# Install jql with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

JSON query language CLI tool. Version 8.1.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#jql.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:jql
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install jql
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install jql
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: textproc/jql/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add jql
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: jql from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install jql
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: jql from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#jql
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/jq/jql/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:jql
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 8.1.2
- **Source summary:** JSON query language CLI tool
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/yamafaktory/jql>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/yamafaktory/jql>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- jql (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 8.1.2
## Project history and usage

jql is a Rust command-line JSON query language and runner. It positions itself as a fast, lightweight, deliberately simple JSON selection tool rather than a jq-compatible language.

### Project history

The Rust crate metadata dates the jql package to 2018-10-06. The repository later settled into a workspace with the jql binary plus jql-parser and jql-runner library crates, exposing the parser and execution pieces as reusable Rust packages.

### Adoption history

jql has broader packaging than most niche JSON CLIs in this batch. Its README lists installation routes through Alpine, Arch AUR, Cargo, Cargo Binstall, Fedora, FreeBSD, Homebrew, Nix, openSUSE, and GitHub release binaries. Crates.io reported 248,530 total downloads and 3,640 recent downloads for the jql crate on 2026-07-01.

### How it is used

jql accepts a query token sequence and returns JSON, with object selectors, array selectors, ranges, flattening, key extraction, streaming line-by-line input, validation, inline output, raw string output, and file-based queries. The README explicitly says there is no plan to align jql with jq or similar tools.

### Why package nerds care

For package collectors, jql is interesting as one of several post-jq experiments that treat JSON querying as a compact shell primitive but choose a new grammar. Its split crates also make it more library-shaped than a single binary-only utility.

### Timeline

- 2018: Crates.io recorded the jql crate creation on 2018-10-06.
- 2026: The GitHub release feed recorded jql, jql-parser, and jql-runner 8.1.x releases on 2026-03-18.
- 2026: Homebrew formula API packaged jql 8.1.2 from the jql-v8.1.2 GitHub archive.

### Related projects

- jql is related to jq by domain rather than compatibility. Within its own repository, the most direct related projects are the jql-parser and jql-runner crates.

### Sources

- <https://crates.io/crates/jql>
- <https://docs.rs/jql-parser/latest/jql_parser/>
- <https://docs.rs/jql-runner/latest/jql_runner/>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/jql.json>
- <https://github.com/yamafaktory/jql>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - jql: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/jq/jql/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- apk - jql - 8.1.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: jql from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | A JSON Query Language CLI tool | https://github.com/yamafaktory/jql
- dnf - jql - 8.1.2-2.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: jql from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | JQL is a fast and simple command-line tool to manipulate JSON data | https://crates.io/crates/jql
- MacPorts - jql: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/jql/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/jql.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/jql.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph