<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" class="no-js">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">
<meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge">
<meta name="lang:clipboard.copy" content="Copy to clipboard">
<meta name="lang:clipboard.copied" content="Copied to clipboard">
<meta name="lang:search.language" content="en">
<meta name="lang:search.pipeline.stopwords" content="True">
<meta name="lang:search.pipeline.trimmer" content="True">
<meta name="lang:search.result.none" content="No matching documents">
<meta name="lang:search.result.one" content="1 matching document">
<meta name="lang:search.result.other" content="# matching documents">
<meta name="lang:search.tokenizer" content="[\s\-]+">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="../assets/images/favicon.png">
<meta name="generator" content="mkdocs-1.0.4, mkdocs-material-3.1.0">
<title>Read - Yq</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../assets/stylesheets/application.11e41852.css">
<script src="../assets/javascripts/modernizr.20ef595d.js"></script>
<link href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" rel="preconnect" crossorigin>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:300,400,400i,700|Roboto+Mono">
<style>body,input{font-family:"Roboto","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif}code,kbd,pre{font-family:"Roboto Mono","Courier New",Courier,monospace}</style>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../assets/fonts/material-icons.css">
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<svg class="md-svg">
<defs>
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="416" height="448"
viewBox="0 0 416 448" id="__github">
<path fill="currentColor" d="M160 304q0 10-3.125 20.5t-10.75 19-18.125
8.5-18.125-8.5-10.75-19-3.125-20.5 3.125-20.5 10.75-19 18.125-8.5
18.125 8.5 10.75 19 3.125 20.5zM320 304q0 10-3.125 20.5t-10.75
19-18.125 8.5-18.125-8.5-10.75-19-3.125-20.5 3.125-20.5 10.75-19
18.125-8.5 18.125 8.5 10.75 19 3.125 20.5zM360
304q0-30-17.25-51t-46.75-21q-10.25 0-48.75 5.25-17.75 2.75-39.25
2.75t-39.25-2.75q-38-5.25-48.75-5.25-29.5 0-46.75 21t-17.25 51q0 22 8
38.375t20.25 25.75 30.5 15 35 7.375 37.25 1.75h42q20.5 0
37.25-1.75t35-7.375 30.5-15 20.25-25.75 8-38.375zM416 260q0 51.75-15.25
82.75-9.5 19.25-26.375 33.25t-35.25 21.5-42.5 11.875-42.875 5.5-41.75
1.125q-19.5 0-35.5-0.75t-36.875-3.125-38.125-7.5-34.25-12.875-30.25-20.25-21.5-28.75q-15.5-30.75-15.5-82.75
0-59.25 34-99-6.75-20.5-6.75-42.5 0-29 12.75-54.5 27 0 47.5 9.875t47.25
30.875q36.75-8.75 77.25-8.75 37 0 70 8 26.25-20.5
46.75-30.25t47.25-9.75q12.75 25.5 12.75 54.5 0 21.75-6.75 42 34 40 34
99.5z" />
</svg>
</defs>
</svg>
<input class="md-toggle" data-md-toggle="drawer" type="checkbox" id="__drawer" autocomplete="off">
<input class="md-toggle" data-md-toggle="search" type="checkbox" id="__search" autocomplete="off">
<label class="md-overlay" data-md-component="overlay" for="__drawer"></label>
<a href="#basic" tabindex="1" class="md-skip">
Skip to content
</a>
<header class="md-header" data-md-component="header">
<nav class="md-header-nav md-grid">
<div class="md-flex">
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<a href=".." title="Yq" class="md-header-nav__button md-logo">
<i class="md-icon"></i>
</a>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<label class="md-icon md-icon--menu md-header-nav__button" for="__drawer"></label>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--stretch">
<div class="md-flex__ellipsis md-header-nav__title" data-md-component="title">
<span class="md-header-nav__topic">
Yq
</span>
<span class="md-header-nav__topic">
Read
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<label class="md-icon md-icon--search md-header-nav__button" for="__search"></label>
<div class="md-search" data-md-component="search" role="dialog">
<label class="md-search__overlay" for="__search"></label>
<div class="md-search__inner" role="search">
<form class="md-search__form" name="search">
<input type="text" class="md-search__input" name="query" placeholder="Search" autocapitalize="off" autocorrect="off" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false" data-md-component="query" data-md-state="active">
<label class="md-icon md-search__icon" for="__search"></label>
<button type="reset" class="md-icon md-search__icon" data-md-component="reset" tabindex="-1">

</button>
</form>
<div class="md-search__output">
<div class="md-search__scrollwrap" data-md-scrollfix>
<div class="md-search-result" data-md-component="result">
<div class="md-search-result__meta">
Type to start searching
</div>
<ol class="md-search-result__list"></ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<div class="md-header-nav__source">
<a href="https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/" title="Go to repository" class="md-source" data-md-source="github">
<div class="md-source__icon">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="24" height="24">
<use xlink:href="#__github" width="24" height="24"></use>
</svg>
</div>
<div class="md-source__repository">
mikefarah/yq
</div>
</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
</header>
<div class="md-container">
<main class="md-main">
<div class="md-main__inner md-grid" data-md-component="container">
