dotnet-json is a command line tool for working with and manipulating JSON files for example in CI/CD pipelines.

dotnet-json allows you to do basic manipulation of JSON files like setting the value of a specific (nested) key, or deleting a key, as well as merging two or more JSON files into one.

dotnet-json can be installed as a .NET Core (global) tool or be downloaded directly from the GitHub releases.

To install dotnet-json as a global tool, run the following command:

dotnet tool install -g dotnet-json

Or, if you already have dotnet-json installed and want to update it to the latest version, run the following command:

dotnet tool update -g dotnet-json

When you installed dotnet-json as a .NET Core global tool, you can run it as either dotnet json or dotnet-json.

dotnet-json has 5 sub-commands, merge, set, remove, get and indent.

Merges two or more files into the first, writing it back to the first file or into a specified output file.

Usage:

dotnet json merge <input file> <merge files...> [-o|--output <output file>]

Arguments:

• <input file> The first JSON file used as base to merge the other files' contents into, also used as default output
• <merge files...> One or more JSON files that are merged into the first file

Options:

• -o|--output file Write the merge result to a custom output file instead of using the input file

Set a specific value in the JSON file. Use : as separator for nesting objects.

Usage:

dotnet json set <file> <key> <value> [-o|--output <output file>]

Arguments:

• <file> The file to read the JSON from and write the result to unless -o is given.
• <key> The key to update or create, use : to separate nested objects.
• <value> The value to set the key to

Options:

• -o|--output file Write the result to a custom output file instead of using the input file
• -e|--existing Only set the value if the key already exists in the json file, otherwise do nothing

Removes a key/value pair or complex object from a JSON file.

Usage:

dotnet json remove <file> <key> [-o|--output <output file>]

Arguments:

• <file> The file to read the JSON from and write the result to unless -o is given.
• <key> The key to remove from the read JSON

Options:

• -o|--output file Write the result to a custom output file instead of using the input file

Reads the json file and returns the value for the given key.

Usage:

dotnet json get <file> <key> [-e|--exact]

Arguments:

• <file> The file to read the JSON from.
• <key> The key to output

Options:

• -e|--exact only return an exact value, this will return an error if the key references an object or array.

Reads the json file and writes it out with indentation.

Usage:

dotnet json indent <file> [-o|--output <output file>]

Arguments:

• <file> The file to read the JSON from and write the result to unless -o is given.

Options:

• -o|--output file Write the result to a custom output file instead of writing back to the input file