Jist searches JSON 3x faster than jq
Hi HN, jist is a JSON path search tool that feels like accessing a JavaScript object. It’s 3x faster than jq for the same use case, and over 2000x more memory efficient when searching a 3.3GB file for the last element (jist reads data in chunks so has constant space use). It doesn’t implement pattern matching yet. A feature I’m looking to add is generating a full JSON schema using the same streaming approach so stay tuned! Any feedback and feature requests are more than welcome
Jist searches JSON 3x faster than jq launched on October 26, 2024 with 11 votes, #1,114 of 5,185 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.
In plain words
Jist is a JSON path search tool that queries JSON data using JavaScript object syntax. It processes files in chunks rather than loading them entirely into memory, enabling faster searches with significantly lower memory usage compared to jq. The tool is designed for developers who work with JSON files and need efficient data retrieval. Pattern matching is not yet supported.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Search a JSON path and get the value fast. Contribute to adelamodwala/jist development by creating an account on GitHub.
jist attempts to find the complete JSON value (string, number, bool, or JSON object) for a given search key as fast as possible. You can also summarize a full json/ndjson file into a schema to you know... get the "jist" of it ;) jist uses the state-of-the art simdjson library for parsing JSON input / files smaller than 4.2GB in size. For files larger than 4.2GB or that don't fit into memory or forced streaming mode (option -s or --streaming ), jist falls back to an earlier implementation using a simple character based lexer json-tools . While the fallback implementation is relatively slower than simdjson, it's still really fast at a throughput of ~300MB/s and uses almost no memory (around…from github.com
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Jist now searches JSON 17x faster than jq2025 · github.com · ▲7Hi HN! Happy to share that jist can now search JSON 17x faster than jq for a provided input (string or a file). The major change is using the bleeding edge simdjson parser as the preferred way of parsing and querying the input. Since simdjson can only work on files up to 4.2GB, jist falls back to its earlier implementation of scanning through input in chunks of 1MB which means it can still query files of virtually infinite size 3x faster than jq ever could while using ~10MB of memory. The next major feature will be summarizing input JSON into a schema - and it will do this by scanning the…
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JSON QueryOct 2025 · jsonquerylang.org · ▲154I'm working on a tool that will probably involve querying JSON documents and I'm asking myself how to expose that functionality to my users. I like the power of `jq` and the fact that LLMs are proficient at it, but I find it right out impossible to come up with the right `jq` incantations myself. Has anyone here been in a similar situation? Which tool / language did you end up exposing to your users?
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