Command-line JSON browser with TUI

Question

Given a large-ish JSON, browse it interactively in terminal.

$ output_long_json
{"packages":[{"name":"ba... <fill up entire screen>

It is already possible with repeated invocation of jq:

$ output_long_json | jq ''
{
  "packages": [
    {...
<better, but it dives in depth-first and I don't see top-level elements>

$ outout_long_json | jq 'keys'
[
  "packages",
  "resolve",
  "target_directory",
  "version",
  "workspace_members",
  "workspace_root"
]
<OK, now I want to enter "resolve" and see what's here>

$ outout_long_json | jq '.resolve | keys'
...

But is there maybe TUI way?

Imagined:

$ output_long_json | json_browse
-----------
| /
|   packages 
| * resolve
|   target_directory
|   ...

-----------
| /resolve
| * nodes
|   keys

----------
| /resolve/nodes
| * [0]
|   [1]
|   [2]
...

Answer 1

Here are terminal programs for viewing JSON that I've come across, along with some features:

• jless (Rust) (MIT) (3.9k stars)
  • Vim-inspired keybindings
  • regex search
• fx (Go) (MIT) (16.8k stars)
  • streaming
  • color themes
  • preserves key order
  • preserves big numbers
  • reducer mode, supports JavaScript, Python, and Ruby syntax
  • jq filters
  • mouse support
• json-tui (C++) (MIT) (271 stars)
  • small, 400 LOC
  • mouse support
• jid (Go) (MIT) (6.6k stars)
  • "JSON incremental digger"
  • jq syntax
  • suggestion and autocompletion
• tson (Go) (MIT) (132 stars)
  • archived, last updated in 2019
• pyfx (Python) (MIT) (22 stars)
• nvim-jqx (Lua) (MIT) (246 stars)
  • Neovim plugin
  • supports YAML
• ijq (Go) (GPLv3)
  • interactive tool for viewing jq inputs and outputs
• vim-jqplay (VimScript) (Vim license) (86 stars)
  • Vim plugin
  • interactive tool for viewing jq inputs and outputs

Answer 2

In case anyone chances on this question from a search engine, I found an answer.

fx is a command-line utility that allows TUI-style interactive browsing of JSON data. You can fetch that package through NPM or download a binary from the link.