jq -r

jq -r is a command-line option for the jq tool, which is used for processing JSON data. The -r (or --raw-output) flag tells jq to output strings as raw text rather than JSON-encoded strings.

Example Usage

1. Without -r (default behavior)

echo '{"name": "Alice"}' | jq '.name'

Output:

"Alice"

(Quotes remain because the output is still JSON-encoded) 2. With -r:

echo '{"name": "Alice"}' | jq -r '.name'

Output:

Alice

(No quotes, just raw text) When to Use -r

When you need plain text output (e.g., when storing results in a variable or passing them to another command). When working with JSON data that includes URLs, filenames, or command outputs that should not be wrapped in quotes.