When you select data to reuse you can choose between providing data in JSON or plain format
When referencing data in Next Matter, you have three formatting options to choose from depending on your use case:
JSON format: Use when the data is used in other Next Matter steps or to complete integration, as most systems parse and understand this format.
Plain format: Use when you want the data to be provided in a human-readable format to display it to users.
JSON first result: Use when you need to remove unwanted array wrapping from API responses or extract the first element from lists. This is particularly useful for:
["value"]
→ "value"
[1, 2, 3]
→ 1
When you send data from Next Matter to third-party tools, it’s a good idea to check the tool’s documentation to see which format is preferable.
In the case of the input types that are not listed here, both options look the same.
The examples are based on the itemsSelected
and itemsChecked
references. All other references for these inputs look the same.
The examples are based on the “files” and “images” reference. In the case of the firstFile
reference, there is no difference between this reference and JSON first result
.
JSON first result is specifically designed for user variables and webhook variables that often contain API response data.
Example with compatible data types:
If you want to use table values as a data reference, you have the following options:
There is no difference between JSON (other fields) and plain. The JSON that can be selected in the Body field contains escaped values. The code example contains example values.
To send JSON table output to a Google Sheet using a custom integration, you must first parse the JSON to convert it from a string into a structured format. Currently, you cannot use the output in the Google Sheets no-code step.
Only works with arrays and strings, AND the extracted element must also be a list or string:
null
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Input | JSON first result output | Explanation |
---|---|---|
[1, 2, 3] | 1 | First item is a number |
["Apple", "Orange"] | "Apple" | First item is a string |
[["ONE","Blue"], ["TWO","Yellow"]] | ["ONE","Blue"] | First item is an array |
"Hello" | "H" | First character of string |
[{"name": "John"}] | null | First item is an object |
[true, false] | null | First item is a boolean |
{"name": "John"} | null | Input is not array or string |
123 | null | Input is not array or string |