jaq

Fast jq clone focused on correctness and speed

TLDR

Filter JSON from stdin

$ echo '{"name": "world"}' | jaq '.name'

Process a JSON file

$ jaq '.[0]' [path/to/file.json]

Filter and format output

$ jaq -r '.[] | .name' [path/to/file.json]

Read YAML input

$ jaq --from yaml '.' [path/to/file.yaml]

Convert JSON to YAML

$ jaq --to yaml '.' [path/to/file.json]

SYNOPSIS

jaq [-r] [--from format] [--to format] filter [file...]

jaq is a clone of the JSON processing tool jq, focused on correctness, speed, and simplicity. It is available as both a command-line program (a near drop-in replacement for jq) and as a Rust library. Beyond standard JSON, jaq supports YAML, CBOR, TOML, and XML formats.jaq aims to provide more correct and predictable behavior than jq in edge cases, while maintaining compatibility for common usage. Its core has been security-audited by Radically Open Security.

PARAMETERS

-r, --raw-output

Print strings without JSON quoting.

-R, --raw-input

Read input as raw strings, one per line.

-s, --slurp

Collect all input values into a single array.

-c, --compact-output

Emit JSON on a single line.

-S, --sort-keys

Sort object keys in the output.

--indent N

Use N spaces per indent level (default 2).

--tab

Use a tab for each indent level.

-C, --color-output

Force colored output even when stdout is not a TTY.

-M, --monochrome-output

Disable colored output.

-i, --in-place

Rewrite each input file with the result of the filter.

--from FORMAT

Input format: json, yaml, cbor, toml, xml, csv, tsv, raw, raw0, xjon.

--to FORMAT

Output format (same set as --from).

-n, --null-input

Use null as the input value.

CAVEATS

While highly compatible with jq, some edge-case behaviors differ intentionally for correctness. Not all jq built-in functions are implemented. Custom jq modules are not supported.

HISTORY

jaq was created by Michael Färber (01mf02) and is written in Rust. It was motivated by concerns about jq's start-up time and edge-case correctness, and has been benchmarked to be faster than jq on most operations.

jaq