jsonask

Query JSON with natural language instead of jq syntax. Stop memorizing jq — just ask.

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

How It Works

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

Operation	Example Queries
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”

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