jq transforms and queries JSON. Its -e or --exit-status option makes the command’s status depend on the last output value: 0 when it is neither false nor null, 1 when it is false or null, and 4 when no valid result was produced. The manual also distinguishes usage, system and compilation failures.

This makes jq useful in automation, but the last-result rule matters for streams. If a filter emits several validation results, a successful final value is not a statement that every earlier result passed. Design the filter to express the actual acceptance condition instead of treating any printed JSON as success.

The --slurp option reads the input stream into an array and runs the filter once. That can help express an aggregate check, but it also changes the memory model: the input is collected rather than processed one value at a time. Decide explicitly how empty input, missing fields and unexpected types should be handled.

Verdict: jq -e is a useful building block, not an automatic schema validator. Test the chosen predicate against a valid sample, a failing middle record, empty input and malformed JSON; inspect both output and status. This review is based on documentation, with no throughput benchmark, lab score or claim that a specific production pipeline was tested.