Filter node

Overview

Selectively passes data items through the workflow based on specific criteria. Items that do not meet the filter conditions are dropped from the execution path.

Node Type

Action — processes input items and produces output

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Matched, Unmatched, Error

Credentials

This tool does not require any credentials.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Combine Conditions	options	Yes	and	How to combine multiple filter conditions. AND requires all conditions to pass; OR requires at least one.
				Options: and, or
Conditions	fixedCollection	Yes	{}	Define the filter conditions. Each condition specifies a field, data type, operation, and comparison value.
— Field	string	Yes	—	The field path to evaluate (e.g., ‘status’, ‘user.email’, ‘items[0].name’). Supports expressions like {{ $json.fieldName }}.
— Data Type	options	Yes	string	The data type of the field. This determines which operations are available.
				Options: string, number, boolean, date, array, object
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	equals	The comparison operation to perform on the string field. (shown when Data Type is string)
				Options: equals, notEquals, contains, notContains, startsWith, notStartsWith, endsWith, notEndsWith, regex, notRegex, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	equals	The comparison operation to perform on the number field. (shown when Data Type is number)
				Options: equals, notEquals, greaterThan, greaterThanOrEqual, lessThan, lessThanOrEqual, isEven, isOdd, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	isTrue	The comparison operation to perform on the boolean field. (shown when Data Type is boolean)
				Options: isTrue, isFalse, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	after	The comparison operation to perform on the date field. (shown when Data Type is date)
				Options: equals, notEquals, after, afterOrEqual, before, beforeOrEqual, isInPast, isInFuture, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	contains	The comparison operation to perform on the array field. (shown when Data Type is array)
				Options: contains, notContains, lengthEquals, lengthGreaterThan, lengthLessThan, lengthGreaterThanOrEqual, lengthLessThanOrEqual, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Operation (operation)	options	Yes	hasKey	The comparison operation to perform on the object field. (shown when Data Type is object)
				Options: hasKey, notHasKey, keyCountEquals, keyCountGreaterThan, keyCountLessThan, isEmpty, isNotEmpty
— Value	string	No	—	The value to compare against. Supports expressions like {{ $json.compareField }}. (hidden when Operation is isEmpty, isNotEmpty, isTrue, isFalse, isEven, isOdd, isInPast, isInFuture)
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional filter options.
— Ignore Case	boolean	No	false	When enabled, string comparisons will be case-insensitive.
— Include Filter Metadata	boolean	No	false	When enabled, adds _filter metadata to passed items showing which conditions matched.
Max Concurrency	number	No	50	Maximum number of items to evaluate concurrently.

Output Data

One output item per matching input item, on the Matched branch. The item JSON passes through unchanged and binary data is forwarded; the node only adds a property when Include Filter Metadata is on. Items that fail the conditions are separated out and keep their original JSON.

With Include Filter Metadata on, each passing item carries:

{
  "_filter": {
    "passed": true,
    "conditionsEvaluated": 2,
    "combineMode": "and",
    "evaluatedAt": 1765432100000
  }
}

• Data Type decides which operations are available and how both sides are read: a number condition parses both values as numbers and never matches a field that is not numeric, and a date condition never matches a value it cannot parse as a date.
• Ignore Case applies to string and array comparisons only.
• A node with no conditions configured passes every item through.
• With error handling set to continue (the default), an item that fails evaluation travels out on Matched carrying an _error object — check for it downstream rather than assuming everything on that branch matched.

Example Configuration

Keep only the items whose status is active:

{
  "type": "filter",
  "parameters": {
    "combineMode": "and",
    "conditions": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "field": "status",
          "dataType": "string",
          "operation": "equals",
          "value": "active"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Keep anything that is either high priority or flagged urgent, ignoring case:

{
  "type": "filter",
  "parameters": {
    "combineMode": "or",
    "conditions": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "field": "priority",
          "dataType": "string",
          "operation": "equals",
          "value": "high"
        },
        {
          "field": "urgent",
          "dataType": "boolean",
          "operation": "isTrue"
        }
      ]
    },
    "options": {
      "ignoreCase": true,
      "includeMetadata": true
    }
  }
}

Keep recent orders above a threshold — a number and a date condition combined with AND:

{
  "type": "filter",
  "parameters": {
    "combineMode": "and",
    "conditions": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "field": "total",
          "dataType": "number",
          "operation": "greaterThanOrEqual",
          "value": "500"
        },
        {
          "field": "createdAt",
          "dataType": "date",
          "operation": "after",
          "value": "{{ $json.periodStart }}"
        }
      ]
    },
    "maxConcurrency": 25
  }
}

Keep records that carry a tag and a nested identifier:

{
  "type": "filter",
  "parameters": {
    "combineMode": "and",
    "conditions": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "field": "tags",
          "dataType": "array",
          "operation": "contains",
          "value": "important"
        },
        {
          "field": "metadata",
          "dataType": "object",
          "operation": "hasKey",
          "value": "userId"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Evaluates a condition against each input item and routes matches to the output. Use when you need to narrow a dataset to items meeting specific criteria (e.g., status equals active, amount greater than threshold). Produces only the items that satisfy the filter condition.

Key Points

• Always use the rules groupKey inside conditions
• The value parameter should be a string, even for numbers and dates
• Booleans are tested with isTrue / isFalse — there is no boolean equals option
• Some operations like isEmpty and isNotEmpty don’t require a value parameter
• Use appropriate operations based on the selected dataType
• The options fields are nested directly under the options key (no groupKey needed)