# Data Nodes

General-purpose value handling: get/set on arbitrary objects, conditionals, sorting and selection, UUID generation, JSON parsing/serialization and length capping.

<!-- glossary:generated - everything below this line is generated by `python -m talemate.game.engine.nodes.tools glossary --write` - do not edit -->


_11 nodes._

| Node | Registry path |
| --- | --- |
| [Cap Length](#cap-length) | `data/CapLength` |
| [Contains](#contains) | `data/Contains` |
| [Get](#get) | `data/Get` |
| [JSON](#json) | `data/JSON` |
| [Length](#length) | `data/Length` |
| [Select Item](#select-item) | `data/SelectItem` |
| [Set](#set) | `data/Set` |
| [Set Conditional](#set-conditional) | `data/SetConditional` |
| [Sort](#sort) | `data/Sort` |
| [Update Object](#update-object) | `data/UpdateObject` |
| [UUID](#uuid) | `data/UUID` |

## Cap Length

`data/CapLength`

Applies a maximum length to an iterable (string or list), removing items from the specified side

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The graph state |
| `iterable` | `str, list` | Iterable (string or list) to cap |
| `max_length` | `int` | Maximum length to cap the iterable to (optional) |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The state input, passed through |
| `capped` | `str, list` | Capped iterable (same type as input) |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `max_length` | `int` | `100` | Maximum length to cap the iterable to |
| `side` | `str` | `"right"` | Side to pop values from. Choices: `left`, `right`. |

## Contains

`data/Contains`

Checks if a value is in a list or dictionary

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `object` | `any` | Object (list, dict, etc.) - if a generator is provided, it will be converted to a list |
| `value` | `any` | Value |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `contains` | `bool` | True if value is in object, False otherwise |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `value` | `any` | `unset` | Value |

## Get

`data/Get`

Get a value from an object using getattr

Dictionaries are read by key (missing keys yield None). Lists, tuples
and sets are read by index - the attribute must be an integer, and an
out-of-range index yields UNRESOLVED. Any other object is read via
getattr, yielding None if the attribute does not exist.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `object` | `any` | Object to read from |
| `attribute` | `str` | Attribute name, dict key, or index |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `value` | `any` | The retrieved value |
| `attribute` | `str` | The attribute input, passed through |
| `object` | `any` | The object input, passed through |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `attribute` | `str` | `unset` | Attribute |

## JSON

`data/JSON`

Node that converts a JSON string to a Python object

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `json` | `str` | JSON string |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `data` | `dict,list` | Python object (dict or list) |

## Length

`data/Length`

Gets the length of an iterable

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `object` | `any` | Object (list, dict, etc.) |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `length` | `int` | Length of the object (number of items) |

## Select Item

`data/SelectItem`

Node that takes in a list of items and selects one based on the selection function

- random: picks a random item
- cycle: picks the next item on each execution, wrapping around
- sorted_cycle: like cycle, but iterates the items in sorted order
- direct: picks the item at the index property

The cycle position is stored in the graph state per node, so it persists
across executions within a run.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `items` | `list` | List of items |
| `except` | `any` | (optional) Item (or list of items) to exclude from selection |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `selected_item` | `any` | Selected item |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `index` | `int` | `0` | index |
| `cycle_index` | `int` | `0` | cycle index. Read-only. |
| `selection_function` | `str` | `"cycle"` | Selection function. Choices: `random`, `cycle`, `sorted_cycle`, `direct`. |

## Set

`data/Set`

Set a value on an object using setattr

Dictionaries are written by key. Lists are written by index - the
attribute must be an integer. Any other object is written via setattr.
The object is modified in place.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `object` | `any` | Object to modify |
| `attribute` | `str` | Attribute name, dict key, or list index |
| `value` | `any` | Value to set |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `object` | `any` | The modified object |
| `attribute` | `str` | The attribute input, passed through |
| `value` | `any` | The value input, passed through |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `attribute` | `str` | `unset` | Attribute |

## Set Conditional

`data/SetConditional`

Same as Set, but with a state passthrough so it can be placed in a
conditional execution chain

Dictionaries are written by key, lists by integer index, any other
object via setattr. The object is modified in place.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The graph state |
| `object` | `any` | Object to modify |
| `attribute` | `str` | Attribute name, dict key, or list index |
| `value` | `any` | Value to set |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The state input, passed through |
| `object` | `any` | The modified object |
| `attribute` | `str` | The attribute input, passed through |
| `value` | `any` | The value input, passed through |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `attribute` | `str` | `unset` | Attribute |

## Sort

`data/Sort`

Sorts a list of items

If sort_keys is provided, items are sorted by the named attributes
(read via getattr) in order. A sort_keys string input is parsed as JSON.
Without sort_keys, items are sorted by their natural order. The input
list is not modified; a sorted copy is returned.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The graph state |
| `items` | `list` | List of items to sort |
| `sort_keys` | `str, list` | Attribute name(s) to sort by - list, or JSON string (optional) |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The state input, passed through |
| `sorted_items` | `list` | Sorted list of items |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `reverse` | `bool` | `False` | Reverse sort |
| `sort_keys` | `list` | `unset` | Sort keys |

## Update Object

`data/UpdateObject`

Updates an object (dict or attribute-based) with values collected from
dynamic inputs. New item sockets appear as connections are made.

For each connected item the key to update is inferred: if the value is a
(key, value) tuple that key is used; otherwise the key is derived from the
source socket - for sockets named `value`, the source node's `name`, `key`
or `attribute` input is used, falling back to the source socket name. Dicts
are updated by key, other objects via setattr.

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The graph state |
| `object` | `any` | The object to update |

This node supports **dynamic inputs** - additional input sockets can be added in the editor as needed, and connected values are collected with key inference (see [Collector Nodes](../../core-concepts/collector_nodes.md)).

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The state input, passed through |
| `object` | `any` | The updated object |

## UUID

`data/UUID`

Generates a UUID string

**Inputs**

| Input | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | (optional) The graph state |
| `max_length` | `int` | (optional) Maximum number of characters to return |

**Outputs**

| Output | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `any` | The state input, passed through |
| `uuid` | `str` | A UUID string (e.g., "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000") |

**Properties**

| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `max_length` | `int` | `36` | Maximum number of characters to return |