Right -- that's exactly the point. JSON is sequential data, and has no mechanism for random access. The previous comment described piping the JSON into jq as

Right -- that's exactly the point. JSON is sequential data, and has no mechanism for random access. The previous comment described piping the JSON into jq as a solution for querying specific bits of data out of a JSON stream, which is consistent with what you're suggesting here, but still isn't a solution for random access.