yq is a command-line processor for querying and transforming YAML, XML and TOML documents using the filtering capabilities of jq. It allows users to apply familiar jq expressions to structured data formats beyond JSON.
The program works by converting documents into a representation that jq can process. The results can then be returned as JSON or converted back into their original format. This makes it useful for inspecting configuration files, extracting individual values and performing automated data transformations.
yq includes separate commands for processing YAML, XML and TOML. Each uses the appropriate parsing libraries while retaining access to jq’s powerful query and manipulation language.
The software is particularly useful for system administrators and developers working with configuration files, infrastructure definitions and structured datasets. It can be incorporated into shell scripts and other automation workflows.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Processes YAML documents using jq filters and expressions.
- Provides xq for querying and transforming XML documents.
- Includes tomlq for processing TOML configuration files.
- Supports extracting, filtering and transforming structured data.
- Converts YAML, XML and TOML documents to JSON for processing.
- Supports conversion back to YAML, XML and TOML where appropriate.
- Provides in-place editing of supported document formats.
- Preserves mapping key order when processing YAML documents.
- Offers round-trip YAML processing that retains custom tags, scalar styles and comments.
- Supports preservation of TOML comments, whitespace and formatting metadata.
- Processes YAML frontmatter in Markdown documents while preserving the remaining content.
- Supports multiple YAML documents within a single input stream.
- Provides configurable YAML indentation, line wrapping and document markers.
- Supports streaming large XML documents using configurable item depth.
- Disables XML entity expansion and DTD resolution to reduce parsing security risks.
- Preserves jq exit status information for integration with scripts and automated workflows.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux and macOS.
Website: github.com/kislyuk/yq
Support:
Developer: Andrey Kislyuk
License: Apache License 2.0
yq is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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