Read
Portable AWK recognizes mappings, sequences, flow nodes, scalars, tags, anchors, and documents.
Release v1.9.0 · 35 real workflows agree with yq
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.
- 1 file
- 282/282 parser outcomes
- 35/35 real workflows
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
web
MAP + REDUCE◆
COMMENTS SURVIVE◆
PIPES + SELECT◆
ANCHORS + ALIASES◆
MERGE KEYS◆
TAGS + TYPES◆
EMPTY COLLECTIONS◆
TRANSACTIONAL EDITS
Structure all the way through
It parses before it queries.
YAML.sh parses a proper node graph before evaluating expressions. Mappings, sequences, tags, anchors, aliases, and source lines stay intact from input to output.
Resolve
Aliases and merge sources connect through node identity, with precedence and recursion validation.
Program
Paths, reducers, assignments, graph metadata, and repository transactions operate on real node references with identity and type intact.
Tiny commands. Serious YAML.
Meet the new CLI.
Compose files without inviting another runtime.
$ ysh ea 'select(fileIndex == 0) * select(fileIndex == 1)' defaults.yml production.yml
{"replicas":3,"region":"west"}Collections become clean, typed JSON.
$ ysh -o=json '.services[0]' config.yml
{"name":"api","enabled":true,"port":8080}Preflight a repository. Commit together. Keep a value-free audit.
$ ysh --explain=json -i '.image.tag = "stable"' services/*.yml 2>changes.jsonl
✓ 6 files committed as one transactionOpen the hood whenever the YAML gets weird.
$ ysh --type '.release.date' config.yml
timestamp
$ ysh --ast config.yml
node 1 mapping line=101 / 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 contract04 / HACKABLE
One file. Open book.
The shipped executable contains the complete shell launcher and AWK engine. Read it, copy it, bend it.
05 / OBSERVABLE
Repository edits explain themselves.
Multi-file changes preflight together and roll back commit failures. --explain=json records paths and presentation decisions without values.
Field note · August 2026
The YAML parser that got out of hand.
An old Bash experiment became a measured, yq-shaped language in one increasingly unreasonable afternoon. This is the story of the parser we replaced, the evidence that kept raising the goal, and what building it with an agent actually felt like.
Read the storyInstall the current release
One pipe.
Then go query something.
The installer downloads and checksum-verifies a pinned release, then places ysh in /usr/local/bin. Set YSH_INSTALL_DIR to choose another location.
Terminalv1.9.0
curl -fsSL https://yaml.azohra.com/install | shPrefer to inspect first? Read the installer source.