This page shows you how to query your data using APL through a wide range of sample queries. You can try out each example in the Axiom Playground.

For an introduction to APL and to the structure of an APL query, see Introduction to APL.

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Summarize data

summarize produces a table that aggregates the content of the dataset. Use the aggregation functions with the summarize operator to produce different fields.

The following query counts events by time bins.

['sample-http-logs']
| summarize count() by bin_auto(_time)

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The example below summarizes the top 10 GitHub push events by maximum push ID.

['github-push-event']
| summarize max_if = maxif(push_id, true) by size
| top 10 by max_if desc

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The example below summarizes the distinct city count by server datacenter.

['sample-http-logs']
| summarize cities = dcount(['geo.city']) by server_datacenter

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Tabular operators

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where

where filters the content of the dataset that meets a condition when executed.

The following query filters the data by method and content_type:

['sample-http-logs']
| where method == "GET" and content_type == "application/octet-stream"
| project method , content_type

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count

count returns the number of events from the input dataset.

['sample-http-logs']
| count

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project

project selects a subset of columns.

['sample-http-logs']
| project content_type, ['geo.country'], method, resp_body_size_bytes, resp_header_size_bytes

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take

take returns up to the specified number of rows.

['sample-http-logs']
| take 100

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limit

The limit operator is an alias to the take operator.

['sample-http-logs']
| limit 10

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Scalar functions

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parse_json

parse_json extracts the JSON elements from an array.

['sample-http-logs']
| project parsed_json = parse_json( "config_jsonified_metrics")

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replace_string

replace_string replaces all string matches with another string.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend replaced_string = replace_string( "creator", "method", "machala" )
| project replaced_string

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split

split splits a given string according to a given delimiter and returns a string array.

['sample-http-logs']
| project split_str = split("method_content_metrics", "_")
| take 20

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strcat_delim

strcat_delim concatenates a string array into a string with a given delimiter.

['sample-http-logs']
| project strcat = strcat_delim(":", ['geo.city'], resp_body_size_bytes)

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indexof

indexof reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of a specified string within the input string.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend based_index =  indexof( ['geo.country'], content_type, 45, 60, resp_body_size_bytes ), specified_time = bin(resp_header_size_bytes, 30)

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Regex examples

Remove leading characters

['sample-http-logs']
| project remove_cutset = trim_start_regex("[^a-zA-Z]", content_type )

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Find logs from a city

['sample-http-logs']
| where tostring(geo.city) matches regex "^Camaquã$"

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Identify logs from a user agent

['sample-http-logs']
| where tostring(user_agent) matches regex "Mozilla/5.0"

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Find logs with response body size in a certain range

['sample-http-logs']
| where toint(resp_body_size_bytes) >= 4000 and toint(resp_body_size_bytes) <= 5000

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Find logs with user agents containing Windows NT

['sample-http-logs']
| where tostring(user_agent) matches regex @"Windows NT [\d\.]+"

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Find logs with specific response header size

['sample-http-logs']
| where toint(resp_header_size_bytes) == 31

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Find logs with specific request duration

['sample-http-logs']
| where toreal(req_duration_ms) < 1

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Find logs where TLS is enabled and method is POST

['sample-http-logs']
| where tostring(is_tls) == "true" and tostring(method) == "POST"

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Array functions

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array_concat

array_concat concatenates a number of dynamic arrays to a single array.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend concatenate = array_concat( dynamic([5,4,3,87,45,2,3,45]))
| project concatenate

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array_sum

array_sum calculates the sum of elements in a dynamic array.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend summary_array=dynamic([1,2,3,4])
| project summary_array=array_sum(summary_array)

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Conversion functions

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todatetime

todatetime converts input to datetime scalar.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend dated_time = todatetime("2026-08-16")

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dynamic_to_json

dynamic_to_json converts a scalar value of type dynamic to a canonical string representation.

['sample-http-logs']
| extend dynamic_string = dynamic_to_json(dynamic([10,20,30,40 ]))

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Scalar operators

APL supports a wide range of scalar operators:

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contains

The query below uses the contains operator to find the strings that contain the string -bot and [bot]:

['github-issue-comment-event']
| extend bot = actor contains "-bot" or actor contains "[bot]"
| where bot == true
| summarize count() by bin_auto(_time), actor
| take 20

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['sample-http-logs']
| extend user_status = status contains "200" , agent_flow = user_agent contains "(Windows NT 6.4; AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/41.0.2225.0 Safari/537.36"
| where user_status == true
| summarize count() by bin_auto(_time), status
| take 15

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Hash functions

  • hash_md5 returns an MD5 hash value for the input value.
  • hash_sha256 returns a sha256 hash value for the input value.
  • hash_sha1 returns a sha1 hash value for the input value.
['sample-http-logs']
| extend sha_256 = hash_md5( "resp_header_size_bytes" ), sha_1 = hash_sha1( content_type), md5 = hash_md5( method), sha512 = hash_sha512( "resp_header_size_bytes" )
| project sha_256, sha_1, md5, sha512

