# itchyny/gojq

Pure Go implementation of jq

Repository: https://github.com/itchyny/gojq
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/gojq
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: golang, go, cli-tool, cli-utility, json
Last push: 2026-08-23T14:26:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 80/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 45, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2700, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": 154, "gap_med": 242.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3796, forks 147 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:19.982556+00:00)

## What it is
gojq is a pure Go implementation of the jq command-line JSON processor, usable both as a CLI tool and as an embeddable Go library. It supports the jq query language with friendly error messages, arbitrary-precision integer arithmetic, and full portability without C dependencies.

## Use cases
- query and transform JSON from the command line
- parse JSON streams in shell scripts
- embed a jq query engine in a Go application
- process large integers without losing precision
- get clearer error messages than jq when queries fail
- run jq on systems where compiling C jq is difficult

## When to choose
- you want a portable, dependency-free jq binary
- you need arbitrary-precision integer math in jq queries
- you want to embed jq functionality in a Go program
- you value readable error messages for invalid queries or JSON

## When to avoid
- you rely on jq's object key ordering or the keys_unsorted function / --sort-keys option
- you need exact behavioral parity with C jq, including its regex library
- you only need jq occasionally and already have it installed

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, parser, json, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, files
- platform: cli, cross-platform, go
- tags: jq, json-query, json-processing, embeddable-library, command-line, docker

## Member repositories
- itchyny/gojq (main) score 80

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:19.982556+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:26:56.737491+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/itchyny/gojq (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:19.982556+00:00, sha 9f25dfc6ccb5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.