Parse JSON object's members into Bash variables

Question

Let's assume, I have this package jq installed. So I ran this command

curl -s ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111

and get this result

{
  "ip": "33.62.137.111",
  "city": "Columbus",
  "region": "Ohio",
  "country": "US",
  "loc": "39.9690,-83.0114",
  "postal": "43218",
  "timezone": "America/New_York",
  "readme": "https://ipinfo.io/missingauth"
}

I know I can get city by doing this

curl -s ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111 | jq -r '.city'

I know I can get region by doing this

curl -s ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111 | jq -r '. region'

I'm trying to curl 7 times to create 7 variables.

Is there a way to create multiple variables based on the first curl response?

@cyber8200 Do you require an answer that includes jq? If so, then please add the tag jq. — Reino
– Reino, Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 10:18

Léa Gris · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-03 20:13:44Z

It is easy with Bash 4+ using an associative array:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Map the JSON response into an associative array
declare -A "assoc_array=($(
  curl -s ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111 |
    jq -r 'to_entries[] | "[\(.key | @sh)]=\(.value | @sh)"'
))"
IFS=, read -r assoc_array[lat] assoc_array[long] <<<"${assoc_array[loc]}"

echo "Here is how assoc_array was declared/created"
echo
typeset -p assoc_array
echo
echo

# Display the content of the associative array
echo "Here is a breakdown of all entries in the assoc_array:"
echo
for k in "${!assoc_array[@]}"; do
  printf '%q = %q\n' "$k" "${assoc_array[$k]}"
done

Sample output:

Here is how assoc_array was declared/created

declare -A assoc_array=([country]="US" [region]="Ohio" [city]="Columbus" [timezone]="America/New_York" [ip]="33.62.137.111" [lat]="39.9690" [readme]="https://ipinfo.io/missingauth" [long]="-83.0114" [loc]="39.9690,-83.0114" [postal]="43218" )


Here is a breakdown of all entries in the assoc_array:

country = US
region = Ohio
city = Columbus
timezone = America/New_York
ip = 33.62.137.111
lat = 39.9690
readme = https://ipinfo.io/missingauth
long = -83.0114
loc = 39.9690\,-83.0114
postal = 43218

For older Bash, it is a bit trickier but here it is

It separates values by the ASCII ETX (Value 3 for End of Text) and generates a stream of fields with jq, then read each variable into the predictable order. If a key is missing from the JSON response object, the field will be empty.

Contrarily to the associative array method, key names have to be known beforehand and provided in a predicted order (all this is handled by the long jq query).

#!/usr/bin/env bash

IFS=$'\3' read -r ip hostname city region country lat long postal timezone readme < <(
  curl -s ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111 |
    jq -r '"\(.ip+"\u0003")\(.hostname+"\u0003")\(.city+"\u0003")\(.region+"\u0003")\(.country+"\u0003")\(.loc | split(",") |"\(.[0]+"\u0003")\(.[1]+"\u0003")")\(.postal+"\u0003")\(.timezone+"\u0003")\(.readme+"\u0003")"'
)

printf 'ip = %q\n' "$ip"
printf 'hostname = %q\n' "$hostname"
printf 'city = %q\n' "$city"
printf 'region = %q\n' "$region"
printf 'country = %q\n' "$country"
printf 'latitude = %q\n' "$lat"
printf 'longitude = %q\n' "$long"
printf 'postal code = %q\n' "$postal"
printf 'timezone = %q\n' "$timezone"
printf 'readme = %q\n' "$readme"

Sample output:

ip = 33.62.137.111
hostname = ''
city = Columbus
region = Ohio
country = US
latitude = 39.9690
longitude = -83.0114
postal code = 43218
timezone = America/New_York
readme = https://ipinfo.io/missingauth

Reino · Accepted Answer · 2025-03-20 11:37:47Z

You might be interested in the JSON-parser xidel. You won't need curl, jq, or even a Bash-script for your use-case.

Retrieving the JSON:

$ xidel -s -H "Accept: application/json" "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111" -e '$json'
$ xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" -e '$json'
{
  "ip": "33.62.137.111",
  "city": "Columbus",
  "region": "Ohio",
  "country": "US",
  "loc": "39.9690,-83.0114",
  "postal": "43218",
  "timezone": "America/New_York",
  "readme": "https://ipinfo.io/missingauth"
}

Using Xidel's exclusive eval() function to create internal variables for every key-value pair, followed by Bash's built-in eval command to convert them to shell variables:

$ xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" \
  -e '$json() ! `{.}:=$json/{.}`'
$ xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" \
  -e 'for $key in map:keys($json) return `{$key}:=$json/{$key}`'
ip:=$json/ip
city:=$json/city
region:=$json/region
country:=$json/country
loc:=$json/loc
org:=$json/org
postal:=$json/postal
timezone:=$json/timezone
readme:=$json/readme

$ xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" \
  -e '$json() ! eval(`{.}:=$json/{.}`)[0]' --output-format=bash
$ xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" \
  -e "for $key in map:keys($json) return eval(`{$key}:=$json/{$key}`)[0]" \
  --output-format=bash
ip='33.62.137.111'
city='Columbus'
region='Ohio'
country='US'
loc='39.9690,-83.0114'
postal='43218'
timezone='America/New_York'
readme='https://ipinfo.io/missingauth'
result=

$ eval "$(
  xidel -s "https://ipinfo.io/33.62.137.111/json" \
  -e '$json() ! eval(`{.}:=$json/{.}`)[0]' --output-format=bash
)"

printf '%s\n' $ip $city $region $country $loc $postal $timezone $readme
33.62.137.111
Columbus
Ohio
US
39.9690,-83.0114
43218
America/New_York
https://ipinfo.io/missingauth

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Parse JSON object's members into Bash variables

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For older Bash, it is a bit trickier but here it is

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