Practical usage guide
What this tool does
JSONPath selects values from a JSON document with expressions that start at the root symbol $. It is useful for exploring unfamiliar payloads, prototyping extraction rules, and checking what an automation step will receive before the expression is moved into production code.
The result mode changes what is returned: Value returns matched data, Path returns JSONPath-style locations, and Pointer returns JSON Pointer locations. These forms answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Quick start
Paste valid JSON
Start with a complete JSON object or array. Format it first if nested structure or syntax errors are difficult to see.
Build the expression from the root
Use $.items[*].id for child properties and wildcards. Add one segment at a time so you can see where a path stops matching.
Choose the result representation
Use Value for extracted data, Path for readable locations, or Pointer when another system expects RFC 6901-style paths.
Common use cases
Prototype API extraction
Identify the expression needed to collect IDs, names, or nested status values from an API response.
Debug workflow selectors
Compare expected and actual matches before placing a selector into a low-code workflow or monitoring rule.
Explore unfamiliar payloads
Use wildcards and recursive descent carefully to discover repeated fields in large nested documents.
Limitations and important notes
JSONPath has multiple dialects
This page uses jsonpath-plus. Expressions copied from a product that implements another dialect may need changes, especially for filters and script expressions.
An empty array can be a valid result
No matches usually returns an empty list rather than an error. Verify the input shape and each path segment before assuming the data is absent.
JSONPath is not JSON Pointer
JSON Pointer identifies a specific location with slash-separated segments; JSONPath can select multiple values with wildcards and filters.