Post-Extraction Filtering

Post-extraction filtering lets you define conditions that extraction results must match. Only items that pass the filter are kept — everything else is discarded. This runs after extraction, so you’re filtering structured data, not raw HTML.

When to use filters

Keep only products above a price threshold
Exclude items in certain categories
Match URLs against a pattern
Filter for items that have a specific field present
Combine conditions with AND/OR logic

Filter structure

A filter configuration has two parts:

Mode — all (AND) or any (OR)
Conditions — a list of field/operator/value checks

{
  "mode": "all",
  "conditions": [
    {"field": "price", "operator": "gt", "value": "50"},
    {"field": "category", "operator": "contains", "value": "electronics"}
  ]
}

With mode: "all", an item must match every condition. With mode: "any", an item matches if at least one condition is true.

Operator reference

Operator	Description	Requires `value`
`contains`	Field contains substring	Yes
`not_contains`	Field does not contain substring	Yes
`equals`	Exact match	Yes
`not_equals`	Not an exact match	Yes
`regex_match`	Regex pattern match	Yes
`exists`	Field exists and is non-empty	No
`not_exists`	Field is missing or empty	No
`gt`	Greater than (numeric comparison)	Yes
`lt`	Less than (numeric comparison)	Yes

All string operators support an optional case_sensitive flag (default: false).

Where filters apply

Strategy generation

Pass a filter_config when generating a strategy to filter results at extraction time:

result = client.generate_strategy(
    url="https://shop.com/products",
    description="Extract product listings",
    name="Premium Products",
    filter_config={
        "mode": "all",
        "conditions": [
            {"field": "price", "operator": "gt", "value": "100"},
            {"field": "in_stock", "operator": "equals", "value": "true"}
        ]
    }
)

Strategy updates

Update an existing strategy’s filter:

curl -X PATCH https://api.meter.sh/api/strategies/{strategy_id} \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filter_config": {
      "mode": "any",
      "conditions": [
        {"field": "category", "operator": "equals", "value": "electronics"},
        {"field": "category", "operator": "equals", "value": "computers"}
      ]
    }
  }'

Workflow edges

Filters on workflow edges control which results pass between nodes. See Workflows for details.

from meter_sdk.workflow import Workflow, Filter

workflow = Workflow("Filtered Pipeline")
index = workflow.start("index", index_strategy_id, urls=["https://news.com"])

# Only pass articles in the technology section
tech = index.then(
    "tech",
    article_strategy_id,
    url_field="link",
    filter=Filter.contains("category", "technology")
)

Watch creation

Pass filter_config when creating a watch (combined strategy + schedule):

curl -X POST https://api.meter.sh/api/watch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://jobs.com/listings",
    "description": "Extract job listings",
    "name": "Remote Jobs",
    "interval_seconds": 3600,
    "filter_config": {
      "mode": "all",
      "conditions": [
        {"field": "location", "operator": "contains", "value": "remote"}
      ]
    }
  }'

Examples

Price threshold filtering

Keep only items above a minimum price:

{
  "mode": "all",
  "conditions": [
    {"field": "price", "operator": "gt", "value": "50"}
  ]
}

Category filtering with OR logic

Keep items in any of several categories:

{
  "mode": "any",
  "conditions": [
    {"field": "category", "operator": "equals", "value": "electronics"},
    {"field": "category", "operator": "equals", "value": "computers"},
    {"field": "category", "operator": "equals", "value": "phones"}
  ]
}

Regex URL pattern matching

Keep items whose URL matches a pattern:

{
  "mode": "all",
  "conditions": [
    {"field": "url", "operator": "regex_match", "value": "/products/\\d+$"}
  ]
}

Combined AND conditions

Keep only in-stock premium products:

{
  "mode": "all",
  "conditions": [
    {"field": "price", "operator": "gt", "value": "100"},
    {"field": "in_stock", "operator": "equals", "value": "true"},
    {"field": "image_url", "operator": "exists"}
  ]
}

Next steps

Strategies

Apply filters during strategy generation

Workflows

Use filters on workflow edges between nodes

Output Schemas

Define extraction result structure

Strategy API

Update strategy filters via REST API

Need help?

Email me at mckinnon@meter.sh

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Post-Extraction Filtering

Post-Extraction Filtering

When to use filters

Filter structure

Operator reference

Where filters apply

Strategy generation

Strategy updates

Workflow edges

Watch creation

Examples

Price threshold filtering

Category filtering with OR logic

Regex URL pattern matching

Combined AND conditions

Next steps

Strategies

Workflows

Output Schemas

Strategy API

Need help?

​Post-Extraction Filtering

​When to use filters

​Filter structure

​Operator reference

​Where filters apply

​Strategy generation

​Strategy updates

​Workflow edges

​Watch creation

​Examples

​Price threshold filtering

​Category filtering with OR logic

​Regex URL pattern matching

​Combined AND conditions

​Next steps

Strategies

Workflows

Output Schemas

Strategy API

​Need help?

Post-Extraction Filtering

When to use filters

Filter structure

Operator reference

Where filters apply

Strategy generation

Strategy updates

Workflow edges

Watch creation

Examples

Price threshold filtering

Category filtering with OR logic

Regex URL pattern matching

Combined AND conditions

Next steps

Need help?