Nested JSON
Navigate deep JSON with chained subscripts, .get() for safe access, and jmespath for query-language lookups.
Python
Intermediate
4 min read
Working with Nested JSON
Example
import jmespath
data = {"users": [{"name": "Alice", "address": {"city": "NYC"}},
{"name": "Bob", "address": {"city": "LA"}}]}
# Safe access
city = data.get("users", [])[0].get("address", {}).get("city")
# jmespath query
cities = jmespath.search("users[*].address.city", data) # ["NYC", "LA"]
first_name = jmespath.search("users[0].name", data) # "Alice" Pro Tip
jmespath is used internally by AWS CLI — it is production-tested for complex JSON queries.