JSONPath Tester

A query always starts at the root, $, and adds segments that select children. Inside a filter, @ stands for the element being tested.

Filters compare values with == and != and the four ordering operators (less than, at most, greater than, at least), and combine conditions with && (and), || (or) and ! (not), using parentheses where needed. Strings can be in single or double quotes. Comparisons only use single values: @.price works, but @.items[*] must go into count(). The functions are length(value) for the length of a string, array or object, count(nodes) for the number of matches of a query, match(string, regex) for a whole-string regular expression match, search(string, regex) for a match anywhere, and value(nodes) to compare the single result of a query. For example $..book[?count(@.tags[*]) == 3] finds books with exactly three tags.

Before RFC 9535, JSONPath was only described in a 2007 blog post by Stefan Goessner, and libraries differed in the details. The standard keeps the familiar syntax but defines it precisely. Filters no longer need parentheses, so ?@.isbn replaces ?(@.isbn), although the old form still works because parentheses are allowed. Script expressions such as (@.length-1) are gone; use [-1] for the last element. Comparing a missing member gives false rather than an error, and results come in document order. Some libraries such as Jayway JsonPath in Java add their own extensions, so a query that works there may need small changes.

JSONPath is used to pick values out of API responses in testing tools such as Postman and REST Assured, in Kubernetes kubectl output templates, in AWS Step Functions and many other workflow and integration tools, and in database features that query JSON columns. Testing a query here against a real response is the quickest way to get it right before putting it into code or configuration.

Start broad and narrow down: try $..name first to see where a member appears, then switch to Paths to copy the exact location. Use bracket notation for names with spaces, dashes or dots, such as $['first-name']. Remember that a query always returns a list, even for a single match, and an empty list means nothing matched rather than an error.