Version 1.6 · 1,110 yq programs agree

yq energy.
zero baggage.

Program YAML with one portable shell script. No package manager. No language runtime. No mystery binary. Just /bin/sh, AWK, and a frankly unreasonable amount of ambition.

Get YAML.sh Read the docs

1 file
282/282 parser outcomes
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config.yml — ysh POSIX

1services:

2 - name: api

3 enabled: true

4 - name: worker

5 enabled: false

6 - name: web

7 enabled: true

$ ysh '.services[] | select(.enabled) | .name' config.yml

api
web

MAP + REDUCE◆ COMMENTS SURVIVE◆ PIPES + SELECT◆ ANCHORS + ALIASES◆ MERGE KEYS◆ TAGS + TYPES◆ EMPTY COLLECTIONS◆ MULTI-DOCUMENT

A real parser this time

It parses before it queries.

Version 1 replaces the old flattened intermediate format with a proper YAML node graph. Structure survives intact, so queries stop fighting the parser.

Read

Portable AWK recognizes mappings, sequences, flow nodes, scalars, tags, anchors, and documents.

Resolve

Aliases and merge sources connect through node identity, with precedence and recursion validation.

Program

Paths, slices, interpolation, regexes, reducers, and assignments operate on real node references without flattening them.

Tiny commands. Serious YAML.

Meet the new CLI.

Stream, map, and reduce without inviting another runtime.

$ ysh '.services | map(.name) | unique' config.yml
["api","worker","web"]

Collections become clean, typed JSON.

$ ysh -o=json '.services[0]' config.yml
{"name":"api","enabled":true,"port":8080}

Change a real file in place. The comments get to stay.

$ ysh -i '.services[] | select(.enabled) | .tier = "active"' config.yml

$ ysh '.services[].tier' config.yml
active
backend
active

Open the hood whenever the YAML gets weird.

$ ysh --type '.release.date' config.yml
timestamp

$ ysh --ast config.yml
node  1  mapping  line=1

01 / PORTABLE

Built for the machines between machines.

Bootstrap containers, CI runners, old Macs, tiny servers, and recovery shells. If the system has /bin/sh and AWK, YAML.sh is ready.

macOS AWKmawk + original AWKBusyBox + POSIX gawk

02 / PRECISE

Keys stay keys.

Use .["key.with.dots"] when punctuation belongs to the YAML—not the query.

03 / HONEST

A tested subset.

Full pinned outcomes, strict rejection, generated properties, and explicit limits—without claiming that one corpus is the whole language.

Read the support contract

04 / HACKABLE

One file. Open book.

The shipped executable contains the complete shell launcher and AWK engine. Read it, copy it, bend it.

05 / OBSERVABLE

AST and events included.

--ast and --events turn parser internals into first-class debugging tools.

Install v1.6

One pipe.
Then go query something.

The installer downloads a pinned release and places ysh in /usr/local/bin. Set YSH_INSTALL_DIR to choose another location.

Terminalv1.6.0

curl -fsSL https://yaml.azohra.com/install | sh

Prefer to inspect first? Read the installer source.

yq energy.zero baggage.