JSON_OBJECT()

Signature

JSON_OBJECT ( [ <json_key_value> [ , ...n ] ] [ json_null_clause ] [ RETURNING json ] )

<json_key_value> ::= json_key_name : value_expression

<json_null_clause> ::=
      NULL ON NULL
    | ABSENT ON NULL

Parameters

• json_key_name — A character expression that defines the value of the JSON key name.
• value_expression — An expression that defines the value of the JSON key.
• json_null_clause — Can be used to control the behavior of `JSON_OBJECT` function when value_expression is `NULL`. The option `NULL ON NULL` converts the SQL `NULL` value into a JSON null value when generating the JSON key value. The option `ABSENT ON NULL` will omit the entire key if the value is `NULL`. The default setting for this option is `NULL ON NULL`.

Examples

SELECT JSON_OBJECT();

{}

SELECT JSON_OBJECT('name':'value', 'type':1);

{"name":"value","type":1}

SELECT JSON_OBJECT('name':'value', 'type':NULL ABSENT ON NULL);

{"name":"value"}

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

• SQL Server 2022 and later
• Azure SQL Database
• Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Microsoft Fabric warehouse
• Fabric SQL database