Last updated: 2025-08-14

Source: https://support.freshservice.com/support/solutions/articles/50000004102-functions-in-expression-builder-node

The expression builder node supports a whole host of functions that you can use to perform string, mathematical, conditional, and date operations on values from the workflow context.

String Functions

1) charAt(Text text, Number index)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	charAt(‘text1’, specifiedindex)
Description	Returns the character at the specified index from the given text1.
Example	1. charAt('Freshservice', 0)<br> <br> Result: 'F'<br> <br>2. charAt('Freshservice', 1)<br> <br> Result: 'r'

2) compareTo(Text text1, Text text2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	compareTo(‘text1’,‘text2’)
Description	Compares text1 and text2 based on their position in the dictionary. This function is case-sensitive.<br>0, if text1= text2<br>Positive value, if text1>text2<br>Negative value, if text1<text2
Example	1. compareTo('aaa', 'aaa')<br> <br>Result:0<br>2. compareTo('aaa', 'AAA')<br> <br>Result: 32

3) compareToIgnoreCase(Text text1, Text text2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	compareToIgnoreCase(‘text1’,‘text2’)
Description	Compares text1 and text2 based on their position in the dictionary. This function is not case-sensitive.<br>0, if text1= text2<br>Positive value, if text1>text2<br>Negative value, if text1<text2
Example	1. compareToIgnoreCase('aaa', 'AAA')<br> <br>Result: 0<br>2. compareToIgnoreCase('aaa', 'aaa’')<br> <br>Result: 0

4) concat(Text text1, Text text2)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	concat(‘text1’, ‘text2’)
Description	Combines text1 and text2.
Example	1. concat('aaa', 'AAA')<br> <br>Result: aaaAAA

5)endsWith(Text text, Text suffix)


Header	Value
Return Type	Boolean (true,false)
Syntax	endsWith(‘text’, ‘suffix’)
Description	Checks if text ends with the given specific characters.
Example	1. endsWith('freshservice', 'vice')<br> <br>Result: true<br>2. endsWith('freshservice', 'abc')<br> <br> Result: false

6) equals(Text text1, Text text2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Boolean (true,false)
Syntax	endsWith(‘text1’, ‘ text2’)
Description	Checks if text1 and text2 match. This function is case-sensitive
Example	1. equals('freshservice', 'freshservice')<br> <br>Result: true<br>2. equals('freshservice', 'FRESHSERVICE')<br> <br> Result: false

7) equalsIgnoreCase(Text text1, Text text2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Boolean (true,false)
Syntax	equalsIgnoreCase(‘text1’, ‘ text2’)
Description	Checks if text1 and text2 match.This function is not case-sensitive
Example	1. equalsIgnoreCase('freshservice', 'freshservice')<br> <br>Result: true<br>2. equalsIgnoreCase('freshservice', 'FRESHSERVICE')<br> <br>Result: true

8) indexOf(Text text1, Text text2, Number fromIndex)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	indexOf(‘text1’, ‘text2’, fromIndex)
Description	Finds where text2 first occurs within text1 while searching forwards from a specified index.
Example	1. indexOf('freshservice', 'es', 0)<br> <br>Result: 2<br>2. indexOf('freshservice', 'er', 3)<br> <br> Result: 6

9) lastIndexOf(Text text1, Text text2, Number fromIndex)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	lastIndexOf(‘text1’, ‘text2’, fromIndex)
Description	Finds where the text2 last occurs within text1 while searching backwards from a specified index.
Example	1. lastIndexOf('freshservice', 'es', 3)<br> <br>Result: 2<br>2. lastIndexOf('freshworks', 'rk', 8)<br> <br> Result: 7

10) length(Text text)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	length(‘text’)
Description	Returns the number of characters in a given text.
Example	1. length('freshservice')<br> <br>Result: 12

11) replace(Text text, Text oldText, Text newText)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	replace(‘text’, ‘oldtext’, ‘newtext’)
Description	Returns a text,replacing all occurrences of oldtext with newtext.
Example	1. replace('freshservice', 'service', 'works')<br> <br> Result: freshworks

12) startsWith(Text text, Text prefix, Number fromIndex)


Header	Value
Return Type	Boolean (true, false)
Syntax	startsWith( ‘text’, ‘prefix’,fromIndex)
Description	Checks if the text starts with a specified prefix,based on the provided fromindex.
Example	1. startsWith('freshservice', 'fres', 0)<br> <br>Result: true<br>II. startsWith('freshservice', 'fres', 2)<br> Result: false

13) substring(Text text, Number fromIndex, Number toIndex)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	substring( ‘text’, fromIndex, toIndex)
Description	Returns the truncated text starting at the fromIndex and ending at the toIndex<br>length of the text: endIndex-beginIndex
Example	1. substring('freshservice', 0, 1)<br> <br> Result: f<br> <br>2. substring('freshservice', 0, 3)<br> <br> Result: fre

