jsonask

Query JSON with natural language instead of jq syntax.

Stop memorizing jq. Just ask.

Install

npm install -g @fanioz/jsonask

Usage

# Pipe JSON and ask a question
cat data.json | jsonask "show names"

# Pass file path + query
jsonask data.json "count by status"

# Extract specific fields
jsonask users.json "extract all emails"

# Filter data
jsonask users.json "where role is admin"
jsonask products.json "price greater than 100"

# Sort
jsonask products.json "sort by price"
jsonask products.json "sort by price desc"

# Aggregation
jsonask data.json "count by status"
jsonask data.json "unique categories"

# Limit results
jsonask data.json "top 5 by score"
jsonask data.json "first 3"

# Explore structure
jsonask data.json "keys"

Output Formats

# Table (default)
jsonask data.json "show names"

# JSON
jsonask data.json "show names" -o json

# List (values only)
jsonask data.json "show names" -o list

Features

• Zero config — works immediately, no API key needed
• Offline — local query engine handles common patterns
• Pipe-friendly — reads from stdin or file
• Smart parsing — fuzzy key matching, dot notation support
• Multiple outputs — table, JSON, or raw list format

How It Works

jsonask parses natural language queries into structured operations using pattern matching. It handles:

• Extract: "show names", "get emails", "extract all ids"
• Filter: "where status is active", "price greater than 100"
• Count: "count by role", "how many items"
• Unique: "unique values", "distinct categories"
• Sort: "sort by name", "top 5 by score"
• Explore: "keys", "what fields"

License

MIT