jq

Status

Version: 1.5.3 | Tests: Passing

Usage

devcontainer.json

{
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/infrashift/trusted-devcontainer-features/jq:latest": {
            "target_version": "1.8.2"
        }
    }
}

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
target_version	string	1.8.2	Select a supported jq version
target_checksum	string	""	SHA256 checksum for the jq binary

Dependencies

None — this feature is independent and has no dependencies.

How It Works

This feature downloads the jq binary directly from the official GitHub releases, specifically the jq-linux-<arch> artifact for the requested version. jq is a lightweight command-line JSON processor used extensively in CI/CD pipelines and shell scripts for parsing, filtering, and transforming JSON data.

The Ansible playbook downloads the binary to ~/.local/bin/jq, verifies the SHA256 checksum against the pinned per-architecture digest, or against an explicit target_checksum if one is provided, and sets the executable bit. After installation, the playbook verifies that jq is working correctly by running it to confirm the installed version.

Because jq is a standalone static binary with no external dependencies, this feature has no dependency chain and installs quickly. It is one of the simplest features in the collection, making it a good reference for understanding the general pattern of binary-download features.