Cheat Sheet logoCheat Sheet Today
jq Cheat Sheet/Fallback default value

Use a fallback when a value is null or missing.

Back to sheetBrowse commands
Sign in to save
Section: Filters and Conditions

Fallback default value

bash
bash
echo '{"name":"alice"}' | jq '.email // "unknown@example.com"'
Explanation

The `//` operator provides a default value.

View in sheet →

Learn the surrounding workflow

Compare similar commands or jump into common fixes when this command is part of a bigger troubleshooting path.

Compare commandsView fixes

Related commands

Same sheet · prioritizing Filters and Conditions
Drop null values from stream
Suppress null outputs entirely.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section
Select objects matching condition
Filter array items based on a boolean expression.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section
Filter array and keep array output
Return matching elements as an array.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section
Conditional expression
Branch based on input values.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section
Update field value
Set an object field to a new value.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section
Increment numeric field
Increase a numeric value in place.
OpenIn sheetbashsame section