Understanding datapaths

A datapath is a series of names, keywords, attributes, and wildcards that describe the path to the element in the JSON schema to be able to access or retrieve that element's value from associated action results, custom function results, or artifacts.

A datapath is described using this format: <type>:<path.to.value_name>

Example of a datapath for an artifact attribute:

artifact:*.ip

Artifacts are indexed by their common event format (CEF) data so only CEF data is available to use in datapaths. You cannot access other fields such as label or description.

Example of a datapath for action results:

action_result:data.*.longitude

The Splunk Phantom Playbook API uses a variety of datapaths.

Use the following table to learn more about some of the important datapaths used in Splunk Phantom, including their classification, description, and which APIs support them:

Datapath	Classification	Description	API support
artifact:	unnamed artifact	Refers to a field in the artifact. Begins with artifact: Example: artifact:*.cef.bytesIn	condition
action-name:artifact:	named artifact	Refers to a field in the artifact that uses one or more Common Event Format (CEF) fields as an input parameter of an action. In the phantom.act() API, the auto-generated code uses the hidden parameter context that helps identify which artifact is used to run the action. The context parameter attaches a reference to the artifact that can then later be retrieved from the results. Each instance of context has a unique GUID and an optional parent_action. For example, geolocate_ip_1:artifact implies an artifact_id whose field is used as an input parameter for a particular action. Example: geolocate_ip_1:artifact:*.cef.bytesIn	condition
filtered_artifact:	filtered artifact	Refers to a field in the artifact that was filtered from a previous decision block. Example: filtered_artifact:*.cef.bytesIn	condition, collect2
action_result	action result	Refers to a field in the action result object. The condition API expects the action_results parameter to provide the action result list object. This object is the same object that is passed into the function by the results parameter or obtained by the phantom.get_action_results() API. Example: action_result.parameter.ip	condition, collect2
action_name:action_result.	action result	Refers to a field in the action result object of an action called with a name parameter. This field can be any of the actions that are run in the path that leads to this action. Example: geolocate_ip_1:action_result.parameter.ip	condition, collect2
action_name:filtered-action_result.	filtered action result	Refers to a field in the action result object of a named action that has been filtered. The phantom.condition() statement returns action_result objects or artifact IDs that match the condition. The field requires that the filtered results be provided as the parameters. Example: geolocate_ip_1:filtered-action_result.parameter.ip	condition, collect2
custom_function_result	custom function result	Refers to a field in the custom function result object. The condition API expects the custom_function_result parameter to provide the action result list object. This is the same object that is passed into the function through the results parameter or obtained from the phantom.get_action_results() API. Example: custom_function_result.success	condition, collect2
named_custom_function_result	named custom function result	Refers to a field in the named_custom_function_result object of a custom function called with a name parameter. This field can be any of the custom functions that may have been executed in the path that leads to this action. Example: normalize_ip_1:custom_function_result.success	condition, collect2
named_filtered_custom_function_result	filtered custom function result	Refers to a field in the named_filtered_custom_function_result object of a named custom function that has been filtered. A phantom.condition() statement returns those custom_function_result objects or artifact IDs that match the condition. When this type of datapath is used, it requires that the filtered results be provided as the parameter. Example: normalize_ip_1:filtered-custom_function_result.success	condition, collect2
legacy_custom_function_result	legacy custom function result	References legacy, playbook specific, and custom functions by name. Example: my_custom_function:custom_function:ip	condition, collect2
named_artifact	named artifact	Reference artifacts by action name. This datapath is valid only if the artifact is used as an input to the action. Example: geolocate_ip_1:artifact:*.cef.bytesIn	condition, collect2
named_playbook_result_action	named playbook action result	Looks up the playbook by name, and then finds the action. Example: pb1:playbook_results:geo1:action_result.parameter.ip	condition, collect2
named_playbook_custom_function	named playbook custom function result	Datapaths of this classification reference a custom function result from a sub-playbook. Example: pb1:playbook_results:geo1:custom_function_result.success	condition, collect2
named_playbook_result_header	named playbook result	Specifies the named playbook result header. Once you have the result header, the datapath specifies the named playbook, and then indicates which custom function to look up. Example: pb1:playbook_results:geo1:message	condition, collect2
formatted_data	formatted data	This datapath ends with :formatted_data. The name of the format block is used to look up the formatted data. Example: my_key:formatted_data	condition, collect2
result_header	result header	Result headers are top-level keys that come out of the datapath results. Result headers can be named or unnamed. You can also get result headers from actions, custom functions, child playbooks or action or child playbook results where the results are actions or custom functions. Example: action_1:message	condition, collect2
none	none	This datapath is a null value. Example: none	condition
string	string	This datapath is any string value. Use the condition API to compare dynamic values to a constant value. If myaction:status=="success", then you can pass in the string "success". When strings are entered into the VPE configuration panel, any quotes that you use are considered string characters. Example: 192.0.2.0	condition
numeric	number	This datapath is represented by any numbers. Example: 145.1833	condition

Datapaths that point to a list of values

When you are publishing a list as the output of a custom function, it is best to produce a list of dictionaries so that a simple datapath can be used to index into the list or iterate over all items in the list. For example, the following custom function produces four numbers as output:

def primes_under_ten():
    import json
    from phantom.rules import debug

    # Custom code
    return [{"result": number} for number in numbers]

Because the output is returned as a list of dictionaries, you can use the following datapath to see the entire list:

primes_under_ten_1:custom_function_result.data.*.number

Literal values in condition and collect2

Literal values are treated differently in the condition and collect2 APIs. When calling thecondition API, literal values are treated as such. But, when you call collect2, literal values are treated as result headers. Result headers correspond to top-level keys in the action results object.

You can remove any ambiguity by prefacing your result header with the action, custom function, or child playbook. For example, instead of using the data path summary use the data path geolocate_ip_1:summary.

The following example shows an action result. In this action result, the keys that are considered result headers are status, data, message, parameter, and summary:

       [
            {
                "asset_id": 63,
                "status": "success",
                "name": "geolocate_ip_1",
                "app": "MaxMind",
                "action_results": [
                    {
                        "status": "success",
                        "data": [
                            {
                                "state_name": "Victoria",
                                "latitude": -37.7,
                                "country_iso_code": "AU",
                                "time_zone": "Australia/Melbourne",
                                "longitude": 145.1833,
                                "state_iso_code": "VIC",
                                "city_name": "Research",
                                "country_name": "Australia",
                                "continent_name": "Oceania",
                                "postal_code": "3095"
                            }
                        ],
                        "message": "City: Research, State: VIC,
                                    Country: Australia",
                        "parameter": {
                            "ip": "1.1.1.1",
                            "context": {
                                "guid": "f42fd73f-...-8194aaa9bc11",
                                "artifact_id": 0,
                                "parent_action_run": []
                            }
                        },
                        "summary": {
                            "city": "Research",
                            "state": "VIC",
                            "country": "Australia"
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "app_id": 83,
                "summary": {
                    "total_objects": 1,
                    "total_objects_successful": 1
                },
                "asset": "maxmind",
                "action": "geolocate ip",
                "message": "'geolocate_ip_1' on asset 'maxmind': 1
                            action succeeded. (1)For Parameter:
                            {\"ip\":\"1.1.1.1\"} Message: \"City:
                            Research, State: VIC, Country: Australia\"",
                "app_run_id": 51,
                "action_run_id": 11
            }
      ]