n8n Expressions Cheat Sheet

{{ $json.email }}

A field on the current item.

{{ $json["first name"] }}

Bracket notation for keys with spaces or dashes.

{{ $json.customer.address.city }}

A nested field.

{{ $json.items[0].sku }}

The first element of an array field.

{{ $json.firstName + ' ' + $json.lastName }}

Concatenate values.

{{ `Order ${$json.id} for ${$json.name}` }}

Template literal inside an expression.

{{ JSON.stringify($json) }}

The whole item as a JSON string — handy for debugging or HTTP bodies.

{{ $itemIndex }}

Zero-based index of the item being processed.

{{ $runIndex }}

How many times this node has run in the current execution (starts at 0).

{{ $('Webhook').item.json.body.email }}

The matching (paired) item from an earlier node.

{{ $('Get Customer').first().json.id }}

The first output item of a node.

{{ $('Get Customer').last().json.id }}

The last output item of a node.

{{ $('Get Orders').all().length }}

How many items a node output.

{{ $('Get Orders').all().map(i => i.json.total) }}

One field from every output item, as an array.

{{ $('Set Config').isExecuted }}

True if that node has run in this execution — useful after branches.

{{ $node["Webhook"].json.body.email }}

Legacy syntax. Still works in older workflows, but prefer $('Node Name') in new ones.

{{ $prevNode.name }}

Name of the node that passed data into the current one.

{{ $input.item.json.email }}

The current input item (same as $json).

{{ $input.first().json.email }}

The first input item.

{{ $input.last().json.email }}

The last input item.

{{ $input.all().length }}

Number of input items.

{{ $input.all().map(i => i.json.email).join(', ') }}

Join one field from all input items.

{{ $now.toISO() }}

Current timestamp as ISO 8601.

{{ $now.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}

Today as 2026-11-01.

{{ $now.toFormat('dd LLL yyyy, HH:mm') }}

Human-readable, e.g. 01 Nov 2026, 09:30.

{{ $today.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}

Start of today, formatted.

{{ $now.plus({ days: 7 }).toISO() }}

One week from now.

{{ $now.minus({ hours: 1 }).toISO() }}

One hour ago.

{{ $now.startOf('month').toISODate() }}

First day of the current month.

{{ $now.endOf('week').toISODate() }}

Last day of the current week (ISO weeks end on Sunday).

{{ $now.setZone('Europe/Berlin').toFormat('HH:mm') }}

Current time in another timezone.

{{ $now.toMillis() }}

Unix time in milliseconds.

{{ $now.toSeconds() }}

Unix time in seconds.

{{ DateTime.fromISO($json.createdAt).toFormat('dd/MM/yyyy') }}

Parse an ISO string, then format it.

{{ DateTime.fromSeconds($json.timestamp).toISO() }}

Parse a Unix timestamp in seconds.

{{ $now.diff(DateTime.fromISO($json.dueDate), 'days').days }}

Days between now and a date (negative if the date is in the future).

{{ $now.weekday }}

Day of week, 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday).

{{ $execution.id }}

ID of the current execution — useful in logs and error reports.

{{ $execution.mode }}

'test' for manual runs in the editor, 'production' for active triggers.

{{ $execution.resumeUrl }}

URL that resumes a workflow paused by a Wait node set to resume on webhook call.

{{ $workflow.name }}

Name of this workflow.

{{ $workflow.id }}

ID of this workflow.

{{ $workflow.active }}

Whether the workflow is active.

{{ $vars.API_BASE_URL }}

A custom Variable set in n8n. Variables are read-only in expressions and are available on plans that include them.

{{ $env.MY_SETTING }}

An environment variable. Self-hosted only, and blocked when N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE is true. Never use it for secrets you could store as credentials.

{{ $if($json.total > 100, 'priority', 'standard') }}

$if(condition, valueIfTrue, valueIfFalse).

{{ $json.total > 100 ? 'priority' : 'standard' }}

The same thing with a plain JavaScript ternary.

{{ $ifEmpty($json.nickname, $json.firstName) }}

Use a fallback when the value is empty, null or undefined.

{{ $json.customer?.address?.city }}

Optional chaining: returns undefined instead of throwing if a level is missing.

{{ $json.customer?.address?.city ?? 'Unknown' }}

Optional chaining with a default via ??.

{{ $json.tags?.length > 0 }}

Safe boolean check for a non-empty array.

{{ $max($json.a, $json.b, $json.c) }}

Largest of several numbers ($min for the smallest).

