Pure Python implementation of JSONata
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Author: Robert Yokota
Requires Python: >=3.9
Classifiers
Development Status
- 4 - Beta
License
- OSI Approved :: Apache Software License
Programming Language
- Python
jsonata-python
Pure Python implementation of JSONata.
This is a Python port of the JSONata reference implementation, and also borrows from the Dashjoin Java port.
This implementation supports 100% of the language features of JSONata, with no external dependencies. The JSONata documentation can be found here.
Installation
pip install jsonata-python
Getting Started
A very simple start:
>>> import jsonata
>>> data = {"example": [{"value": 4}, {"value": 7}, {"value": 13}]}
>>> expr = jsonata.Jsonata("$sum(example.value)")
>>> result = expr.evaluate(data)
>>> result
24
Command Line Interface
The CLI provides the same functionality as the Dashjoin JSONata CLI.
% python3 -m jsonata.cli
usage: jsonata.cli [-h] [-v] [-e <file>] [-i <arg>] [-ic <arg>] [-f {auto,json,string}] [-o <arg>] [-oc <arg>] [-time] [-c] [-b <json-string>]
[-bf <file>] [-it]
[expr]
Pure Python JSONata CLI
positional arguments:
expr
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --version show program's version number and exit
-e <file>, --expression <file>
JSON expression to evaluate.
-i <arg>, --input <arg>
JSON input file (- for stdin)
-ic <arg>, --icharset <arg>
Input character set (default=utf-8)
-f {auto,json,string}, --format {auto,json,string}
Input format (default=auto)
-o <arg>, --output <arg>
JSON output file (default=stdout)
-oc <arg>, --ocharset <arg>
Output character set (default=utf-8)
-time Print performance timers to stderr
-c, --compact Compact JSON output (don't prettify)
-b <json-string>, --bindings <json-string>
JSONata variable bindings
-bf <file>, --bindings-file <file>
JSONata variable bindings file
-it, --interactive Interactive REPL (requires input file)
Examples
% echo '{"a":"hello", "b":" world"}' | python3 -m jsonata.cli '(a & b)'
hello world
% echo '{"a":"hello", "b":" world"}' | python3 -m jsonata.cli -o helloworld.json $
# helloworld.json written
% ls | python3 -m jsonata.cli $
helloworld.json
% ps -o pid="",%cpu="",%mem="" | python3 -m jsonata.cli '$.$split(/\n/).$trim().[ $split(/\s+/)[$length()>0].$number() ]' -c
[[4105,0,0],[4646,0,0],[4666,0,0],[33696,0,0]...]
% curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jsonata-js/jsonata/master/test/test-suite/datasets/dataset1.json | python3 -m jsonata.cli '{"Name": FirstName & " " & Surname, "Cities": **.City, "Emails": Email[type="home"].address}'
{
"Name": "Fred Smith",
"Cities": [
"Winchester",
"London"
],
"Emails": [
"freddy@my-social.com",
"frederic.smith@very-serious.com"
]
}
% python3 -m jsonata.cli -i helloworld.json -it
Enter an expression to have it evaluated.
JSONata> (a & b)
hello world
Running Tests
This project uses the repository of the reference implementation as a submodule. This allows referencing the current version of the unit tests. To clone this repository, run:
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/rayokota/jsonata-python
To build and run the unit tests:
python3 -m pip install nox
nox --sessions tests
Notes
JSONata date/time functions that use ISO 8601 formats are only supported with Python 3.11+.
Aug 14, 2025
0.6.0
Mar 16, 2025
0.5.3
Jan 18, 2025
0.5.2
Nov 13, 2024
0.5.1
Sep 27, 2024
0.5.0
Aug 26, 2024
0.4.0
Aug 03, 2024
0.3.0
Jun 09, 2024
0.2.0
Jun 07, 2024
0.1.0
Wheel compatibility matrix
Files in release
No dependencies