Edge Delta Parse JSON Processor

The Edge Delta parse JSON processor parses a JSON field into structured data.

5 minute read

Overview

The parse JSON processor parses a JSON string into an object. You can specify which field to parse and where to place the generated object. The processor performs a conditional transformation based on whether the attributes field is a map or not. If attributes is already a map, the processor will merge the JSON-parsed body into it. If it’s not a map, the processor will replace it completely with the parsed body.

Configuration

Consider this log, which was JSON format before being ingested by the Edge Delta agent:

{
  "_type": "log",
  "timestamp": 1745310871164,
  "body": "{\"timestamp\": \"2025-04-22T08:34:30.147024Z\", \"level\": \"Notice\", \"msg\": \"processing completed with minor issues\", \"user\": {\"email\": \"jane.smith@exampleemail.com\", \"id\": \"6e1bba47-5734-4843-94d8-205a638ec703\", \"name\": \"fd487c15-7e23-493e-92db-762fe63cfbf2\"}, \"request\": {\"ip\": \"172.31.212.225\", \"method\": \"POST\", \"path\": \"/json/view\"}, \"status\": 204, \"response_time_ms\": 466}",
  "resource": {
...
  },
  "attributes": {}

The resource field has been redacted for brevity.

Note the escape characters that have been added by the agent.

This example parses the body and generates the object as an attribute:

This is the YAML version:

- name: Multi Processor
  type: sequence
  processors:
  - type: ottl_transform
    metadata: '{"id":"3MBjcOAJZpSM13rweE6Do","type":"parse-json","name":"Parse JSON"}'
    statements: |-
      merge_maps(attributes, ParseJSON(body), "upsert") where IsMap(attributes)
      set(attributes, ParseJSON(body)) where not IsMap(attributes)

This is the resulting output log:

{
  "_type": "log",
  "timestamp": 1745310871164,
  "body": "{\"timestamp\": \"2025-04-22T08:34:30.147024Z\", \"level\": \"Notice\", \"msg\": \"processing completed with minor issues\", \"user\": {\"email\": \"jane.smith@exampleemail.com\", \"id\": \"6e1bba47-5734-4843-94d8-205a638ec703\", \"name\": \"fd487c15-7e23-493e-92db-762fe63cfbf2\"}, \"request\": {\"ip\": \"172.31.212.225\", \"method\": \"POST\", \"path\": \"/json/view\"}, \"status\": 204, \"response_time_ms\": 466}",
  "resource": {
...
  },
  "attributes": {
    "level": "Notice",
    "msg": "processing completed with minor issues",
    "request": {
      "ip": "172.31.212.225",
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/json/view"
    },
    "response_time_ms": 466,
    "status": 204,
    "timestamp": "2025-04-22T08:34:30.147024Z",
    "user": {
      "email": "jane.smith@exampleemail.com",
      "id": "6e1bba47-5734-4843-94d8-205a638ec703",
      "name": "fd487c15-7e23-493e-92db-762fe63cfbf2"
    }
  }
}

Options

Select a telemetry type

You can specify, log, metric, trace or all. It is specified using the interface, which generates a YAML list item for you under the data_types parameter. This defines the data item types against which the processor must operate. If data_types is not specified, the default value is all. It is optional.

It is defined in YAML as follows:

- name: multiprocessor
  type: sequence
  processors:
  - type: <processor type>
    data_types:
    - log

condition

The condition parameter contains a conditional phrase of an OTTL statement. It restricts operation of the processor to only data items where the condition is met. Those data items that do not match the condition are passed without processing. You configure it in the interface and an OTTL condition is generated. It is optional. You can select one of the following operators:

Operator	Name	Description	Example
`==`	Equal to	Returns `true` if both values are exactly the same	`attributes["status"] == "OK"`
`!=`	Not equal to	Returns `true` if the values are not the same	`attributes["level"] != "debug"`
`>`	Greater than	Returns `true` if the left value is greater than the right	`attributes["duration_ms"] > 1000`
`>=`	Greater than or equal	Returns `true` if the left value is greater than or equal to the right	`attributes["score"] >= 90`
`<`	Less than	Returns `true` if the left value is less than the right	`attributes["load"] < 0.75`
`<=`	Less than or equal	Returns `true` if the left value is less than or equal to the right	`attributes["retries"] <= 3`
`matches`	Regex match	Returns `true` if the string matches a regular expression	`isMatch(attributes["name"], ".*\\.name$"`

It is defined in YAML as follows:

- name: _multiprocessor
  type: sequence
  processors:
  - type: <processor type>
    condition: attributes["request"]["path"] == "/json/view"

Parse from

Specify the field containing the JSON string data.

Assign to

Specify the field where you want the parsed object to be saved.

Final

Determines whether successfully processed data items should continue through the remaining processors in the same processor stack. If final is set to true, data items output by this processor are not passed to subsequent processors within the node—they are instead emitted to downstream nodes in the pipeline (e.g., a destination). Failed items are always passed to the next processor, regardless of this setting.

The UI provides a slider to configure this setting. The default is false. It is defined in YAML as follows:

- name: multiprocessor
  type: sequence
  processors:
    - type: <processor type>
    final: true

Keep original telemetry item

Controls whether the original, unmodified telemetry item is preserved after processing. If keep_item is set to true, the processor emits both:

The original telemetry item (e.g., a log), and
Any new item generated by the processor (e.g., a metric extracted from the log)

Both items are passed to the next processor in the stack unless final is also set.

Interaction with final

If final: true is enabled, any successfully processed data items, whether original, newly created, or both, exit the processor stack or node immediately. No subsequent processors within the same node are evaluated, although downstream processing elsewhere in the pipeline continues. This means:

If keep_item: true and final: true, both the original and processed items bypass the remaining processors in the current node and are forwarded to downstream nodes (such as destinations).
If keep_item: false and final: true, only the processed item continues beyond this processor, skipping subsequent processors in the stack, and the original item is discarded.

Note: If the data item fails to be processed, final has no effect, the item continues through the remaining processors in the node regardless of the keep_item setting.

The app provides a slider to configure keep_item. The default is false.

- name: ed_gateway_output_a3fa_multiprocessor
  type: sequence
  processors:
    - type: <processor_type>
      keep_item: true
      final: true