Summary: jsonb_each() is a Postgres set-returning function that expands a JSONB object into one row per key-value pair, returning key as text and value as jsonb. Use it when you need to iterate over a JSONB object with a dynamic or unknown schema, or when you want to join expanded JSONB key-value pairs against other tables in a FROM clause. Choose jsonb_each_text() instead when you need the value as plain text, or json_each() when the input is JSON rather than JSONB.

Expands JSONB into a record per key-value pair

The jsonb_each function in Postgres is used to expand a JSONB object into a set of key-value pairs.

It is useful when you need to iterate over a JSONB object's keys and values, such as when you're working with dynamic JSONB structures where the schema is not fixed. Another important use case is performing data transformations and analytics.

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jsonb_each(json JSON) -> SETOF record(key text, value json)

The function returns a set of rows, each containing a key and the corresponding value for each field in the input JSONB object. The key is of type text, while the value is of type JSONB.

Consider a JSONB object representing a user's profile information. The JSONB data will have multiple attributes and might look like this:

{
  "username": "johndoe",
  "age": 30,
  "email": "johndoe@example.com"
}

We can go over all the fields in the profile JSONB object using jsonb_each, and produce a row for each key-value pair.

SELECT key, value
FROM jsonb_each('{"username": "johndoe", "age": 30, "email": "johndoe@example.com"}');

This query returns the following results:

| key      | value                 |
|----------|-----------------------|
| username | "johndoe"             |
| age      | 30                    |
| email    | "johndoe@example.com" |

You can use AS to specify custom column names for the key and value columns.

SELECT attr_name, attr_value
FROM jsonb_each('{"username": "johndoe", "age": 30, "email": "johndoe@example.com"}')
AS user_data(attr_name, attr_value);

This query returns the following results:

| attr_name | attr_value            |
|-----------|-----------------------|
| username  | "johndoe"             |
| age       | 30                    |
| email     | "johndoe@example.com" |

Since jsonb_each returns a set of rows, you can use it as a table source in a FROM clause. This lets us join the expanded JSONB data in the output with other tables.

Here, we're joining each row in the user_data table with the output of jsonb_each:

CREATE TABLE user_data (
    id INT,
    profile JSON
);
INSERT INTO user_data (id, profile)
VALUES
    (123, '{"username": "johndoe", "age": 30, "email": "johndoe@example.com"}'),
    (140, '{"username": "mikesmith", "age": 40, "email": "mikesmith@example.com"}');

SELECT id, key, value
FROM user_data, jsonb_each(user_data.profile);

This query returns the following results:

| id  | key      | value                   |
|-----|----------|-------------------------|
| 123 | username | "johndoe"               |
| 123 | age      | 30                      |
| 123 | email    | "johndoe@example.com"   |
| 140 | username | "mikesmith"             |
| 140 | age      | 40                      |
| 140 | email    | "mikesmith@example.com" |

When working with large JSONB objects, jsonb_each may lead to performance overhead, as it expands each key-value pair into a separate row.

• jsonb_each_text - Similar functionality to jsonb_each but returns the value as a text type instead of JSONB.
• jsonb_object_keys - It returns only the set of keys in the JSONB object, without the values.
• json_each - It provides the same functionality as jsonb_each, but accepts JSON input instead of JSONB.

• PostgreSQL documentation: JSON functions

• array_to_json
• json
• json_agg
• json_array_elements
• json_build_object
• json_each
• json_exists
• json_extract_path
• json_extract_path_text
• json_object
• json_populate_record
• json_query
• json_scalar
• json_serialize
• json_table
• json_to_record
• json_value
• jsonb_array_elements
• jsonb_extract_path
• jsonb_extract_path_text
• jsonb_object
• jsonb_populate_record
• jsonb_to_record

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