14) toLowerCase(Text text)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	toLowerCase(‘text’)
Description	Converts all of the characters in a text to lowercase.
Example	1. toLowerCase('FRESHSERVICE')<br> <br>Result: freshservice

15) toUpperCase(Text text)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	toUpperCase(‘text’)
Description	Converts all of the characters in a text to upper case.
Example	1. toUpperCase('freshservice')<br> <br> Result: FRESHSERVICE

16) trim(Text text)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	trim(‘text’)
Description	Removes whitespace from both ends of a text.
Example	1. trim(' freshservice ')<br> <br> Result: freshservice

17) regexMatch(Text text, Text pattern)


Header	Value
Return Type	Boolean (true, false)
Syntax	regexMatch( “text”, “pattern”)
Description	Checks if the text contains the pattern
Example	1. regexMatch("a", "\[amn\]?" )<br> <br> Result: true

18) regexReplace(Text text, Text pattern, Text newText)


Header	Value
Return Type	String
Syntax	regexReplace(“text”, “pattern”, “new text”)
Description	Returns a new string by replacing the pattern in text with newText
Example	1. regexReplace("My name is Khan. My name is Bob. My name is Sonoo.", "is", "was" )<br> <br> Result: My name was Khan. My name was Bob. My name was Sonoo

19) intOf('text1')


Header	Value
Return Type	Integer
Syntax	intOf(‘text1’)
Description	Returns the integer value for the string.<br>Return Type: Integer<br>Syntax<br>IntOf ('value 1')<br>Note: The value 1 here is a string.
Example	IntOf('120')<br>Result will be 120

Mathematical Functions

1) abs(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	abs(value)
Description	Removes the negative sign for a given value and returns an absolute number.
Example	1. abs(3.14)<br> <br>Result: 3.14<br>2. abs(-3.14)<br> <br> Result: 3.14

2) acos(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	acos(value)
Description	Returns the arc cosine of the given value.<br>Returned value range: 0.0 through PI.
Example	1. acos(-0.45)<br> <br> Result: 2<br> <br>2. acos(0.45)<br> <br> Result: 1

3) asin(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	asin(value)
Description	Returns the arc sine of the given value.<br>Returned value range: -PI/2 through PI/2.
Example	1. asin(1)<br> <br>Result:1<br>2. asin(0.789)<br> <br>Result: 0

4) atan(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	atan(value)
Description	Returns the arc tangent of the given value.<br>Returned value range: -PI/2 through PI/2.
Example	1. atan(1)<br> <br> Result: 0<br> <br>2. atan(1000)<br> <br>Result: 1

5) atan2(Decimal x, Decimal y)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	atan2( x, y)
Description	Returns the angle in radians between the X-axis and a line passing though (x,y) and the origin (0,0)
Example	1. atan2(1,1)<br> <br> Result: 0.7853981633974483<br> <br>2. atan2(4,3)<br> <br> Result: 0.9272952180016122

6) ceil(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	ceil(value)
Description	Rounds up to the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to a given value.
Example	1. ceil(1.583)<br> <br>Result: 2<br>2. ceil(-10.328)<br> <br>Result: 10

7) cos(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	cos(value)
Description	Returns the trigonometric cosine of an angle.
Example	1. cos(1.5707963267948966)<br> <br>Result: 0<br>2. cos(0)<br> <br> Result: 1

8) exp(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	exp(value)
Description	Returns Euler's number, e (~2.718) raised to a power.
Example	1. exp(10)<br> <br> Result: 22026.465794806718<br> <br>2. exp(-9)<br> <br>Result: 0.00012340980408667956

9) floor(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	floor(value)
Description	Rounds up to the greatest integer that is less than or equal to a given value.
Example	1. floor(1.583)<br> <br> Result: 1<br> <br>2. floor(-10.328)<br> <br> Result: -11

10) log(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	log(value)
Description	Returns the natural logarithm (base e) of a value.
Example	1. log(10.504667)<br> <br> Result: 2.351819634603672<br> <br>2. log(1)<br> <br> Result:0

11) max(Decimal value1, Decimal value2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	max( value1, value2)
Description	Returns the greater of two values.
Example	1. max(1, 2)<br> <br> Result: 2<br> <br>2. max(1000, 23.6)<br> <br> Result: 1000

12) min(Decimal value1, Decimal value2)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	min( value1, value2)
Description	Returns the smaller of two values.
Example	1. min(1, 2)<br> <br> Result: 1<br> <br>2. min(1000, 23.6)<br> <br> Result: 23.6