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Rounding functions

  • floor() calculates the largest integer less than, or equal to, the specified numeric expression.
  • ceiling() calculates the smallest integer greater than, or equal to, the specified numeric expression.
  • bin() rounds values down to an integer multiple of a given bin size.
['sample-http-logs']
| extend largest_integer_less = floor( resp_header_size_bytes ), smallest_integer_greater = ceiling( req_duration_ms ), integer_multiple = bin( resp_body_size_bytes, 5 )
| project largest_integer_less, smallest_integer_greater, integer_multiple

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Truncate decimals using round function

['sample-http-logs']
| project rounded_value = round(req_duration_ms, 2)

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Truncate decimals using floor function

['sample-http-logs']
| project floor_value = floor(resp_body_size_bytes), ceiling_value = ceiling(req_duration_ms)

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Other examples

List all unique groups

['sample-http-logs']
| distinct ['id'], is_tls

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Count of all events per service

['sample-http-logs']
| summarize Count = count() by server_datacenter
| order by Count desc

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Change the time clause

['github-issues-event']
| where _time == ago(1m)
| summarize count(), sum(['milestone.number']) by _time=bin(_time, 1m)

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HTTP 5xx responses for the last 7 days, one bar per day

['sample-http-logs']
| where _time > ago(7d)
| where req_duration_ms >= 5 and req_duration_ms < 6
| summarize count(), histogram(resp_header_size_bytes, 20) by bin(_time, 1d)
| order by _time desc

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Implement a remapper on remote address logs

['sample-http-logs']
| extend RemappedStatus = case(req_duration_ms >= 0.57, "new data", resp_body_size_bytes >= 1000, "size bytes", resp_header_size_bytes == 40, "header values", "doesntmatch")

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Advanced aggregations

['sample-http-logs']
| extend prospect = ['geo.city'] contains "Okayama" or uri contains "/api/v1/messages/back"
| extend possibility = server_datacenter contains "GRU" or status contains "301"
| summarize count(), topk( user_agent, 6 ) by bin(_time, 10d), ['geo.country']
| take 4

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Search map fields

['otel-demo-traces']
| where isnotnull( ['attributes.custom'])
| extend extra = tostring(['attributes.custom'])
| search extra:"0PUK6V6EV0"
| project _time, trace_id, name, ['attributes.custom']

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Configure processing rules

['sample-http-logs']
| where _sysTime > ago(1d)
| summarize count() by method

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Return different values based on the evaluation of a condition

['sample-http-logs']
| extend MemoryUsageStatus = iff(req_duration_ms > 10000, "Highest", "Normal")

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Working with different operators

['hn']
| extend superman = text contains "superman" or title contains "superman"
| extend batman = text contains "batman" or title contains "batman"
| extend hero = case(
    superman and batman, "both",
    superman, "superman   ", // spaces change the color
    batman, "batman       ",
    "none")
| where (superman or batman) and not (batman and superman)
| summarize count(), topk(type, 3) by bin(_time, 30d), hero
| take 10

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['sample-http-logs']
| summarize flow = dcount( content_type) by ['geo.country']
| take 50

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Get the JSON into a property bag using parse-json

example
| where isnotnull(log)
| extend parsed_log = parse_json(log)
| project service, parsed_log.level, parsed_log.message

Get average response using project-keep

['sample-http-logs']
| where ['geo.country']  == "United States" or ['id'] == 'b2b1f597-0385-4fed-a911-140facb757ef'
| extend systematic_view = ceiling( resp_header_size_bytes )
| extend resp_avg = cos( resp_body_size_bytes )
| project-away systematic_view
| project-keep resp_avg
| take 5

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Combine multiple percentiles into a single chart

['sample-http-logs']
| summarize percentiles_array(req_duration_ms, 50, 75, 90) by bin_auto(_time)

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Combine mathematical functions

['sample-http-logs']
| extend tangent = tan( req_duration_ms ), cosine = cos( resp_header_size_bytes ), absolute_input = abs( req_duration_ms ), sine = sin( resp_header_size_bytes ), power_factor = pow( req_duration_ms, 4)
| extend angle_pi = degrees( resp_body_size_bytes ), pie = pi()
| project tangent, cosine, absolute_input, angle_pi, pie, sine, power_factor

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['github-issues-event']
| where actor !endswith "[bot]"
| where repo startswith "kubernetes/"
| where action == "opened"
| summarize count() by bin_auto(_time)

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Change global configuration attributes

['sample-http-logs']
| extend status = coalesce(status, "info")

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Set defualt value on event field

['sample-http-logs']
| project status = case(
    isnotnull(status) and status != "", content_type, // use the contenttype if it’s not null and not an empty string
    "info" // default value
  )

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Extract nested payment amount from custom attributes map field

['otel-demo-traces']
| extend amount = ['attributes.custom']['app.payment.amount']
| where isnotnull( amount)
| project _time, trace_id, name, amount, ['attributes.custom']

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Filtering GitHub issues by label identifier

['github-issues-event']
| extend data = tostring(labels)
| where labels contains "d73a4a"

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Aggregate trace counts by HTTP method attribute in custom map

['otel-demo-traces']
| extend httpFlavor = tostring(['attributes.custom'])
| summarize Count=count() by ['attributes.http.method']

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