Checks whether the given value matches any of the values of the array and excludes the event from the search result if it does not match any value.

ParameterTypeRequiredDefault ValueDescription
array[a]stringrequired  A string in the format of a valid array followed by []. A valid array can either be an identifier, a valid array followed by . and an identifier, or a valid array followed by an array index surrounded by square brackets. For example, for events with fields incidents[0], incidents[1], ... this would be incidents[].
valuestringrequired  The exact value of the array to search for.

[a] The parameter name array can be omitted.

Hide omitted argument names for this function

Show omitted argument names for this function

Hide negatable operation for this function

Show negatable operation for this function

A specific syntax applies for this query function, see Array Syntax for details.

Click + next to an example below to get the full details.

Aggregate Array Content

Query
logscale
array:contains("incidents[]", value="Cozy Bear")
| groupBy(host)
Introduction

Given events containing an incidents array:

Event 1

|--------------|-------------|
| host         | v1          |
| incidents[0] | Evil Bear   |
| incidents[1] | Cozy Bear   |
|--------------|-------------|

Event 2

|--------------|-------------|
| host         | v15         |
| incidents[0] | Fancy Fly   |
| incidents[1] | Tiny Cat    |
| incidents[2] | Cozy Bears  |
|--------------|-------------|

Finds all the events where the field incidents contains the exact value Cozy Bear and group them by which hosts were affected, giving output event:

Step-by-Step
  1. Starting with the source repository events.

  2. logscale
    array:contains("incidents[]", value="Cozy Bear")

    Extracts elements from the array incidents from the field host that match the text Cozy Bear. The items will be output into the host field.

  3. logscale
    | groupBy(host)

    Groups the result events extracted from the array by the host.

  4. Event Result set.

Summary and Results

The result is an aggregated count of the array elements matching Cozy Bear.

fieldvalue
hostv1
_count1

Check for Values in Array

Use array query filter array:contains() to check for a value in a flat array

Query
logscale
array:contains("incidents[]", value="Cozy Bear")
Introduction

Array query filters are data structure elements that make it possible to define a list of values in a single field. The different array query functions can be used to extract, filter and search data and then index it into an array. In this example, the array:contains() function is used to check if a given value exists in a given array.

Step-by-Step
  1. Starting with the source repository events.

  2. logscale
    array:contains("incidents[]", value="Cozy Bear")

    Checks if the value of Cozy Bear exists within the incidents array field. If the array contains the value, the whole event is included in the search result.

  3. Event Result set.

Summary and Results

The query is used as a filter to check if a given value exists in a given array within the event set. If the given value does not match any of the values of the array, then the event is excluded from the search result. Arrays are used when ingesting security event logs where fields may have more than one value. If the array contains other values along with the specified value, these are also included in the search results.