# jqlang/jq

Command-line JSON processor

Repository: https://github.com/jqlang/jq
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/jq
Homepage: https://jqlang.org
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: jq
Last push: 2026-08-23T15:06:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 57, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5159, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": 74, "gap_med": 192.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 35488, forks 1826 (observed 2026-08-28T04:12:00.826541+00:00)

## What it is
jq is a lightweight command-line JSON processor written in portable C with zero runtime dependencies. It lets users slice, filter, map, and transform structured JSON data using a concise expression language, akin to sed/awk/grep for JSON.

## Use cases
- extract a field from a  file from the command line
- pretty-print and format  output
- filter and transform  api responses in shell scripts
- convert  to csv or other formats
- query nested  structures with a filter expression
- process  logs in a unix pipeline

## When to choose
- you need to parse, query, or transform JSON in shell scripts or pipelines
- you want a single dependency-free binary that runs anywhere
- you need fast, scriptable JSON manipulation without writing a program

## When to avoid
- you need to process large non-JSON data formats like YAML or XML natively
- you prefer doing JSON manipulation inside a full programming language with existing libraries
- you need a GUI or interactive JSON viewer

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: parser, serialization, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, files, apis
- platform: cli, windows, cross-platform
- tags: -processor, -query, data-transformation, sed-for-, command-line, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- jqlang/jq (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:00.826541+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 2026-08-29T16:26:56.852222+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/jqlang/jq (fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:00.826541+00:00, sha 8d8885652b07)
  - homepage: https://jqlang.org (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:55.164997+00:00, sha 517587883a12)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.