---
title: "jq"
category: "Terminal and shell"
tagline: "Read, filter and reshape JSON on the command line."
source: "pacman"
package: "jq"
command: "jq"
website: "https://jqlang.org/"
code: "https://github.com/jqlang/jq"
---

## What it is

jq is a command-line processor for JSON. It pretty-prints JSON, pulls out the fields you want, and transforms data with a small filter language, which makes it the standard way to work with API responses and JSON files in scripts.

```
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/jqlang/jq | jq '.stargazers_count'
```

## Why it's here

- **JSON everywhere.** APIs and many tools output JSON, and jq makes it readable.
- **Scriptable.** Shell scripts use it to pick values out of JSON.

## On CoreDesktop

jq is installed from pacman. CoreDesktop's own scripts use it too, for example `configure` reads Tailscale's status with it. `update` keeps jq current along with the rest of the pacman packages.