[FIXED] How do I return the "text" field of this JSON file with jq?

Issue

I am looking to extract the cat facts from this JSON file:

[
  {
    "status": {
      "verified": true,
      "feedback": "",
      "sentCount": 1
    },
    "_id": "5887e1d85c873e0011036889",
    "user": "5a9ac18c7478810ea6c06381",
    "text": "Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10.",
    "__v": 0,
    "source": "user",
    "updatedAt": "2020-09-03T16:39:39.578Z",
    "type": "cat",
    "createdAt": "2018-01-15T21:20:00.003Z",
    "deleted": false,
    "used": true
  },
  {
    "status": {
      "verified": true,
      "sentCount": 1
    },
    "_id": "588e746706ac2b00110e59ff",
    "user": "588e6e8806ac2b00110e59c3",
    "text": "Domestic cats spend about 70 percent of the day sleeping and 15 percent of the day grooming.",
    "__v": 0,
    "source": "user",
    "updatedAt": "2020-08-26T20:20:02.359Z",
    "type": "cat",
    "createdAt": "2018-01-14T21:20:02.750Z",
    "deleted": false,
    "used": true
  },
  {
    "status": {
      "verified": true,
      "sentCount": 1
    },
    "_id": "58923f2fc3878c0011784c79",
    "user": "5887e9f65c873e001103688d",
    "text": "I don't know anything about cats.",
    "__v": 0,
    "source": "user",
    "updatedAt": "2020-08-23T20:20:01.611Z",
    "type": "cat",
    "createdAt": "2018-02-25T21:20:03.060Z",
    "deleted": false,
    "used": false
  },
  {
    "status": {
      "verified": true,
      "sentCount": 1
    },
    "_id": "5894af975cdc7400113ef7f9",
    "user": "5a9ac18c7478810ea6c06381",
    "text": "The technical term for a cat’s hairball is a bezoar.",
    "__v": 0,
    "source": "user",
    "updatedAt": "2020-11-25T21:20:03.895Z",
    "type": "cat",
    "createdAt": "2018-02-27T21:20:02.854Z",
    "deleted": false,
    "used": true
  },
  {
    "status": {
      "verified": true,
      "sentCount": 1
    },
    "_id": "58e007cc0aac31001185ecf5",
    "user": "58e007480aac31001185ecef",
    "text": "Cats are the most popular pet in the United States: There are 88 million pet cats and 74 million dogs.",
    "__v": 0,
    "source": "user",
    "updatedAt": "2020-08-23T20:20:01.611Z",
    "type": "cat",
    "createdAt": "2018-03-01T21:20:02.713Z",
    "deleted": false,
    "used": false
  }
]

Its url is https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts. I know access to the information is not a problem because when I run curl 'https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts' | jq '.', I get the entire file in return.

After running curl 'https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts' | jq '. | {text}',

I get the error jq: error (at <stdin>:0): Cannot index array with string "text".

After running curl 'https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts' | jq '. | {.text}',

This is returned: (23) Failed writing body

After running curl 'https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts' | jq '.[] | {text: .commit.text}',

This is returned:

 % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed                                           100  1675
100  1675    0     0   9463      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  9463
{
"text": null
}
{
"text": null
}
{
"text": null
}
{
"text": null
}
{ 
"text": null
}            

Solution

I'd use the array/object value iterator .[] and then ["text"] to filter:

jq '.[]["text"]' 

Giving you example file as input would produce this output:

"Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10."
"Domestic cats spend about 70 percent of the day sleeping and 15 percent of the day grooming."
"I don't know anything about cats."
"The technical term for a cat’s hairball is a bezoar."
"Cats are the most popular pet in the United States: There are 88 million pet cats and 74 million dogs."

The above is also the exact output you'd (currently) get from:

curl -s 'https://cat-fact.herokuapp.com/facts' | jq '.[]["text"]'

Answered By - Ted Lyngmo

Answer Checked By - Marie Seifert (PHPFixing Admin)