13) round(Decimal value, Number decimal place)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	round( value,decimal place)
Description	Rounds a number to the specified decimal places.
Example	1. round(1.3456,3)<br> <br>Result: 1.346<br>2. round(10.456, 0)<br> <br>Result: 10

14) sin(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	sin(value)
Description	Returns the trigonometric sine of an angle.
Example	1. sin(1.5707963267948966)<br> <br>Result: 1<br>2. sin(0)<br> <br>Result: 0

15) sqrt(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	sqrt(value)
Description	Returns the positive square root of a value.
Example	1. sqrt(4)<br> <br>Result: 2<br>2. sqrt(100)<br> <br> Result: 10

16) tan(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	tan(value)
Description	Returns the arc tangent of the given value<br>Returned value range: -PI/2 through PI/2.
Example	1. tan(1.5707963267948966)<br> <br> Result: 16331239353195370<br> <br>2. tan(0)<br> <br> Result: 0

17) toDegrees(Decimal radians)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	toDegrees(radians)
Description	Converts an angle in radians to the approximately equivalent angle in degrees.
Example	1. toDegrees(1.5707963267948966)<br> <br>Result: 90<br>2. toDegrees(1)<br> <br> Result: 57.29577951308232

18) toRadians(Decimal degrees)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	toRadians(degrees)
Description	Converts an angle in degrees to the approximate equivalent angle in radians.
Example	1. toRadians(90)<br> <br> Result: 1.5707963267948966<br> <br>2. toRadians(0)<br> <br> Result: 0

19) randomNumberOfLength(Decimal value)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	randomNumberOfLength(value)
Description	Returns random number of the specified length.
Example	1. randomNumberOfLength(3)<br> <br> Result: 842<br> <br>2. randomNumberOfLength(4)<br> <br> Result: 1729

Conditional Functions

1\. if(conditional\_expression, expression\_if\_true , expression\_if\_false)


Header	Value
Return Type	string/boolean/number
Syntax	if(conditional\_epression, expression\_if\_true , expression\_if\_false)
Description	- conditional\_expression \- An expression that represents some logical value( i.e.TRUE or FALSE) or boolean value.<br> <br>- expression\_if\_true \- executes conditions set for True if criteria matches<br> <br>- expression\_if\_false - executes condition set for False if criteria fails.<br> <br>- The expression\_if\_true, expression\_if\_false and return\_type should be of the same type.
Example	1. if (2>1, "greater", "smaller")<br> <br>Result: greater

Date Functions

1\. addDays(date, number of days)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date/Date-time
Syntax	addDays(“date/date-time”, number of days)<br>Only ISO formatteddate/date-time placeholders are accepted. <br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ ))
Description	Adds the specified number of days to the given date.<br>Negative days value will subtract the number of days from the given date.
Example	1. addDays(“2019-12-31”,12)<br> <br> Result: 2020-01-12<br>II. addDays(“2019-12-31T00:45:34Z”,12)<br>Result: 2020-01-12T00:45:34Z

2\. addMonths(date, months)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date/Date-time
Syntax	addMonths(date/date-time, number of months)<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ ))
Description	Adds the specified number of months to the given date.<br>Negative months value will subtract the number of months from the given date.
Example	1. addMonths(“2019-12-31”,19)<br> <br> Result: 2021-07-31<br>2. addMonths(“2019-12-31T00:45:34Z”,19)<br> <br>Result: 2021-07-31T00:45:34Z

3\. addYears(date, years)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date/Date-time
Syntax	addYears(date/date-time, number of years)<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ ))
Description	Adds the specified number of years to the given date.<br>Negative years value will subtract the number of years from the given date.
Example	1. addYears(“2019-12-31”,4)<br> <br> Result: 2023-12-31<br>2. addYears(“2019-12-31T00:45:34Z”,-4)<br> <br>Result: 2015-12-31T00:45:34Z

4\. date(year,month,day)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date
Syntax	date(year,month,day)
Description	Returns the value in date format (yyyy-mm-dd).
Example	1. date(2019,12,31)<br> <br> Result: 2019-12-31

5\. dateTime(year,month,day,hour.min,sec,timezone)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date-time
Syntax	date(year,month,day,hour,min,sec,timezone)
Description	Returns the value in date-time format (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss+timezone).
Example	1. date(2019,12,3,23,1,50,”Asia/Kolkata”)<br> <br> Result: 2019-12-31T23:01:50+05:30

6\. day(date/date-time)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	day(date/date-time)<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ )
Description	Extracts the day from the given date expression.
Example	1. day(“ 2019-12-31”)<br> <br> Result: 31

7\. month(date/date-time)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	month(date/date-time)<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ )
Description	Extracts the month from the given date expression.
Example	1. month(“2019-12-31T00:45:34Z”)<br> <br> Result: 12

