{"data":{"slug":"fq","name":"fq","tagline":"MIT jq for binary formats — decode, query, REPL","category":"devops","categoryName":"DevOps","url":"https://wader.github.io/fq/","github":"https://github.com/wader/fq","pricing":"open-source","hook":"fq is jq for packets, images, and media when the file is binary and JSON filters are the wrong first tool.","whatsGood":"MIT. wader/fq. Go tool + jq-shaped language + decoders for binary (and nested) formats: inspect trees, slice, transform, REPL with completion. Manual at wader.github.io/fq; source github.com/wader/fq.","theCatch":"Vs jq (JSON filter), jless (JSON pager), gron (flatten-for-grep), and jc (CLI stdout→JSON): fq is the *binary-format* cousin, not a JSON-only pipe and not a packet capture GUI. Decoder coverage is wide but not every vendor blob; unknown formats still need a spec.","verdict":"MIT binary jq. Free forever; query the bytes when the file is not JSON.","addedAt":"2026-09-13","featured":false,"domain":"DevOps","subSpecialty":"Tooling","subcategory":"Tooling","tags":["cli","self-host","permissive","license-unclear","active"],"capabilities":["binary","cli","jq"],"surfaces":["CLI","Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Go","Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"OSS/MIT","githubStars":10615,"starsPerWeek":36,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2021-02-07","pushedAt":"2026-10-16","license":"NOASSERTION","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"github-actions","name":"GitHub Actions","tagline":"CI/CD that lives where your code does"},{"slug":"docker","name":"Docker","tagline":"Container runtime that changed deployment"},{"slug":"kubernetes","name":"Kubernetes","tagline":"Container orchestration at scale"},{"slug":"pulumi","name":"Pulumi","tagline":"Infrastructure as code in real languages"},{"slug":"fly-io","name":"Fly.io","tagline":"Deploy apps to VMs close to your users"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/fq","html":"/gems/fq","markdown":"/gems/fq.md","category":"/api/gems?category=devops","categoryPage":"/stacks/devops"}}