Ganesh Joshi

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jq JSON CLI

Updated 2026-02-15

jq for filtering and transforming JSON in the shell. Select fields, slice arrays, and format output.

Select and filter

```
echo '{"a":1}' | jq .a
```
Get field.
```
jq '.items[]' file.json
```
Array iteration.

jq '.users[] | select(.age > 18)' file.json

Filter objects.

```
jq '.key // "default"' file.json
```
Default value.

Transform and build

```
jq -s 'add' file.json
```
Slurp and add (e.g. numbers).
```
jq '[.items[].name]' file.json
```
Build array of values.
```
jq '{key: .field}' file.json
```
Build object.
```
jq -r '.name'
```
Raw output (no quotes).

jq JSON CLI | Cheatsheet | Ganesh Joshi