jless

jless is a command-line JSON viewer designed to replace the common workflow of using less, jq, cat, and text editors for examining JSON files. Written in Rust, it provides a clean, syntax-highlighted display that omits visual clutter like quotes around object keys and trailing commas, making JSON data easier to read and understand.

The tool offers powerful navigation features inspired by vim, allowing users to efficiently move through JSON structures of any size. One of its key capabilities is the ability to expand and collapse objects and arrays, enabling users to view both high-level structure and detailed content as needed. It also includes full regex-based search functionality for quickly locating specific data within large JSON files.

jless is ideal for developers, system administrators, and anyone who frequently works with JSON data from APIs, configuration files, or log outputs. It's particularly valuable for those who need to quickly explore and understand complex JSON structures without the overhead of opening a full text editor or chaining multiple command-line tools together.

Installation

# via Homebrew
brew install jless

# via Pacman
pacman -S jless

# via Cargo
cargo install jless