jmespath Select arrays only if they contain specific value

Question

I have this JSON as input:

{
  "users": {
    "alpha": [
      "read",
      "annotate",
      "write",
      "delete",
      "manage"
    ],
    "beta": [
      "read",
      "annotate",
      "write",
      "delete",
      "manage"
    ],
    "gamma": [
      "read",
      "annotate",
      "write",
      "delete"
    ],
    "delta": [
      "read",
      "annotate",
      "write",
      "delete",
      "manage"
    ]
  }
}

And I've been asked to return the lists (users) only if they contain the element manage. Since this has to be processed with Ansible filter json_query, it should use only the JMESPath query language.

Expected result is something like:

["alpha", "beta", "delta"]

Answer 1

Try this

managers: "{{ users|dict2items|json_query(_query) }}"
_query: "[?contains(value, 'manage')].key"

It's an analogy to (credit @Zeitounator)

managers: "{{ users|dict2items|selectattr('value', 'contains', 'manage')| 
                               map(attribute='key') }}"

---

Q: "Do you always need a list?"

A: In most cases yes, but not always. It depends on what you want to achieve. For example, the dictionary is fine if you want to find out whether all users contain the element manage or not

all_users_manage: "{{ users|json_query(_query2) }}"
_query2: "*.contains(@, 'manage')"

gives

  all_users_manage:
  - true
  - true
  - false
  - true

Test the list

    - debug:
        msg: Not all users are managers.
      when: not all_users_manage is all

Or, you can find out whether any user contains the element manage

    - debug:
        msg: There are managers among the users.
      when: all_users_manage is any