JSON Pointer RFC 6901 Online

About This Tool

Resolve JSON Pointer expressions to navigate to any value in a JSON document. This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data is ever sent to a server. Free to use, no account required.

What JSON Pointer Is (RFC 6901)

JSON Pointer is a string syntax for precisely identifying a single value within a JSON document, defined in RFC 6901.

JSON Pointer Syntax

A pointer starts with / and each segment separated by / refers to an object key or array index. The empty string "" refers to the whole document. For example: /users/0/email points to the email key of the first user object.

Escaping Special Characters

Two characters need escaping: forward slash / becomes ~1, and tilde ~ becomes ~0. This allows any key name to be expressed as a JSON Pointer regardless of its content.

JSON Pointer vs JSONPath

Both JSON Pointer and JSONPath navigate JSON documents, but they have fundamentally different capabilities and use cases.

When to Use JSON Pointer

JSON Pointer is the right choice for precise, unambiguous reference to exactly one value. It is used in JSON Patch (RFC 6902) for specifying operation targets and in JSON Schema for $ref references.

When to Use JSONPath

JSONPath is more powerful: it supports wildcards, filters, recursive descent, and can return multiple matching values. Use JSONPath for queries and data extraction tasks; use JSON Pointer for exact single-value addressing.

JSON Pointer Syntax and Examples

JSON Pointer (RFC 6901) is a string syntax for identifying specific values within a JSON document. It's used by JSON Patch, OpenAPI $ref, and many query libraries.

JSON Pointer Reference Table

// JSON Document
{
  "store": {
    "book": [
      {"title": "JSON Basics", "price": 9.99},
      {"title": "Advanced Go", "price": 14.99}
    ],
    "name": "Tech Books"
  },
  "version": 2
}

// Pointer Examples
""          → entire document
"/version"  → 2
"/store/name" → "Tech Books"
"/store/book/0" → {"title":"JSON Basics","price":9.99}
"/store/book/1/title" → "Advanced Go"
"/store/book/-"  → (append to array in Patch operations)

JSON Pointer Escape Sequences

JSON Pointer in JavaScript

// Evaluate JSON Pointer manually
function getByPointer(obj, pointer) {
  if (pointer === "") return obj;
  return pointer.slice(1).split("/").reduce((cur, key) => {
    key = key.replace(/~1/g, "/").replace(/~0/g, "~");
    return cur[key];
  }, obj);
}

getByPointer(doc, "/store/book/0/title"); // "JSON Basics"

// npm: json-pointer library
const jp = require("json-pointer");
jp.get(doc, "/store/book/1/price"); // 14.99

JSON Pointer Syntax Reference

Every JSON Pointer is either an empty string (pointing to the root document) or a sequence of /-prefixed reference tokens. Special characters ~ and / inside key names must be escaped.

// JSON Pointer evaluation (RFC 6901)
const doc = {
  "foo": ["bar", "baz"],
  "": 0,
  "a/b": 1,
  "c%d": 2
};

// Pointer  → Value
// ""       → entire document
// "/foo"   → ["bar","baz"]
// "/foo/0" → "bar"
// "/foo/1" → "baz"
// "/"      → 0  (empty string key)
// "/a~1b"  → 1  (key "a/b", / escaped as ~1)

JSON Pointer vs JSONPath

JSON Pointer and JSONPath both navigate JSON documents but serve different purposes. Pointer identifies a single location; JSONPath queries multiple values with wildcards and filters.