The manual (https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/) somewhat provides that. Quite a few sections have helpful examples, with links to the sandbox at jqplay.org.

The IMO not so good parts of that page are

- Quite a few section headers don’t make sense to novices

- I think the table of contents would be better if it had subheaders, ideally with one-line descriptions of the features (that probably would solve the issue above)

- not every section has examples

- some examples use fairly advanced features, making them harder to understand then necessary

I use it a bunch to string together web APIs, and you're absolutely right. The longer I go relying on my library of pre-written strings of commands, the harder it is to write a new one. And you're right again with your second point, because that same library makes for great reference material for myself.