jq zsh plugin

Interactively build jq expressions (gojq is also supported).

This zsh plugin gives you jq superpowers!

Table of contents

• Installation
• Usage
• Key bindings
• Demos
  • Interactive jq query construction
  • Insert jq query in the middle of a pipeline

Installation

This plugin requires fzf to be available on your PATH.

The project consists of the following components:

• a jq-repl command
• a jq-paths command
• a jq.plugin.zsh providing line-editor feature utilizing jq-repl

zplug

zplug reegnz/jq-zsh-plugin

Antigen

antigen bundle reegnz/jq-zsh-plugin

Zgen

zgen load reegnz/jq-zsh-plugin

Usage

• type out a command that you expect to produce json on it's standard output
• press alt + j and interactively write a jq expression
• press enter, and the jq expression is appended to your initial command!

Key bindings

To bring up the JQ query builder, press alt + j.

During interactive querying, the following shortcuts can be used:

Shortcut	Effect
up	Navigate path queries
down	Navigate path queries
tab	Select path query
shift + up	Scroll up
shift + down	Scroll down
alt + up	Scroll up full page
alt + down	Scroll down full page
ctrl+r	Reload input

gojq support

If you want to use an alternative jq implementation, like gojq then you can override the default jq command used by the plugin, by setting the following environment variable:

JQ_REPL_JQ=gojq

Demos

Interactive jq query construction

Insert jq query in the middle of a pipeline

Troubleshooting

MacOS: Pressing alt-j creates a ∆ symbol in iTerm2

You need to remap your alt-key to Esc+ in iTerm2:

• Cmd + , to enter preferences
• Go to Profiles
• select your profile from the pane on the left hand side
• go to the keys tab
• Set Left Option (⌥ ) Key to Esc+

See other suggestions on stackoverflow if the above one doesn't help you: https://stackoverflow.com/q/196357/205318

Another option is to map to ctrl+j instead by putting this in your .zshrc:

bindkey `^j` jq-complete

Disable expanding shell aliases

The plugin automatically expands shell aliases in a command before passing it to jq-repl. To disable, put the following line into your .zshrc:

JQ_ZSH_PLUGIN_EXPAND_ALIASES=0