JSONPath Guide

JSONPath is a query language for JSON, similar to XPath for XML. It lets you extract specific values from deeply nested JSON structures using path expressions. Used heavily in APIs, testing frameworks, and configuration tools.

Supported in: Jayway, Goessner, JSONPath Plus

Used in: AWS, Kubernetes, Postman, JMeter

Sample JSON used in examples below

{
  "store": {
    "books": [
      { "title": "Clean Code",        "author": "Robert Martin", "price": 34.99, "category": "tech" },
      { "title": "The Pragmatic Programmer", "author": "Hunt & Thomas", "price": 49.99, "category": "tech" },
      { "title": "Sapiens",           "author": "Yuval Harari",  "price": 18.99, "category": "history" },
      { "title": "Atomic Habits",     "author": "James Clear",   "price": 16.99, "category": "self-help" }
    ],
    "location": "New York"
  }
}

Try these expressions in the JSONPath Query tool →

Operators & Syntax

Operator	Description
$	Root node — every expression starts here
.key	Child key selector
..key	Recursive descent — searches all levels
[*]	Wildcard — selects all elements of an array or object
[n]	Array index. Negative index counts from end.
[a:b]	Array slice from index a to b (exclusive)
[a,b]	Multiple indices — union selector
?(expr)	Filter expression — select items where expr is true
@	Current node (used inside filter expressions)

Expression Examples

Expression	What it does	Result
$	Root element	The entire document
$.store	Child element	The store object
$.store.books	Nested child	Array of all books
$.store.books[0]	Array index	First book object
$.store.books[-1]	Last item	Last book object
$.store.books[*]	Wildcard — all items	All book objects
$.store.books[*].title	All titles	["Clean Code", "The Pragmatic Programmer", ...]
$.store.books[0,2]	Multiple indices	First and third books
$.store.books[0:2]	Slice (0 to 2)	First two books
$..title	Recursive descent — all titles anywhere	All title values in the document
$..price	All price values	All price numbers
$.store.books[?(@.price < 20)]	Filter: price under 20	Sapiens and Atomic Habits
$.store.books[?(@.category == "tech")]	Filter: by category	Clean Code and Pragmatic Programmer
$.store.books[?(@.author =~ /James/)]	Filter: regex match	Atomic Habits
$.store.books.length	Array length	4

Filter Expression Operators

Filter expressions use ?(@.field operator value) syntax. @ refers to the current item.

== — Equal to

?(@.price == 34.99)

!= — Not equal to

?(@.category != "tech")

< — Less than

?(@.price < 20)

<= — Less than or equal

?(@.price <= 34.99)

> — Greater than

?(@.price > 30)

>= — Greater than or equal

?(@.price >= 49.99)

=~ — Regex match

?(@.title =~ /Code/)

in — Value in array

?(@.category in ["tech","sci"])

!in — Value not in array

?(@.category !in ["tech"])

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