Process JSON with jq

I grabbed some JSON using the Github API. I wanted to filter it with jq

The -C option of jq keeps the colour control codes and the -R option to less uses those codes..

List all the records in the JSON file:

jq -C '[.[]]' github_repos.json | less -R

List all the unique values for the visibility property:

jq '[.[] | .visibility] | unique' github_repos.json

List all the records where visibility is private:

jq -C '[.[] | select(.visibility == "private")]' github_repos.json | less -R

Sort the records by updated date (reversed):

jq -C 'sort_by(.updated_at) | reverse | [.[]]' github_repos.json | less -R

Sort the records where visibility is private by updated date (reversed):

jq -C 'sort_by(.updated_at) | reverse | [.[] | select(.visibility == "private")]' github_repos.json | less -R

Posted on October 28, 2025.