Database driver JSON

Note: This feature is available in Lite, Enterprise, Ultimate and Team editions only.

This guide provides instructions on how to set up and use JSON files with DBeaver. The JSON driver supports standard JSON files and allows you to work with JSON data as if it were in a database. You can retrieve data and apply filters, sorting, and other operations, even combining data from multiple files.

Important: When using the JSON driver, all connected JSON files are read-only. To make changes, you need to update the original files outside DBeaver.

Before you start, you need to create a connection in DBeaver and select the appropriate JSON driver. If you haven’t done this, see our Database Connection article.

This section describes how to set up a connection using the JSON driver. The connection settings page requires the following fields:

Tip: When using the Folder option, DBeaver scans the directory up to two levels deep for JSON files. For more information, see folder structure. If you select a folder, DBeaver organizes files in schemas based on their directory structure.

The JSON driver supports the full range of SQL queries:

• Simple queries (e.g., SELECT * FROM table): Data is read directly from the JSON file.

• Complex queries (e.g., using WHERE, JOIN, ORDER BY, GROUP BY): When a complex query is executed for the first time, the driver imports the entire JSON file into an internal database to enable advanced SQL functions. Subsequent queries run faster because the data is already imported into an internal database.

When working with a folder containing multiple JSON files, DBeaver organizes them as follows:

If your folder looks like this:

Data/
├── employees.json
├── sales.json
└── Reports/
    └── monthly.json
    └── yearly.json

DBeaver will create:

• Default schema: employees, sales
• Reports schema: monthly, yearly

Tip: To focus on specific files, consider selecting individual files or folders when configuring the connection.

When you execute a complex query (such as WHERE, JOIN, GROUP BY, or ORDER BY.), on a JSON file for the first time, the JSON driver processes the data by importing it into a temporary internal SQLite database.

By default, this internal database stores data temporarily on the disk during your session and is cleared when DBeaver restarts. To speed up queries on the same file in future sessions, you can specify the internalDbFilePath option in the Driver properties tab (e.g., C:\User\database.db) to reuse the processed data.

For more details on driver properties, see File-based driver properties.

DBeaver provides additional features compatible with JSON driver, but not exclusive to it: