# What Is JSONPath? — Syntax, Examples and JSONPath vs JSON Pointer

Canonical: https://commareports.com/glossary/jsonpath
Published: 2026-10-15

> JSONPath is a query syntax for picking values out of a JSON document, like $.checks[2].error. The core syntax with examples, how it differs from JSON Pointer and jq, and how to get the path to any value without writing it by hand.

# JSONPath

**JSONPath is a query syntax for selecting values inside a JSON
document.** An expression starts at the root, `$`, and steps through
keys and array indexes until it reaches what you want.

```json
{
  "service": "checkout",
  "checks": [
    { "name": "smoke", "ok": true },
    { "name": "migrations", "ok": true },
    { "name": "canary", "ok": false, "error": "timeout" }
  ],
  "headers": { "content-type": "application/json" }
}
```

| Expression                  | Selects                                    |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `$.service`                 | `"checkout"`                               |
| `$.checks[2].error`         | `"timeout"`                                |
| `$.checks[*].name`          | `"smoke"`, `"migrations"`, `"canary"`      |
| `$.checks[-1]`              | the last check                             |
| `$.checks[0:2]`             | the first two checks (slice, end excluded) |
| `$..name`                   | every `name`, at any depth                 |
| `$.checks[?@.ok == false]`  | checks whose `ok` is false                 |
| `$.headers['content-type']` | `"application/json"`                       |

Proposed by Stefan Goessner in 2007 as "XPath for JSON", it spread
through dozens of slightly different libraries before the IETF
standardised it as **RFC 9535** in 2024. Older libraries may write the
filter as `[?(@.ok == false)]`; the parentheses are optional in the RFC.

## The pieces

- **`$`** — the root. Every expression begins here.
- **`.key` or `['key']`** — a child by name. Use the bracket form when
  the key has a hyphen, a space, or starts with a digit.
- **`[n]`** — an array element. Negative indexes count from the end.
- **`[*]`** — every child, of an object or an array.
- **`..`** — recursive descent: look at this level and every level below.
- **`[start:end:step]`** — an array slice.
- **`[?…]`** — a filter; `@` is the element being tested.

A JSONPath query returns a list of matches, possibly empty. A path that
names one specific value — no wildcards, no filters — is called a
_normalized path_, and it is what you usually want to copy into a test
or a log line.

## JSONPath, JSON Pointer and jq

Three syntaxes point into JSON, and they are not interchangeable.

| Need                                           | Syntax                  | Same location          |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Query, possibly many values                    | JSONPath                | `$.checks[2].error`    |
| Address exactly one value (JSON Patch, `$ref`) | JSON Pointer (RFC 6901) | `/checks/2/error`      |
| Transform on the command line                  | jq                      | `.checks[2].error`     |
| Plain code                                     | JavaScript              | `data.checks[2].error` |

PostgreSQL's `jsonb_path_query` uses the SQL/JSON path language, which
also starts at `$` and reads much like JSONPath, but its filter syntax
and functions are its own.

## Getting the path without writing it

Hand-writing a path into a five-level API response is where the typos
come from — an off-by-one index, a key with a hyphen left unquoted.
Easier to click the value and copy the path. The free
[JSON viewer](/tools/json-viewer) shows a payload as a collapsible tree;
click any node and it gives you the JSONPath and the JavaScript/jq
accessor, with keys like `content-type` already bracket-quoted.

## Try it

Comma is free — unlimited reports, unlimited commenters, unlimited
revision history.

**[Open the JSON viewer →](/tools/json-viewer)**

### Related

- [NDJSON](/glossary/ndjson) · [Byte order mark](/glossary/byte-order-mark) · [Mojibake](/glossary/mojibake)
- [JSON viewer](/tools/json-viewer) · [JSON formatter](/tools/json-formatter) · [JSON to HTML table](/tools/json-to-html-table)
- [Glossary](/glossary)