diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index a72fe4d..c304450 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ jobs:
           task-version: '3.50.0'
           task-retries: '3'
           setup-gomplate: true
+          setup-jq: true
 
       - name: Verify Setup
         run: |
@@ -117,6 +118,12 @@ jobs:
           echo "::group::Verify Gomplate Installation"
             gomplate --version
           echo "::endgroup::"
+          echo "::group::Verify Task Installation"
+            task --version
+          echo "::endgroup::"
+          echo "::group::Verify JQ Installation"
+            jq --version
+          echo "::endgroup::"
 
   test-egress-policy:
     name: Test Egress Policy Input
@@ -463,3 +470,56 @@ jobs:
             echo "Expected gomplate version ${EXPECTED_VERSION}, got: ${ACTUAL}"
             exit 1
           fi
+
+  test-setup-jq:
+    name: Test Setup JQ
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Harden Runner
+        id: harden-runner
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@9af89fc71515a100421586dfdb3dc9c984fbf411 # v2.19.4
+        with:
+          egress-policy: audit
+
+      - name: Checkout Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
+
+      - name: Run Setup JQ Action
+        uses: ./
+        with:
+          setup-jq: true
+
+      - name: Verify JQ Installation
+        run: |
+          jq --version
+
+  test-setup-jq-custom-version:
+    name: Test Setup JQ (custom version)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Harden Runner
+        id: harden-runner
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@9af89fc71515a100421586dfdb3dc9c984fbf411 # v2.19.4
+        with:
+          egress-policy: audit
+
+      - name: Checkout Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
+
+      - name: Run Setup JQ Action (non-default version)
+        uses: ./
+        with:
+          setup-jq: true
+          jq-version: 1.8.0
+
+      - name: Verify JQ Version Matches Input
+        env:
+          EXPECTED_VERSION: 1.8.0
+        run: |
+          ACTUAL="$(jq --version)"
+          ESCAPED_EXPECTED_VERSION="$(printf '%s\n' "${EXPECTED_VERSION}" | sed 's/[][(){}.^$*+?|\\]/\\&/g')"
+          echo "jq reported: ${ACTUAL}"
+          if ! echo "${ACTUAL}" | grep -qE "(^jq-|[^0-9.])${ESCAPED_EXPECTED_VERSION}([^0-9.]|$)"; then
+            echo "Expected jq version ${EXPECTED_VERSION}, got: ${ACTUAL}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2fd06b..f75e7cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Common steps for initializing a job for GitHub actions. This composite action co
 - Security hardening with Step Security's Harden Runner (configurable egress policy)
 - Repository checkout with configurable options
 - Multi-language support (Node.js, Java, Python, Go, Rust, Swift)
-- Build tool setup (Gradle, Task, gomplate)
+- Build tool setup (Gradle, Task, gomplate, jq)
 - Automatic caching for dependencies and build artifacts
 
 ## Usage
@@ -135,6 +135,21 @@ Common steps for initializing a job for GitHub actions. This composite action co
 > [!NOTE]
 > `setup-gomplate` currently installs the Linux AMD64 gomplate release artifact.
 
+**jq**
+
+| Input      | Description                       | Required | Default |
+|------------|-----------------------------------|----------|---------|
+| setup-jq   | Whether to setup jq               | No       | false   |
+| jq-version | Desired jq version (e.g. 1.8.1)   | No       | 1.8.1   |
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> `setup-jq` downloads the requested jq release directly from
+> `github.com/jqlang/jq` (with sha256 verification) and installs it to
+> `/usr/local/bin/jq`. Supports Linux and macOS on `amd64`/`arm64`.
+> jq <1.8 truncates `jq --version` to `jq-X.Y` even on patch releases — the
+> binary itself is the exact requested version, but the reported version
+> string cannot distinguish 1.7.0 from 1.7.1.
+
 ### Outputs
 
 **Checkout Outputs**
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index 04737bc..2e69b45 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -155,6 +155,14 @@ inputs:
     description: 'Number of retries for Task setup in case of failure, default is 3.'
     required: false
     default: '3'
+  setup-jq:
+    description: 'Whether to setup jq'
+    required: false
+    default: 'false'
+  jq-version:
+    description: 'Desired jq version (e.g. 1.8.1)'
+    required: false
+    default: '1.8.1'
 
 # expose outputs from the sub-actions
 outputs:
@@ -474,6 +482,64 @@ runs:
         echo "${EXPECTED_SHA}  /tmp/gomplate" | sha256sum -c - || { echo "Gomplate checksum verification failed"; exit 1; }
         sudo install -m 755 /tmp/gomplate /usr/local/bin/gomplate
 
+    - name: Set Up jq Parameters
+      id: setup-jq-params
+      if: ${{ inputs.setup-jq == 'true' }}
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        JQ_VERSION: ${{ inputs.jq-version }}
+      run: |
+        echo "::group::Setting up jq"
+        echo "Runner OS: ${RUNNER_OS}"
+        echo "Runner Arch: ${RUNNER_ARCH}"
+        echo "Desired Version: ${JQ_VERSION}"
+        echo "::endgroup::"
+
+    - name: Install JQ
+      id: setup-jq
+      if: ${{ inputs.setup-jq == 'true' }}
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        JQ_VERSION: ${{ inputs.jq-version }}
+      run: |
+        if [[ ! "${JQ_VERSION}" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?$ ]]; then
+          echo "Invalid jq-version: '${JQ_VERSION}' (expected MAJOR.MINOR[.PATCH], e.g. 1.8.1)"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        case "${RUNNER_OS}" in
+          Linux) JQ_OS="linux" ;;
+          macOS) JQ_OS="macos" ;;
+          *) echo "Unsupported runner OS for jq setup: ${RUNNER_OS}"; exit 1 ;;
+        esac
+
+        case "${RUNNER_ARCH}" in
+          X64)   JQ_ARCH="amd64" ;;
+          ARM64) JQ_ARCH="arm64" ;;
+          *) echo "Unsupported runner arch for jq setup: ${RUNNER_ARCH}"; exit 1 ;;
+        esac
+
+        JQ_ASSET="jq-${JQ_OS}-${JQ_ARCH}"
+        JQ_RELEASE_URL="https://github.com/jqlang/jq/releases/download/jq-${JQ_VERSION}"
+
+        echo "::group::Download jq ${JQ_VERSION}"
+        curl -sSfL "${JQ_RELEASE_URL}/${JQ_ASSET}" \
+          -o /tmp/jq || { echo "Failed to download jq binary"; exit 1; }
+        curl -sSfL "${JQ_RELEASE_URL}/sha256sum.txt" \
+          -o /tmp/jq_checksums.txt || { echo "Failed to download jq checksums"; exit 1; }
+        EXPECTED_SHA="$(awk -v a="${JQ_ASSET}" '$2 == a { print $1 }' /tmp/jq_checksums.txt)"
+        if [ -z "${EXPECTED_SHA}" ]; then
+          echo "Unable to find checksum for ${JQ_ASSET}"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        echo "${EXPECTED_SHA}  /tmp/jq" | shasum -a 256 -c - || { echo "jq checksum verification failed"; exit 1; }
+        sudo install -m 755 /tmp/jq /usr/local/bin/jq
+        echo "::endgroup::"
+
+        echo "::group::Show JQ Version"
+        jq --version
+        echo "::endgroup::"
+
 branding:
   icon: 'arrow-up-right'
   color: 'green'