JQ Create JSON Key and Value Pair

I'm trying to create a JSON file with this very simple command:

jq -n --arg greeting world --arg mykey hello '"hello":$greeting'

jq -n --arg greeting world --arg mykey hello '"hello":$greeting'

My problem is that when I replace the key with $mykey I get this error:

# jq -n --arg greeting world --arg mykey hello $mykey:$greeting
jq: error: syntax error, unexpected ':' (Unix shell quoting issues?) at <top-level>, line 1:
:
jq: 1 compile error


How can I create a simple JSON file with two arguments/variables?

1 Answer
1

As explained in the jq manual, when a key name is specified programmatically, the defining expression must be enclosed in parentheses:

$ jq -n --arg greeting world --arg mykey hello '($mykey):$greeting'

"hello": "world"



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