Expressions

Note

If you're using v1.21.x or below {{ keyword@path }} syntax is still supported in v1.22.x

This feature allows you to set a dynamic value for a block based on data from:

Name	Description	Access item
table	Get data from the Table	table
variables	Get data from the Variables	variables.<variableName>
loopData	Get the current iteration data of the Loop Data block	loopData.<loopId>
prevBlockData	Get the data of the previous block	prevBlockData
globalData	Get the global data of the workflow	globalData
googleSheets	Get the Google Sheets data	googleSheets.<referenceKey>
activeTabUrl	Get the active tab url	activeTabUrl
workflow	Get the data (Table and Variables) of the workflow that have been execute by the Execute Workflow block	workflow.<executeId>

Automa uses mustache templating and extends it with data from above and functions.

Writing Expression

To write an expression, you must follow this format "{{ keyword }}"; and replace the keyword with one of the above data sources. It allows Automa to differentiate between static and dynamic data.

Let's say you have a variable inside the workflow, and the variable name is socials; its value is an array of objects. You want to send this variable to an API using the HTTP Request block.

[
  { "name": "GitHub", "url": "https://github.com/AutomaApp" },
  { "name": "Twitter", "url": "https://twitter.com/AutomaApp" },
  { "name": "Discord", "url": "https://discord.gg/C6khwwTE84" }
]

You can use the following expression inside the HTTP Request block body:

{{variables.socials}}

But what if you want to use the url property on the first element of the array as a value inside the New Tab block URL? For that, use the following expression:

{{variables.socials.0.url}}

0 on that expression means the first element of the array. And if you want to get the second element of the array, replace it with 1. 2 for the third element; 3 for the fourth element; and so on.

Access Another Data Inside the Expressions

To access other data inside the expression, you must wrap the expression for accessing the data with a bracket ([]). For example, when you want to increment a variable using the $increment function or get the table row based on the current index of the loop. You can write the expressions like:

{{$increment([variables.variableName]}}

{{table.[loopData.loopId.$index].columnName}}

Functions

All built-in functions always start with the prefix $; for example, $funcName(param); And here are reference list of available functions in Automa.

$date(date, dateFormat?)

Get or format a date. This function takes two parameters, which the second parameter is optional.

If you want to format the current date, you can directly pass the dateFormat as the first parameter, like {{ $date('DD-MMMM-YYYY') }}, and the output would be 14-January-2022. See all the available date formats on the day.js page.

And for the date parameter, see the valid date format on the MDN page.

Examples

$date("DD MMMM YYYY") // 14 January 2022
$date("DD-MM-YYYY, hh:mm A")  // 14-01-2022, 02:24 PM
$date("relative") // A few seconds ago
$date("timestamp") // 1651118110948

$date("2005-06-07", "DD MMMM YYYY") // 07 June 2005
$date("1977-04-01T14:00:30", "DD-MM-YYYY, hh:mm A")  // 01-04-1977, 02:00 PM
$date("14 January 2021", "relative") // A year ago
$date("14 January 2021", "timestamp") // 1610553600000

$randint(min?, max?)

Generate a random number. You can change the range of the random number by inputting the min and max parameters.

Examples

$randint() // 30
$randint() // 14

$randint(0, 10) // 4
$randint(0, 10) // 7

$getLength(str)

Get the length of a string or array.

Examples

// Get the length of a string
$getLength("testing") // 7

// Get tabel length
$getLength([table]) // 14

// Get the length of the "text" column on the second row
$getLength([table.1.text]) // 5

$randData(expression)

A function to generate random data, you only need to pass an expression to its parameter. For example, $randData("?l") will generate a random lowercase letter like a. Supported expression:

• ?l: lowercase
• ?u: uppercase
• ?d: digit
• ?f: uppercase + lowercase
• ?s: symbol
• ?m: uppercase + digit
• ?n: lowercase + digit
• ?a: any

You can also combine these expressions like $randData("?u?l?l?l?l?d?d@gmail.com") which will generate Apond89@gmail.com.

Examples

$randData("?d?d") // 89

$randData("?l?l?l?d?d@gmail.com") // wal29@gmail.com

$randData("?d?u?s?l?l?s?a?m") // 4C%ee^MF9

$multiply(value, multiplyBy)

Is used to multiply a value.

Examples

$multiply(5, 2) // 10

// Multiply a variable
$multiply([variables.variableName], 0.3) //20.7

$increment(value, incrementBy)

Is used to increment a value.

Examples

$increment(10, 2) // 12

$increment(72, 2) // 74

$divide(value, incrementBy)

Is used to divide a value.

