---
title: Data Operations
slug: /data-operations
---
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The **Data Operations** component performs operations on [`Data`](/data-types#data) objects, including extracting, filtering, and editing keys and values in the `Data`.
For all options, see [Available data operations](#available-data-operations).
The output is a new `Data` object containing the modified data after running the selected operation.
## Use the Data Operations component in a flow
The following example demonstrates how to use a **Data Operations** component in a flow using data from a webhook payload:
1. Create a flow with a **Webhook** component and a **Data Operations** component, and then connect the **Webhook** component's output to the **Data Operations** component's **Data** input.
All operations in the **Data Operations** component require at least one `Data` input from another component.
If the preceding component doesn't produce `Data` output, you can use another component, such as the [**Type Convert** component](/type-convert), to reformat the data before passing it to the **Data Operations** component.
Alternatively, you could consider using a component that is designed to process the original data type, such as the [**Parser** component](/parser) or [**DataFrame Operations** component](/dataframe-operations).
2. In the **Operations** field, select the operation you want to perform on the incoming `Data`.
For this example, select the **Select Keys** operation.
:::tip
You can select only one operation.
If you need to perform multiple operations on the data, you can chain multiple **Data Operations** components together to execute each operation in sequence.
For more complex multi-step operations, consider using a component like the [**Smart Transform** component](/smart-transform).
:::
3. Under **Select Keys**, add keys for `name`, `username`, and `email`.
Click **Add more** to add a field for each key.
For this example, assume that the webhook will receive consistent payloads that always contain `name`, `username`, and `email` keys.
The **Select Keys** operation extracts the value of these keys from each incoming payload.
4. Optional: If you want to view the output in the **Playground**, connect the **Data Operations** component's output to a **Chat Output** component.
5. To test the flow, send the following request to your flow's webhook endpoint.
For more information about the webhook endpoint, see [Trigger flows with webhooks](/webhook).
```bash
curl -X POST "http://$LANGFLOW_SERVER_URL/api/v1/webhook/$FLOW_ID" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "x-api-key: $LANGFLOW_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"id": 1,
"name": "Leanne Graham",
"username": "Bret",
"email": "Sincere@april.biz",
"address": {
"street": "Main Street",
"suite": "Apt. 556",
"city": "Springfield",
"zipcode": "92998-3874",
"geo": {
"lat": "-37.3159",
"lng": "81.1496"
}
},
"phone": "1-770-736-8031 x56442",
"website": "hildegard.org",
"company": {
"name": "Acme-Corp",
"catchPhrase": "Multi-layered client-server neural-net",
"bs": "harness real-time e-markets"
}
}'
```
6. To view the `Data` resulting from the **Select Keys** operation, do one of the following:
* If you attached a **Chat Output** component, open the **Playground** to see the result as a chat message.
* Click **Inspect output** on the **Data Operations** component.
## Data Operations parameters
Many parameters are conditional based on the selected **Operation** (`operation`).
| Name | Display Name | Info |
|------|--------------|------|
| data | Data | Input parameter. The `Data` object to operate on. |
| operation | Operation | Input parameter. The operation to perform on the data. See [Available data operations](#available-data-operations) |
| select_keys_input | Select Keys | Input parameter. A list of keys to select from the data. |
| filter_key | Filter Key | Input parameter. The key to filter by. |
| operator | Comparison Operator | Input parameter. The operator to apply for comparing values. |
| filter_values | Filter Values | Input parameter. A list of values to filter by. |
| append_update_data | Append or Update | Input parameter. The data to append or update the existing data with. |
| remove_keys_input | Remove Keys | Input parameter. A list of keys to remove from the data. |
| rename_keys_input | Rename Keys | Input parameter. A list of keys to rename in the data. |
| mapped_json_display | JSON to Map | Input parameter. JSON structure to explore for path selection. Only applies to the **Path Selection** operation. For more information, see [Path Selection operation examples](#path-selection-operation-examples). |
| selected_key | Select Path | Input parameter. The JSON path expression to extract values. Only applies to the **Path Selection** operation. For more information, see [Path Selection operation examples](#path-selection-operation-examples). |
| query | JQ Expression | Input parameter. The [`jq`](https://jqlang.org/manual/) expression for advanced JSON filtering and transformation. Only applies to the **JQ Expression** operation. For more information, see [JQ Expression operation examples](#jq-expression-operation-examples). |
#### Available data operations
Options for the `operations` input parameter are as follows.
All operations act on an incoming `Data` object.
| Name | Required Inputs | Process |
|-----------|----------------|-------------|
| Select Keys | `select_keys_input` | Selects specific keys from the data. |
| Literal Eval | None | Evaluates string values as Python literals. |
| Combine | None | Combines multiple data objects into one. |
| Filter Values | `filter_key`, `filter_values`, `operator` | Filters data based on key-value pair. |
| Append or Update | `append_update_data` | Adds or updates key-value pairs. |
| Remove Keys | `remove_keys_input` | Removes specified keys from the data. |
| Rename Keys | `rename_keys_input` | Renames keys in the data. |
| Path Selection | `mapped_json_display`, `selected_key` | Extracts values from nested JSON structures using path expressions. |
| JQ Expression | `query` | Performs advanced JSON queries using [`jq`](https://jqlang.org/manual/) syntax for filtering, projections, and transformations. |
## Path Selection operation examples
Use the Path Selection operation to extract values from nested JSON structures with dot notation paths.
1. In the **Operations** dropdown, select **Path Selection**.
2. In the **JSON to Map** field, enter your JSON structure.
This example uses the following JSON structure.
```json
{
"user": {
"profile": {
"name": "John Doe",
"email": "john@example.com"
},
"settings": {
"theme": "dark"
}
}
}
```
The **Select Path** dropdown auto-populates with available paths.
3. In the **Select Paths** dropdown, select the path.
You can select paths such as `.user.profile.name` to extract "John Doe", or select `.user.settings.theme` to extract "dark".
## JQ Expression operation example {#jq-expression-operation-examples}
Use the **JQ Expressions** operation to use the [jq](https://jqlang.org/) query language to perform more advanced JSON filtering.
1. In the **Operations** dropdown, select **JQ Expression**.
2. In the **JQ Expression** field, enter a `jq` filter to query against the **Data Operations** component's Data input.
For this example JSON structure, enter expressions like `.user.profile.name` to extract "John Doe", `.user.profile | {name, email}` to project fields to a new object, or `.user.profile | tostring` to convert the field to a string.
```json
{
"user": {
"profile": {
"name": "John Doe",
"email": "john@example.com"
},
"settings": {
"theme": "dark"
}
}
}
```