Add JsonPointer annotation for nested binding

release-notes/VERSION-2.x

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ NOTE: Jackson 3.x components rely on 2.x annotations; there are no separate
 
 #346: Add `@JsonWrapped` annotation
  (contributed by @sri-adarsh-kumar)
+#357: Add `@JsonPointer` annotation for binding a property from a nested
+  JSON value selected with JSON Pointer syntax
 
 2.22 (31-May-2026)
 

src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/annotation/JsonPointer.java

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * Annotation used to indicate that a property is to be deserialized from the
+ * value selected by a JSON Pointer expression, instead of from a direct child
+ * property of the containing JSON Object.
+ *<p>
+ * For example, given input such as:
+ *<pre>
+ * {
+ *   "employee" : {
+ *     "details" : {
+ *       "departmentId" : 123
+ *     }
+ *   }
+ * }
+ *</pre>
+ * property can be bound directly with:
+ *<pre>
+ * public class Employee {
+ *   &#64;JsonPointer("/employee/details/departmentId")
+ *   public int departmentId;
+ * }
+ *</pre>
+ * Pointer syntax follows JSON Pointer (RFC 6901), including escaping of
+ * {@code '~'} and {@code '/'} characters as {@code "~0"} and {@code "~1"},
+ * respectively.
+ *<p>
+ * This annotation only defines logical property access during deserialization;
+ * it has no effect on serialization. If the pointer does not resolve to a value,
+ * the property is considered absent. An explicitly resolved JSON {@code null}
+ * is handled as a regular null property value.
+ *<p>
+ * Actual support for this annotation is provided by data-binding modules such
+ * as {@code jackson-databind}; annotation introspection by itself does not enable
+ * JSON Pointer traversal.
+ *
+ * @since 2.23
+ */
+@Target({ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE, ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.PARAMETER})
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+@JacksonAnnotation
+public @interface JsonPointer
+{
+    /**
+     * JSON Pointer expression used to locate the value in the input document.
+     *
+     * @return JSON Pointer expression for the annotated property
+     */
+    String value();
+}

src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/annotation/JsonPointerTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+
+public class JsonPointerTest
+{
+    private static class BeanWithField {
+        @JsonPointer("/nested/field")
+        public String field;
+    }
+
+    private static class BeanWithMethod {
+        @JsonPointer("/nested/field")
+        public void setField(String field) { }
+    }
+
+    private static class BeanWithParameter {
+        public BeanWithParameter(@JsonPointer("/nested/field") String field) { }
+    }
+
+    @JsonPointer("/nested/field")
+    @JacksonAnnotationsInside
+    @interface BundleAnnotation { }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testRuntimeRetentionOnField() throws Exception {
+        JsonPointer ann = BeanWithField.class.getField("field").getAnnotation(JsonPointer.class);
+        assertNotNull(ann);
+        assertEquals("/nested/field", ann.value());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testRuntimeRetentionOnMethod() throws Exception {
+        JsonPointer ann = BeanWithMethod.class.getMethod("setField", String.class)
+                .getAnnotation(JsonPointer.class);
+        assertNotNull(ann);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testApplicableOnConstructorParameter() throws Exception {
+        Constructor<?> ctor = BeanWithParameter.class.getDeclaredConstructor(String.class);
+        JsonPointer ann = ctor.getParameters()[0].getAnnotation(JsonPointer.class);
+        assertNotNull(ann);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testApplicableOnAnnotationType() {
+        JsonPointer ann = BundleAnnotation.class.getAnnotation(JsonPointer.class);
+        assertNotNull(ann);
+    }
+}