jqsnap

Basics

Install jq (Linux, macOS, Windows)

2 min · updated June 14, 2026

jq is a single small binary — install it once and pipe JSON through it anywhere.

Linux

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install -y jq

# Fedora / RHEL
sudo dnf install -y jq

# Arch
sudo pacman -S jq

macOS

brew install jq

Windows

winget install jqlang.jq
# or
scoop install jq
# or
choco install jq

Verify

jq --version

You should see something like jq-1.7.1. A few recipes use 1.7+ builtins (noted where relevant); the core filters work on 1.6 too.

Test it

echo '{"hello":"world"}' | jq '.'

Output:

{
  "hello": "world"
}

No install needed to experiment: jqplay.org runs jq in the browser — handy for trying a filter before you have jq locally. But for piping real command output (curl … | jq …), install the binary.

← All recipes