Query filter

The query filter finds the items in a JSON array whose fields match a condition, for example every user older than 30 or every order whose status is "shipped". It works the same in the JSON Explorer extension and in the JSON Explorer inside Nouto.

Press Ctrl+Shift+K (Cmd+Shift+K on macOS) or click Query in the explorer toolbar to open the query bar. The explorer runs the query when you stop typing. Press Enter to run it immediately.

Tip

The query filter and the JSONPath filter (Ctrl+/) are separate tools. The query filter tests fields against values, for example age > 30. The JSONPath filter selects nodes by path, for example $.data[*].name.

What a query tests

When the root of the document is an array, the query tests each item of that array. When the root is an object, the query tests the root object.

The query does not test the items of arrays nested deeper in the document. To check values inside a nested array, use an array path such as tags[*] or items[0].name. See Field paths.

Operators

Each condition has the form field operator value.

Operator	Matches when the field value
=	Equals the value
!=	Does not equal the value
>	Is a number greater than the value
<	Is a number less than the value
>=	Is a number greater than or equal to the value
<=	Is a number less than or equal to the value
~	Matches a JavaScript regular expression
contains	Contains the text
startsWith	Starts with the text
endsWith	Ends with the text

The operators differ in how they compare:

• = and != compare loosely, so age = 30 also matches an item whose age is the string "30".
• >, <, >=, and <= match only fields whose value is a number.
• ~, contains, startsWith, and endsWith ignore letter case.
• Operator and combinator keywords are not case-sensitive. contains, CONTAINS, AND, and and all work.

Values

• Put strings in double quotes: "active".
• Write numbers, true, false, and null without quotes.
• Inside a string, a backslash escapes the next character. To put a backslash into a regular expression, type two backslashes: url ~ "\\.json$".

Field paths

A field path names the value to test inside each item:

• Use dot notation for nested objects: address.city.
• Use an index in brackets for an array element: tags[0].
• End a path with [*] to test every element of an array. The condition matches when any element matches: tags[*] = "urgent". The explorer ignores anything after [*], so items[*].name compares whole items rather than their names.
• Field names can contain letters, digits, _, and $. A key that contains other characters, such as a hyphen or a space, can’t be used in a query.

An item that doesn’t have the field never matches the condition, not even with !=. To match items where a field is missing or has a different value, use NOT: NOT status = "archived".

Combine conditions

Join conditions with AND and OR, negate a condition with NOT, and group conditions with parentheses:

status = "active" AND (role = "admin" OR role = "owner")
NOT status = "archived"

Without parentheses, NOT applies first, then AND, then OR. For example, a OR b AND c means a OR (b AND c).

Examples

Query	Finds items where
name contains "john"	name includes john in any letter case
address.city = "Berlin"	The nested city field is Berlin
email startsWith "admin"	email starts with admin
age >= 18 AND status = "active"	Both conditions match
type = "admin" OR type = "moderator"	Either condition matches
(age > 30 OR role = "admin") AND active = true	The grouped condition and active = true both match
name ~ "^the"	name starts with the in any letter case
status ~ "^(ended|canceled)$"	status is exactly ended or canceled in any letter case
code ~ "^\\d{3,5}$"	code is 3 to 5 digits
tags[*] = "urgent"	Any element of tags is urgent
email != null	email exists and is not null
NOT status = "deleted"	status is missing or is not deleted

Autocomplete

The query bar suggests completions as you type:

• At the start of a query and after AND, OR, NOT, or (, it suggests field names taken from the first 10 items.
• After a field name, it suggests operators.
• After a value, it suggests combinators.

Press Tab to insert the first suggestion, or use the arrow keys to pick one and press Enter. Press Escape to hide the suggestions.

Step through matches

The explorer highlights every matching item in the tree view and the table view, and marks the current match more strongly. A badge such as 1 of 12 shows your position.

Press Enter for the next match and Shift+Enter for the previous one, or use the arrow buttons in the query bar. Each step expands the collapsed ancestors of the match and scrolls to the first field that matched.

To hide rows that don’t match in the table view, open the search bar with Ctrl+F and switch it to filter mode.

Click the copy button in the query bar to copy the matching items to the clipboard as a JSON array. Press Escape in the query bar to close it and clear the highlights.

Query reference panel

Click ? in the query bar to open the Query Reference panel. It lists every operator and combinator with example queries, so you can check syntax without leaving the explorer.