JSONPath Tester Free Online Tool 2026

Last updated March 22, 2026

Basic Dot Notation Access

Given the following JSON representing a bookstore, use JSONPath to extract specific fields. Start with simple dot notation to access a top-level property:

{
  "store": {
    "name": "City Books",
    "books": [
      { "title": "Clean Code", "author": "Robert Martin", "price": 35.99, "category": "programming" },
      { "title": "The Pragmatic Programmer", "author": "David Thomas", "price": 42.00, "category": "programming" },
      { "title": "Dune", "author": "Frank Herbert", "price": 12.99, "category": "fiction" },
      { "title": "Foundation", "author": "Isaac Asimov", "price": 9.99, "category": "fiction" }
    ]
  }
}

JSONPath expression to get the store name:

$.store.name

Result:

["City Books"]

Accessing All Array Elements

Use the wildcard * to select all elements in an array:

$.store.books[*].title

Result:

["Clean Code", "The Pragmatic Programmer", "Dune", "Foundation"]

This is equivalent to iterating over the entire books array and extracting the title from each element.

Array Index Access

Access a specific element by its zero-based index:

$.store.books[0].title

Result:

["Clean Code"]

Access the last element using a negative index:

$.store.books[-1].title

Result:

["Foundation"]

Array Slicing

Extract a range of array elements using slice notation [start:end]:

$.store.books[0:2].title

Result:

["Clean Code", "The Pragmatic Programmer"]

Extract every other book using step notation:

$.store.books[::2].title

Result:

["Clean Code", "Dune"]

Extract the last two books:

$.store.books[-2:].title

Result:

["Dune", "Foundation"]

Filter Expressions — Price Comparison

Use filter expressions with [?()] to select elements matching a condition. Find all books priced under $15:

$.store.books[?(@.price < 15)]

Result:

[
  { "title": "Dune", "author": "Frank Herbert", "price": 12.99, "category": "fiction" },
  { "title": "Foundation", "author": "Isaac Asimov", "price": 9.99, "category": "fiction" }
]

The @ symbol refers to the current element being evaluated in the filter.

Filter Expressions — String Equality

Filter books by category using string equality:

$.store.books[?(@.category == "programming")].title

Result:

["Clean Code", "The Pragmatic Programmer"]

Combine multiple conditions with logical AND:

$.store.books[?(@.category == "fiction" && @.price < 11)].title

Result:

["Foundation"]

Recursive Descent Operator

The .. operator searches all levels of nesting. Given a deeply nested JSON:

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Acme Corp",
    "departments": [
      {
        "name": "Engineering",
        "teams": [
          { "name": "Backend", "size": 8 },
          { "name": "Frontend", "size": 5 }
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": "Marketing",
        "teams": [
          { "name": "Digital", "size": 4 }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Find all name properties at any depth:

$..name

Result:

["Acme Corp", "Engineering", "Backend", "Frontend", "Marketing", "Digital"]

Extracting Nested API Response Fields

A typical REST API response with pagination:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "data": {
    "users": [
      { "id": 1, "username": "alice", "active": true, "plan": "pro" },
      { "id": 2, "username": "bob", "active": false, "plan": "free" },
      { "id": 3, "username": "carol", "active": true, "plan": "pro" }
    ],
    "pagination": { "page": 1, "total": 3 }
  }
}

Extract only active users' usernames:

$.data.users[?(@.active == true)].username

Result:

["alice", "carol"]

Extract all pro plan users:

$.data.users[?(@.plan == "pro")].id

Result:

[1, 3]

Multiple Field Selection

Select multiple specific fields from array elements using bracket notation:

$.store.books[*]['title','price']

Result:

[
  { "title": "Clean Code", "price": 35.99 },
  { "title": "The Pragmatic Programmer", "price": 42.00 },
  { "title": "Dune", "price": 12.99 },
  { "title": "Foundation", "price": 9.99 }
]

Using JSONPath in API Test Assertions

When writing API tests in Postman or REST Assured, JSONPath expressions form the basis of response assertions. For a login API response:

{
  "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9...",
  "user": {
    "id": 42,
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "roles": ["user", "moderator"]
  },
  "expiresIn": 3600
}

• Assert token exists: $.token — should not be null
• Assert user ID: $.user.id — should equal 42
• Assert role included: $.user.roles[?(@ == "moderator")] — should return one result
• Assert expiry: $.expiresIn — should equal 3600

Test each expression in the JSONPath Tester before adding it to your test suite to confirm it matches the expected value.

Bracket Notation vs Dot Notation

Both notations are equivalent for most cases. Bracket notation is required when property names contain spaces or special characters:

// Dot notation
$.store.books[0].title

// Bracket notation (equivalent)
$['store']['books'][0]['title']

// Bracket notation required for special characters
$['store']['book-list'][0]['full-title']

The tester shows both forms and highlights which is required for your specific JSON structure.