{{ $json.name.toUpperCase() }}

Upper case (toLowerCase() for lower).

{{ $json.name.trim() }}

Remove surrounding whitespace.

{{ $json.tags.split(',') }}

Split a comma-separated string into an array.

{{ $json.title.replaceAll(' ', '-') }}

Replace every occurrence.

{{ $json.text.slice(0, 140) }}

First 140 characters.

{{ $json.message.includes('urgent') }}

True if the text contains a substring.

{{ $json.body.extractEmail() }}

n8n: the first email address found in the text.

{{ $json.website.extractDomain() }}

n8n: the domain from a URL or email.

{{ $json.body.extractUrl() }}

n8n: the first URL found in the text.

{{ $json.email.isEmail() }}

n8n: true if the string is a valid email address.

{{ $json.link.isUrl() }}

n8n: true if the string is a URL.

{{ $json.notes.isEmpty() }}

n8n: true if the string is empty (isNotEmpty() for the opposite).

{{ $json.html.removeTags() }}

n8n: strip HTML tags.

{{ $json.title.toTitleCase() }}

n8n: Title Case (also toSentenceCase(), toSnakeCase()).

{{ $json.query.urlEncode() }}

n8n: URL-encode for query strings.

{{ $json.payload.base64Encode() }}

n8n: Base64-encode (base64Decode() to reverse).

{{ $json.price.toNumber() }}

n8n: convert a numeric string to a number.

{{ $json.dueDate.toDateTime() }}

n8n: parse a date string into a Luxon DateTime.

{{ $json.price.round(2) }}

n8n: round to 2 decimal places.

{{ $json.score.floor() }}

n8n: round down (ceil() to round up).

{{ $json.count.isEven() }}

n8n: true for even numbers (isOdd() for odd).

{{ Math.max(...$json.values) }}

Largest value in an array of numbers.

{{ ($json.done / $json.total * 100).toFixed(1) + '%' }}

A percentage string.

{{ $json.orders.pluck('total') }}

n8n: one field from each object in an array.

{{ $json.orders.pluck('total').sum() }}

n8n: sum of a field across objects.

{{ $json.scores.average() }}

n8n: mean of a numeric array (also max(), min()).

{{ $json.emails.removeDuplicates() }}

n8n: unique values only.

{{ $json.list.first() }}

n8n: first element (last() for the final one).

{{ $json.list.isEmpty() }}

n8n: true if the array has no elements.

{{ $json.list.compact() }}

n8n: drop empty values such as null and ''.

{{ $json.list.chunk(10) }}

n8n: split into arrays of 10 elements.

{{ $json.a.difference($json.b) }}

n8n: values in a that are not in b (also intersection(), union()).

{{ $json.items.filter(i => i.inStock).length }}

Count matching elements with plain JavaScript.

{{ $json.items.find(i => i.sku === 'A-1')?.price }}

Find one element, safely read a field.

{{ $json.hasField('email') }}

n8n: true if the object has that key.

{{ $json.removeField('password') }}

n8n: a copy of the object without that key.

{{ $json.keys() }}

n8n: the object's keys as an array.

{{ Object.entries($json).length }}

Number of top-level fields on the item.

{{ $jmespath($json, 'people[*].name') }}

Every name in an array of people.

{{ $jmespath($json, "people[?age > `30`].name") }}

Filter, then project. Number literals use backticks.

{{ $jmespath($json, 'orders[0].lines[*].sku') }}

A nested projection.

{{ $jmespath($json, 'length(items)') }}

JMESPath built-in function.

// Mode: Run Once for All Items
const results = [];
for (const item of $input.all()) {
  results.push({ json: { email: item.json.email.toLowerCase() } });
}
return results;

Run Once for All Items: loop over $input.all() and return an array of { json } objects.

// Mode: Run Once for Each Item
return {
  json: {
    ...$json,
    fullName: `${$json.firstName} ${$json.lastName}`,
  },
};

Run Once for Each Item: $json is the current item; return a single { json } object.

// Mode: Run Once for All Items
const total = $input.all().reduce((sum, i) => sum + i.json.amount, 0);
return [{ json: { total, count: $input.all().length } }];

Aggregate many items into one.

const customer = $('Get Customer').first().json;
return [{ json: { id: customer.id, at: $now.toISO() } }];

Read another node's output and the current time.

// Mode: Run Once for All Items
return $input.all().filter(i => i.json.status === 'paid');

Filter items. Returning input items keeps their original structure.