JSON Pointer · lesson 1 of 6 · Basics

What is a JSON Pointer?

A JSON Pointer (RFC 6901) is a string that names exactly one value in a document. Every step starts with / and is either an object key or an array index.

Example 1Walk down to one value

Document

{
  "store": {
    "book": [
      { "title": "Moby Dick", "price": 8.99 },
      { "title": "Ulysses", "price": 12.5 }
    ],
    "bicycle": { "color": "red" }
  }
}

Query

/store/bicycle/color

/store Step into the store key.
/bicycle Then into bicycle.
/color Then color — the one value the pointer names → "red".

Result

"red"

Try it in the playground

Good to know

The empty pointer (no characters at all) names the whole document.
A lone / names the key "" — an empty-string key, which JSON allows.
In the playground, a query that starts with / is auto-detected as a JSON Pointer.