jql

jql [OPTIONS] <query> [FILE...]

<query>
    The JSON path or jq filter to apply to the input JSON. Often supports simplified dot notation (e.g., user.name) or a direct jq expression.

[FILE...]
    One or more JSON files to process. If no files are specified, jql reads JSON input from standard input (stdin).

-r, --raw-output
    Output raw strings, rather than JSON strings. This is useful when the output is a string and you want to use it directly, e.g., in shell scripts.

-c, --compact-output
    Produce compact (not pretty-printed) output. This can be useful for saving space or for piping output to other commands that expect a single line.

-s, --slurp
    Read all input files into a single array. Each file's JSON content becomes an element in the array, allowing for processing multiple JSON documents as one collection.

-S, --sort-keys
    Sort the keys of JSON objects when pretty-printing. This helps ensure consistent output for comparison or storage.

--indent <n>
    Set the indentation level for pretty-printed output to n spaces. Default is often 2 or 4 spaces.

jql acts as a user-friendly wrapper around the powerful jq command-line JSON processor. It aims to streamline common JSON querying tasks, often allowing users to access nested data using intuitive dot notation (e.g., field.subfield instead of '.field.subfield'). Many jql implementations automatically pretty-print JSON output, making it more readable and easier to parse. It's designed to abstract away some of jq's more complex syntax for everyday use, making JSON data exploration faster and more accessible for those less familiar with jq's full capabilities.

It's particularly useful for quick data inspection, filtering, and transformation directly from the terminal, making it a valuable tool in scripting and data analysis pipelines for DevOps, developers, and system administrators working with JSON-formatted logs, API responses, or configuration files.

jql is not a standard, pre-installed Linux command. It is typically a third-party script or utility that users install manually. Its exact behavior, available options, and level of abstraction can vary significantly depending on the specific jql implementation being used. It relies heavily on jq being installed and accessible in the system's PATH. While it simplifies basic queries, complex JSON manipulations or advanced filtering often still require direct use of jq's powerful and extensive syntax.

Most jql implementations function as thin wrappers. They parse the user's simplified query and translate it into an equivalent jq filter (e.g., converting user.name to .user.name or a more complex jq pipeline) before executing the jq command and presenting the results. This means jql's capabilities are fundamentally limited by jq's power.

Since jql is not standard, it typically requires manual installation. This often involves downloading a script (e.g., from a GitHub repository) and placing it in a directory included in the system's PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin), after ensuring jq itself is installed via a package manager (e.g., apt install jq or brew install jq).

The need for a streamlined way to interact with JSON data on the command line led Stephen Dolan to create jq in 2012. jq quickly became the de-facto standard for JSON manipulation due to its flexibility and powerful filtering capabilities. As jq's syntax, while powerful, can be terse for newcomers, various community-driven efforts emerged to provide a more intuitive, often SQL-like or dot-notation, interface. jql utilities represent these efforts, aiming to lower the entry barrier and simplify common tasks, abstracting away some of jq's intricacies for daily use.

jq(1), grep(1), sed(1), awk(1), curl(1)