<div class="md-sidebar md-sidebar--primary" data-md-component="navigation">
<div class="md-sidebar__scrollwrap">
<div class="md-sidebar__inner">
<nav class="md-nav md-nav--primary" data-md-level="0">
<label class="md-nav__title md-nav__title--site" for="__drawer">
<a href=".." title="Yq" class="md-nav__button md-logo">
<i class="md-icon"></i>
</a>
Yq
</label>
<div class="md-nav__source">
<a href="https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/" title="Go to repository" class="md-source" data-md-source="github">
<div class="md-source__icon">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="24" height="24">
<use xlink:href="#__github" width="24" height="24"></use>
</svg>
</div>
<div class="md-source__repository">
mikefarah/yq
</div>
</a>
</div>
<ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href=".." title="Install" class="md-nav__link">
Install
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item md-nav__item--active">
<input class="md-toggle md-nav__toggle" data-md-toggle="toc" type="checkbox" id="__toc">
<label class="md-nav__link md-nav__link--active" for="__toc">
Read
</label>
<a href="./" title="Read" class="md-nav__link md-nav__link--active">
Read
</a>
<nav class="md-nav md-nav--secondary">
<label class="md-nav__title" for="__toc">Table of contents</label>
<ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#basic" title="Basic" class="md-nav__link">
Basic
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#from-stdin" title="From Stdin" class="md-nav__link">
From Stdin
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#splat" title="Splat" class="md-nav__link">
Splat
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#multiple-documents-specify-a-single-document" title="Multiple Documents - specify a single document" class="md-nav__link">
Multiple Documents - specify a single document
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#multiple-documents-read-all-documents" title="Multiple Documents - read all documents" class="md-nav__link">
Multiple Documents - read all documents
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#arrays" title="Arrays" class="md-nav__link">
Arrays
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#array-splat" title="Array Splat" class="md-nav__link">
Array Splat
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#keys-with-dots" title="Keys with dots" class="md-nav__link">
Keys with dots
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../write/" title="Write/Update" class="md-nav__link">
Write/Update
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../prefix/" title="Prefix" class="md-nav__link">
Prefix
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../delete/" title="Delete" class="md-nav__link">
Delete
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../create/" title="Create" class="md-nav__link">
Create
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../convert/" title="Convert" class="md-nav__link">
Convert
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="../merge/" title="Merge" class="md-nav__link">
Merge
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="md-sidebar md-sidebar--secondary" data-md-component="toc">
<div class="md-sidebar__scrollwrap">
<div class="md-sidebar__inner">
<nav class="md-nav md-nav--secondary">
<label class="md-nav__title" for="__toc">Table of contents</label>
<ul class="md-nav__list" data-md-scrollfix>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#basic" title="Basic" class="md-nav__link">
Basic
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#from-stdin" title="From Stdin" class="md-nav__link">
From Stdin
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#splat" title="Splat" class="md-nav__link">
Splat
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#multiple-documents-specify-a-single-document" title="Multiple Documents - specify a single document" class="md-nav__link">
Multiple Documents - specify a single document
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#multiple-documents-read-all-documents" title="Multiple Documents - read all documents" class="md-nav__link">
Multiple Documents - read all documents
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#arrays" title="Arrays" class="md-nav__link">
Arrays
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#array-splat" title="Array Splat" class="md-nav__link">
Array Splat
</a>
</li>
<li class="md-nav__item">
<a href="#keys-with-dots" title="Keys with dots" class="md-nav__link">
Keys with dots
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="md-content">
<article class="md-content__inner md-typeset">
<a href="https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/edit/master/docs/read.md" title="Edit this page" class="md-icon md-content__icon"></a>
<h1>Read</h1>
<pre><code>yq r <yaml_file|json_file> <path>
</code></pre>
<p>This command can take a json file as input too, and will output yaml unless specified to export as json (-j)</p>
<h3 id="basic">Basic<a class="headerlink" href="#basic" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Given a sample.yaml file of:</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">b:
c: 2
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code class="bash">yq r sample.yaml b.c
</code></pre>
<p>will output the value of '2'.</p>
