JSONPath · lesson 1 of 13 · Basics

Root & child segments

Every JSONPath starts at the root $. Add child segments with dots (.name) or brackets (['name']) — brackets also cope with keys that contain spaces or symbols.

Example 1Dot notation

Document

{
  "store": {
    "book": [
      { "title": "Sayings of the Century", "author": "Nigel Rees",
        "category": "reference", "price": 8.95 },
      { "title": "Sword of Honour", "author": "Evelyn Waugh",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 12.99 },
      { "title": "Moby Dick", "author": "Herman Melville",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 8.99, "isbn": "0-553-21311-3" },
      { "title": "The Lord of the Rings", "author": "J. R. R. Tolkien",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 22.99, "isbn": "0-395-19395-8" }
    ],
    "bicycle": { "color": "red", "price": 19.95 }
  }
}

Query

$.store.bicycle.color

$ The root: the whole document.
.store The child named store.
.bicycle Then its child bicycle.
.color Then color → "red".

Result

"red"

Try it in the playground

Example 2Bracket notation — the same path

Document

{
  "store": {
    "book": [
      { "title": "Sayings of the Century", "author": "Nigel Rees",
        "category": "reference", "price": 8.95 },
      { "title": "Sword of Honour", "author": "Evelyn Waugh",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 12.99 },
      { "title": "Moby Dick", "author": "Herman Melville",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 8.99, "isbn": "0-553-21311-3" },
      { "title": "The Lord of the Rings", "author": "J. R. R. Tolkien",
        "category": "fiction", "price": 22.99, "isbn": "0-395-19395-8" }
    ],
    "bicycle": { "color": "red", "price": 19.95 }
  }
}

Query

$['store']['bicycle']['color']

['store'] The bracket form of .store. Quotes may be single or double.
['bicycle'] Same idea, one level down.
['color'] Same result as the dotted version.

Result

"red"

Try it in the playground

Good to know

A query in JSONPath always begins with $ — that's also how the playground auto-detects it.