PostgreSQL: Remove attribute from JSON column

Update: for 9.5+, there are explicit operators you can use with jsonb (if you have a json typed column, you can use casts to apply a modification):

Deleting a key (or an index) from a JSON object (or, from an array) can be done with the - operator:

SELECT jsonb '{"a":1,"b":2}' - 'a', -- will yield jsonb '{"b":2}'
       jsonb '["a",1,"b",2]' - 1    -- will yield jsonb '["a","b",2]'

Deleting, from deep in a JSON hierarchy can be done with the #- operator:

SELECT '{"a":[null,{"b":[3.14]}]}' #- '{a,1,b,0}'
-- will yield jsonb '{"a":[null,{"b":[]}]}'

For 9.4, you can use a modified version of the original answer (below), but instead of aggregating a JSON string, you can aggregate into a json object directly with json_object_agg().

Related: other JSON manipulations whithin PostgreSQL:

• How do I modify fields inside the new PostgreSQL JSON datatype?

Original answer (applies to PostgreSQL 9.3):

If you have at least PostgreSQL 9.3, you can split your object into pairs with json_each() and filter your unwanted fields, then build up the json again manually. Something like:

SELECT data::text::json AS before,
       ('{' || array_to_string(array_agg(to_json(l.key) || ':' || l.value), ',') || '}')::json AS after
FROM (VALUES ('{"attrA":1,"attrB":true,"attrC":["a","b","c"]}'::json)) AS v(data),
LATERAL (SELECT * FROM json_each(data) WHERE "key" <> 'attrB') AS l
GROUP BY data::text

With 9.2 (or lower) it is not possible.

Edit:

A more convenient form is to create a function, which can remove any number of attributes in a json field:

Edit 2: string_agg() is less expensive than array_to_string(array_agg())

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION "json_object_delete_keys"("json" json, VARIADIC "keys_to_delete" TEXT[])
  RETURNS json
  LANGUAGE sql
  IMMUTABLE
  STRICT
AS $function$
SELECT COALESCE(
  (SELECT ('{' || string_agg(to_json("key") || ':' || "value", ',') || '}')
   FROM json_each("json")
   WHERE "key" <> ALL ("keys_to_delete")),
  '{}'
)::json
$function$;

With this function, all you need to do is to run the query below:

UPDATE my_table
SET data = json_object_delete_keys(data, 'attrB');

This has gotten much easier with PostgreSQL 9.5 using the JSONB type. See JSONB operators documented here.

You can remove a top-level attribute with the "-" operator.

SELECT '{"a": {"key":"value"}, "b": 2, "c": true}'::jsonb - 'a'
// -> {"b": 2, "c": true}

You can use this within an update call to update an existing JSONB field.

UPDATE my_table SET data = data - 'attrB'

You can also provide the attribute name dynamically via parameter if used in a function.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION delete_mytable_data_key(
    _id integer,
    _key character varying)
  RETURNS void AS
$BODY$
BEGIN
    UPDATE my_table SET
        data = data - _key
    WHERE id = _id;
END;
$BODY$
  LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE
  COST 100;

The reverse operator is the "||", in order to concatenate two JSONB packets together. Note that the right-most use of the attribute will overwrite any previous ones.

SELECT '{"a": true, "c": true}'::jsonb || '{"a": false, "b": 2}'::jsonb 
// -> {"a": false, "b": 2, "c": true}