<h3 id="from-stdin">From Stdin<a class="headerlink" href="#from-stdin" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Given a sample.yaml file of:</p>
<pre><code class="bash">cat sample.yaml | yq r - b.c
</code></pre>
<p>will output the value of '2'.</p>
<h3 id="splat">Splat<a class="headerlink" href="#splat" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Given a sample.yaml file of:</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">---
bob:
item1:
cats: bananas
item2:
cats: apples
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code class="bash">yq r sample.yaml bob.*.cats
</code></pre>
<p>will output</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">- bananas
- apples
</code></pre>
<h3 id="multiple-documents-specify-a-single-document">Multiple Documents - specify a single document<a class="headerlink" href="#multiple-documents-specify-a-single-document" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Given a sample.yaml file of:</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">something: else
---
b:
c: 2
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code class="bash">yq r -d1 sample.yaml b.c
</code></pre>
<p>will output the value of '2'.</p>
<h3 id="multiple-documents-read-all-documents">Multiple Documents - read all documents<a class="headerlink" href="#multiple-documents-read-all-documents" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Reading all documents will return the result as an array. This can be converted to json using the '-j' flag if desired.</p>
<p>Given a sample.yaml file of:</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">name: Fred
age: 22
---
name: Stella
age: 23
---
name: Android
age: 232
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code class="bash">yq r -d'*' sample.yaml name
</code></pre>
<p>will output:</p>
<pre><code>- Fred
- Stella
- Android
</code></pre>
<h3 id="arrays">Arrays<a class="headerlink" href="#arrays" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>You can give an index to access a specific element:
e.g.: given a sample file of</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">b:
e:
- name: fred
value: 3
- name: sam
value: 4
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code>yq r sample.yaml 'b.e[1].name'
</code></pre>
<p>will output 'sam'</p>
<p>Note that the path is in quotes to avoid the square brackets being interpreted by your shell.</p>
<h3 id="array-splat">Array Splat<a class="headerlink" href="#array-splat" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>e.g.: given a sample file of</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">b:
e:
- name: fred
value: 3
- name: sam
value: 4
</code></pre>
<p>then</p>
<pre><code>yq r sample.yaml 'b.e[*].name'
</code></pre>
<p>will output:</p>
<pre><code>- fred
- sam
</code></pre>
<p>Note that the path is in quotes to avoid the square brackets being interpreted by your shell.</p>
<h3 id="keys-with-dots">Keys with dots<a class="headerlink" href="#keys-with-dots" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>When specifying a key that has a dot use key lookup indicator.</p>
<pre><code class="yaml">b:
foo.bar: 7
</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">yaml r sample.yaml 'b[foo.bar]'
</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">yaml w sample.yaml 'b[foo.bar]' 9
</code></pre>
<p>Any valid yaml key can be specified as part of a key lookup.</p>
<p>Note that the path is in quotes to avoid the square brackets being interpreted by your shell.</p>
</article>
</div>
</div>
</main>
<footer class="md-footer">
<div class="md-footer-nav">
<nav class="md-footer-nav__inner md-grid">
<a href=".." title="Install" class="md-flex md-footer-nav__link md-footer-nav__link--prev" rel="prev">
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<i class="md-icon md-icon--arrow-back md-footer-nav__button"></i>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--stretch md-footer-nav__title">
<span class="md-flex__ellipsis">
<span class="md-footer-nav__direction">
Previous
</span>
Install
</span>
</div>
</a>
<a href="../write/" title="Write/Update" class="md-flex md-footer-nav__link md-footer-nav__link--next" rel="next">
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--stretch md-footer-nav__title">
<span class="md-flex__ellipsis">
<span class="md-footer-nav__direction">
Next
</span>
Write/Update
</span>
</div>
<div class="md-flex__cell md-flex__cell--shrink">
<i class="md-icon md-icon--arrow-forward md-footer-nav__button"></i>
</div>
</a>
</nav>
</div>
<div class="md-footer-meta md-typeset">
<div class="md-footer-meta__inner md-grid">
<div class="md-footer-copyright">
powered by
<a href="https://www.mkdocs.org">MkDocs</a>
and
<a href="https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/">
Material for MkDocs</a>
</div>
<div class="md-footer-social">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../assets/fonts/font-awesome.css">
<a href="https://github.com/mikefarah" class="md-footer-social__link fa fa-github"></a>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-farah-b5a75b2/" class="md-footer-social__link fa fa-linkedin"></a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</footer>
</div>
<script src="../assets/javascripts/application.9e1f3b71.js"></script>
<script>app.initialize({version:"1.0.4",url:{base:".."}})</script>
</body>
</html>