Custom pipelines
Processing rules
Allow records

Allow records

The allow records processing rule preserves any records that contain a key whose value matches a specified regular expression and removes all other records.

For a processing rule with the opposite effect, see block records.

Configuration parameters

  • Key: Required. The key whose value to check against. If this key isn't present in a given record, that record will be removed.
  • Regex: Required. The regular expression that determines which records to preserve. This expression is evaluated against the value of the specified key.
  • Regex engine: the engine to parse your regular expression. Default: PCRE2.
  • Match case: Indicates if the regular expression is case-sensitive.
  • Comment: A custom note or description of the rule's function. This text is displayed next to the rule's name in the Actions list in the processing rules interface.

Example

Using the allow records rule lets you pare down telemetry data by retaining only the records with key/value pairs that you explicitly choose to keep.

For example, given this sample log data:

{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:41.64283645Z","user_id":3,"page_id":30,"action":"purchase"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:42.643343109Z","user_id":4,"page_id":10,"action":"purchase"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:48.643600498Z","user_id":1,"page_id":50,"action":"click"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:50.643773688Z","user_id":5,"page_id":40,"action":"purchase"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:51.643932272Z","user_id":1,"page_id":30,"action":"purchase"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:56.644080944Z","user_id":2,"page_id":40,"action":"click"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:03.64425954Z","user_id":3,"page_id":30,"action":"click"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:03.644317046Z","user_id":1,"page_id":20,"action":"view"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:10.64447719Z","user_id":2,"page_id":50,"action":"purchase"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:17.644810963Z","user_id":2,"page_id":10,"action":"view"}
{"timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:20.644994805Z","user_id":1,"page_id":50,"action":"view"}

A processing rule with the Key value action and the Regex value purchase returns the following result:

{"user_id":3,"page_id":30,"action":"purchase","timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:41.64283645Z"}
{"user_id":4,"page_id":10,"action":"purchase","timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:42.643343109Z"}
{"user_id":5,"page_id":40,"action":"purchase","timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:50.643773688Z"}
{"user_id":1,"page_id":30,"action":"purchase","timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:08:51.643932272Z"}
{"user_id":2,"page_id":50,"action":"purchase","timestamp":"2023-03-28T09:09:10.64447719Z"}

This rule retained the records associated with user purchases and removed the records associated with other actions, such as pageviews or clicks.

Allow keysBlock keys