JSONPath Cheat Sheet

Every JSONPath operator, filter expression, and selector in one place. Includes a sample document, 15+ practical examples with results, and jq equivalents.

JSONTech TeamMarch 10, 20256 min read

Sample JSON Document

All examples below use this bookstore dataset:

{
  "store": {
    "book": [
      {
        "category": "reference",
        "author": "Nigel Rees",
        "title": "Sayings of the Century",
        "price": 8.95
      },
      {
        "category": "fiction",
        "author": "Evelyn Waugh",
        "title": "Sword of Honour",
        "price": 12.99
      },
      {
        "category": "fiction",
        "author": "Herman Melville",
        "title": "Moby Dick",
        "isbn": "0-553-21311-3",
        "price": 8.99
      },
      {
        "category": "fiction",
        "author": "J. R. R. Tolkien",
        "title": "The Lord of the Rings",
        "isbn": "0-395-19395-8",
        "price": 22.99
      }
    ],
    "bicycle": {
      "color": "red",
      "price": 399.99
    }
  }
}

Core Operators

Operator	Description	Example	Result
`$`	Root object	`$`	The entire document
`.`	Child operator (dot notation)	`$.store.bicycle.color`	`"red"`
`..`	Recursive descent (deep scan)	`$..price`	`[8.95, 12.99, 8.99, 22.99, 399.99]`
`*`	Wildcard — all children	`$.store.book[*].author`	All 4 author names
`[]`	Bracket notation / subscript	`$.store.book[0]`	First book object
`[,]`	Union — multiple indices	`$.store.book[0,2]`	1st and 3rd books
`[start:end]`	Array slice	`$.store.book[0:2]`	First 2 books (index 0, 1)
`[start:end:step]`	Array slice with step	`$.store.book[::2]`	Every other book (index 0, 2)
`[?()]`	Filter expression	`$.store.book[?(@.price < 10)]`	Books cheaper than $10
`@`	Current node (used in filters)	`@.price`	Price of current element
`.length`	Length of array or string	`$.store.book.length`	`4`

Filter Operators

Used inside [?()] filter expressions with @ referencing the current node:

Operator	Meaning	Example
`==`	Equals	`[?(@.category == "fiction")]`
`!=`	Not equals	`[?(@.category != "reference")]`
`<`	Less than	`[?(@.price < 10)]`
`>`	Greater than	`[?(@.price > 20)]`
`<=`	Less than or equal	`[?(@.price <= 8.99)]`
`>=`	Greater than or equal	`[?(@.price >= 12.99)]`
`=~`	Regex match	`[?(@.author =~ /.*Tolkien/i)]`
`in`	Value in list	`[?(@.category in ["fiction", "reference"])]`
`nin`	Value not in list	`[?(@.category nin ["reference"])]`
`&&`	Logical AND	`[?(@.price < 10 && @.category == "fiction")]`
`\|\|`	Logical OR	`[?(@.price < 10 \|\| @.price > 20)]`

Practical Examples

Expression	Description	Result
`$.store.book[*].author`	All authors	`["Nigel Rees", "Evelyn Waugh", "Herman Melville", "J. R. R. Tolkien"]`
`$..author`	All authors (recursive)	Same as above
`$.store.*`	All things in the store	Book array + bicycle object
`$..price`	All prices everywhere	`[8.95, 12.99, 8.99, 22.99, 399.99]`
`$.store.book[2]`	Third book (zero-indexed)	Moby Dick object
`$.store.book[-1]`	Last book	The Lord of the Rings object
`$.store.book[0:2]`	First two books	Sayings of the Century, Sword of Honour
`$.store.book[?(@.isbn)]`	Books that have an ISBN	Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings
`$.store.book[?(!@.isbn)]`	Books without an ISBN	Sayings of the Century, Sword of Honour
`$.store.book[?(@.price < 10)]`	Books cheaper than $10	Sayings of the Century, Moby Dick
`$.store.book[?(@.price > 20)]`	Books over $20	The Lord of the Rings
`$.store.book[?(@.category == "fiction")]`	Fiction books only	Sword of Honour, Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings
`$.store.book[?(@.author =~ /.*Melville/)]`	Author matching regex	Moby Dick
`$..book[?(@.price < 10 && @.isbn)]`	Cheap books with ISBN	Moby Dick
`$.store.book[*].title`	All book titles	`["Sayings of the Century", "Sword of Honour", "Moby Dick", "The Lord of the Rings"]`
`$.store.book.length`	Number of books	`4`

JSONPath vs jq

Task	JSONPath	jq Equivalent
Root	`$`	`.`
Child access	`$.store.book`	`.store.book`
Array index	`$.store.book[0]`	`.store.book[0]`
All elements	`$.store.book[*]`	`.store.book[]`
Recursive	`$..price`	`.. \| .price? // empty`
Filter by value	`$.store.book[?(@.price < 10)]`	`.store.book[] \| select(.price < 10)`
Field existence	`$.store.book[?(@.isbn)]`	`.store.book[] \| select(has("isbn"))`
Slice	`$.store.book[0:2]`	`.store.book[:2]`
Multiple fields	`$..book[*]['title','price']`	`.store.book[] \| {title, price}`

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
`store.book[0]`	Missing root `$`	`$.store.book[0]`
`$.store.book[?(@.price = 10)]`	Single `=` (assignment) instead of `==`	`$.store.book[?(@.price == 10)]`
`$.store.book[1:3:0]`	Step of 0 is invalid	`$.store.book[1:3]` or `[1:3:1]`
`$..book..author`	Double recursive can produce duplicates	`$..book[*].author` or `$..author`
Unquoted string in filter	`[?(@.cat == fiction)]` fails	`[?(@.cat == "fiction")]`
Forgetting `@` in filters	`[?(price < 10)]` fails	`[?(@.price < 10)]`

Test your JSONPath expressions live: Paste your JSON and try any expression in our JSONPath Tester — see matching results instantly.

JSONPath Cheat Sheet

Sample JSON Document

Core Operators

Filter Operators

Practical Examples

JSONPath vs jq

Common Mistakes

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