How to add a variable in jq

Question

Im trying to add a variable while getting the info from a json file as shown below.

stack=$(cat profiles.json | jq '.generic.category')

email=$(cat profiles.json | jq '.central.[Need to add $stack variable here].email')
echo $email
password=$(cat profiles.json | jq '.central.[Need to add $stack variable here].password')
echo $password

I tried few things like jq --arg v $stack '.central[$v]password ' but it didnt work.

This is how my the profiles.json looks like:

  "central": {
        "one": {
            "tenant": "xxx-yyy-zzz",
            "email": "xyz@gmail.com",
            "password": "1111"
         },
        "two": {
            "tenant": "aaa-bbb-ccc",
            "email": "xyz@gmail.com",
            "password": "2222"
         }
  },
  "generic": {
        "username": "root",
        "password": "xyz",
        "project": "ABC",
        "category": "two"
    }

What is the right command to fetch the required information using the variable.

Answer 1

$ cat profiles.json
{
   "central": {
        "one": {
            "tenant": "xxx-yyy-zzz",
            "email": "xyz@gmail.com",
            "password": "1111"
         },
        "two": {
            "tenant": "aaa-bbb-ccc",
            "email": "xyz@gmail.com",
            "password": "2222"
         }
  },
  "generic": {
        "username": "root",
        "password": "xyz",
        "project": "ABC",
        "category": "two"
    }
}

$ jq --arg MYVAR one '.central[$MYVAR].password' profiles.json
"1111"

Answer 2

You can do without the shell variable stack , unless you want to use it in different places later in your shell script.

email=$(jq -r '.central[.generic.category].email' profiles.json)
echo $email
password=$(jq -r '.central[.generic.category].password' profiles.json)
echo $password