": "test3", "parent_id": 2}, {"id": 12, "name": "test4", "parent_id": 7}, {"id": 8, "name": "test5", "parent_id": 2}] print(convert2tree(resources))