Examples

$divide(22, 7) // 3.142857142857143

$divide(10, 2) // 5

$subtract(value, incrementBy)

Is used to subtract a value.

Examples

$subtract(80, 7) // 73

$subtract(11, 2) // 9

$replace(value, search, replace)

Is used to replace a string search from value to be replace string.

Examples

$replace("hello world!", "world", "everyone") // hello everyone!

$replace("hello world!", "hello", "hi") // hi world!

$replaceAll(value, search, replace)

Used to replace all the matches string search from value to be replace string.

Examples

$replace("hello world!", "o", "0") // hell0 w0rld

$replace("The temperature is 25 degrees today", " ", "") // Thetemperatureis25degreestoday

$toLowerCase(value)

Is used to lowercase a value.

Examples

$toLowerCase("HELLO WORLD!") // hello world!

$toLowerCase("hELLO wORLD!") // hello world!

$toUpperCase(value)

Is used to uppercase a value.

Examples

$toUpperCase("hello world!") // HELLO WORLD!

$toUpperCase("hELLO wORLD!") // HELLO WORLD!

$modulo(num, divisor)

Returns the remainder or signed remainder of a division.

Examples

$modulo(13, 5) // 3

$modulo(-13, 5) // -3

$modulo(4, 2) // 0

$modulo(-4, 2) // -0

$filter(data, syntax)

Filter/Query javascript object. Automa is using JSONPath library to do querying.

• data: Javascript object to query
• syntax: JSONPath Syntax

Examples

Querying colors variable with these as the value:

[
	{ color: "red", value: "#f00" },
	{ color: "green", value: "#0f0" },
	{ color: "blue", value: "#00f" },
	{ color: "cyan", value: "#0ff" },
	{ color: "magenta", value: "#f0f" },
	{ color: "yellow", value: "#ff0" },
	{ color: "black", value: "#000" }
]

{{ $filter([variables.colors], "$..color") }}
// ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'cyan', 'magenta', 'yellow', 'black']

{{ $filter([variables.colors], "$..value") }}
// ['#f00', '#0f0', '#00f', '#0ff', '#f0f', '#ff0', '#000']

Using JS Expressions

!!{{ $filter(variables.colors, "$..color") }}
// ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'cyan', 'magenta', 'yellow', 'black']

!!{{ $filter(variables.colors, "$..value") }}
// ['#f00', '#0f0', '#00f', '#0ff', '#f0f', '#ff0', '#000']

$stringify(value)

Convert JavaScript value to a JSON string.

Examples

This section provides more examples of how to write expressions. And the data structure of the source data.

Table

The table is stored as an array of objects with the table column as the object key.

[
  { "color": "blue", "value": "#00f" },
  { "color": "cyan", "value": "#0ff" },
  { "color": "magenta", "value": "#f0f" },
  { "color": "yellow", "value": "#ff0" },
  { "color": "black", "value": "#000" }
]

• Get the first row of the table.
  expression: {{ table.0 }}
  output: { "color": "blue", "value": "#00f" }

• Get the second row of the table.
  expression: {{ table.1 }}
  output: { "color": "cyan", "value": "#0ff" }

• Get the last row of the table.
  expression: {{ table.$last }}
  output: { "color": "black", "value": "#000" }

• Get value of the color column on the first row of the table.
  expression: {{ table.0.color }}
  output: blue

• Get value of the value column on the first row of the table.
  expression: {{ table.0.value }}
  output: #00f

Variables

The variables is stored as an object with the variable name as the object key.

{
  "url": "https://www.goautoma.com/extension/",
  "numbers": [100, 500, 300, 200, 400]
}

• Get value of the url variable.
  expression: {{ variables.url }}
  output: https://www.goautoma.com/extension/

• Get value of the numbers variable.
  expression: {{ variables.numbers }}
  output: [100, 500, 300, 200, 400]

• Get the first number of the numbers variable.
  expression: {{ variables.numbers.0 }}
  output: 100

JavaScript Expressions

Note

Only supported in the chromium based browser

Automa also supports javascript within the expression, but to write a javascript, you must add !! characters as the first value on a text field of a block. For example, from The number is: {{variables.number}} to !!The number is: {{variables.number}}.

And you can use the built-in function the same as the javascript function.

Examples

• Using the built-in function

{{$getLength(table)}} //10

{{$randData("?d?d")}} // 89

• Get the last table row

{{table[table.length - 1].columnName}}

• Get current timestamp

{{Date.now()}} //1666237704022

• Access loop data and index

// Loop data
{{loopData.loopId.data}}

// Loop index
{{loopData.loopId.$index}}