8\. now(timezone)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date-time
Syntax	now(timezone)
Description	Returns the current time for the given timezone.
Example	1. now(“Asia/Kolkata”)<br> <br> Result: 2019-08-06T00:45:34+05:30

9\. today(timezone)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date-time
Syntax	today(timezone)
Description	Returns the current date for the given timezone.
Example	1. today(“Asia/Kolkata”)<br> <br> Result: 2019-08-06

10\. weekday(date)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date-time
Syntax	weekday(date)
Description	Returns the weekday number for the date given.<br>Sunday-1<br>Saturday-7
Example	1. weekday(“2019-12-31”)<br> <br> Result: 3

11\. year(date)


Header	Value
Return Type	Number
Syntax	year(date/date-time)<br>date -(yyyy-mm-dd)<br>date-time- ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ )
Description	Extracts the year from the given date format.
Example	1. year(“2019-12-31”)<br> <br> Result: 2019<br> <br>2. year(“2019-12-31T00:45:34Z”)<br> <br> Result: 2019

12\. dateTimeValue(date,timezone)


Header	Value
Return Type	Date-time
Syntax	dateTimeValue(date,timezone)
Description	Returns the value in date-time format ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ )
Example	Refer to the following table, which provides an example on various scenarios, inputs, and behaviour.

_Note: These changes are applicable from August 2025._


Scenario	Input - dateTime	Input - timezone	Previous Behaviour	New Behaviour (from Aug 2025)
1\. Date input	"2025-06-02"	"Asia/Kolkata"	Interprets as 2025-06-02T00:00:00 in Asia/Kolkata → 2025-06-02T00:00:00+05:30	Treats date as 2025-06-02T00:00:00Z → Converts to Asia/Kolkata → 2025-06-02T05:30:00+05:30
2\. DateTime input with Z (UTC)	"2025-06-02T00:00:00Z"	"Asia/Kolkata"	Throws error 1505 – invalid operand	Converts UTC to zone → 2025-06-02T05:30:00+05:30
3\. DateTime input with Z (UTC)	"2025-06-02T12:24:30Z"	"UTC"	Throws error 1505 – invalid operand	Returns input as-is → 2025-06-02T12:24:30Z
4\. DateTime input with offset	"2025-06-02T00:00:00+05:30"	"Australia/Sydney"	Throws error 1505 – invalid operand	Convert from input offset → UTC → target zone → 2025-06-02T04:30:00+10:00
5\. DateTime input with offset	"2025-06-02T12:00:00+00:00"	"UTC"	Throws error 1505 – invalid operand	Same time in UTC → 2025-06-02T12:00:00Z

13\. dateValue(datetime)


Header	Value
Return Type	date
Syntax	dateValue(datetime)
Description	Returns the value in date format (yyyy-mm-dd).
Example	1. dateValue(“1993-07-13T00:00:00+09:00”)<br> <br> Result: 1993-07-13

14\. addhours


Header	Value
Return Type	Date/Date-time
Syntax	addHours(date/date-time, hours)<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ))
Description	Adds the specified number of hours to the given date.<br>Negative days value will subtract the number of days from the given date.
Example	addhours(“2019-12-31”,28)<br>Result: 2020-01-01<br>addhours ("2019-12-31T00:45:34Z",12)<br>Result: "2019-12-31T12:45:34Z"

15\. diffInHours


Header	Value
Return Type	Number/Decimal
Syntax	diffInHours( start\_date, end\_date )<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ))
Description	Returns difference in hours between the start date and end date.<br>If the end date occurs before the start date the result will be a negative number.
Example	1. diffInHours(“1993-07-13”,”1993-07-15”)<br> <br> Result: 48<br> <br>2. diffInHours("1993-07-13T11:45:34Z","1993-07-15")<br> <br> Result: 36

16\. diffInDays


Header	Value
Return Type	Number/Decimal
Syntax	diffInDays( start\_date, end\_date )<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ))
Description	Returns difference in days between the start date and end date.<br>If the end date occurs before the start date the result will be a negative number.
Example	1. diffInDays(“1993-07-13”,”1993-07-15”)<br> <br> Result: 2<br> <br>2. diffInDays("1993-07-13T11:45:34Z","1993-07-15")<br> <br> Result: 1

17\. diffInWeeks


Header	Value
Return Type	Number/Decimal
Syntax	diffInWeeks( start\_date, end\_date )<br>date - ( yyyy-mm-dd )<br>date-time - ( ( yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ))
Description	Returns difference in weeks between the start date and end date.<br>If the end date occurs before the start date the result will be a negative number.
Example	1. diffInWeeks("1993-07-13T11:45:34Z","1993-07-06T11:45:34Z")<br> <br> Result: -1

``` Note: We recommend verifying the syntax in the expression node to ensure smooth workflow automation execution. ```