Some recommendation and search requests allow you to use a context whose attributes will be used when building a filter. For example, you can recommend items in context of an item or items currently in the basket; or in context of the profile which created the basket. This allows you to build dynamic filters instead of using hardcoded values, resulting increased personalization of your recommendations. ## Item context In the following example, the `brand` attribute of a context item is used to filter the results of a request to items which have the same brand: ``` brand == context.brand ``` If the value of the context item's `brand` is `abcd`, the result is the following filter: ``` brand == "abcd" ```
If the context consists of multiple items, the value of that context's is an array of values from all the context items.
**Example:** In the following example, the filter matches items whose `brand` attribute is in the array of context item brands: ``` brand IN context.brand ``` If the context items' brands are `abcd` and `efgh`, the result is the following filter: ``` brand IN ["abcd","efgh"] ``` **Example:** In the following example, the filter matches items whose `price.value` attribute is higher than the [average](/developers/iql/functions#numeric-functions) `price.value` attribute of multiple context items: ``` price.value > AVG(context.price.value) ``` If the context items' prices are 10.49, 1.99, and 62.99, the result is the following filter: ``` price.value > AVG([10.49, 1.99, 62.99]) ```
The item context is taken from the item catalog instead of the index. Because of this: - attributes do **not** need to be configured as filterable to be used as context. - the context's array-type attributes are **not** affected by the behavior described in ["Indexing attributes in arrays"](/developers/iql/filters#indexing-attributes-in-arrays-recommendations-only).
## Profile context When the context is a profile, you can use attributes, tags, segmentations, expressions, and aggregates as filter values. ### Limits In one request, you can use: - up to 20 profile attributes - 1 segmentation - 2 aggregates OR 2 expressions OR 1 expression and 1 aggregate The limits apply to unique elements. For example, you can refer to the same segmentation a few times, but you can't include 2 different segmentations.
- If the request refers to a campaign (for example, in the ["Get recommendations by campaign" endpoint](https://developers.synerise.com/AIRecommendations/AIRecommendations.html#operation/GetRecommendationsByCampaignV2)), the campaign's filters and the additional filters share the limit. - If the request uses boosting strategies (for example, in the ["Scoring be metric" endpoint](https://developers.synerise.com/AIRecommendations/AIRecommendations.html#operation/PostRecommendLastViewedForUserItems)), the boosting strategies and the filters share the limit.
### Profile attributes In the following example, the brand of the item must be the same as the profile's `favoriteBrand` attribute: ``` brand == client.attributes.favoriteBrand ``` If the `favoriteBrand` attribute has the value `"abcd"`, the result is the following filter: ``` brand == "abcd" ``` If the attribute doesn't exist in the profile, the filter is ignored. ### Profile tags In the following example, the tag `"vip"` must exist in the profile's tags: ``` "tag" IN client.tags ``` **Example:** A profile has the `"vip"` tag. When you create the following [IF statement](/developers/iql/logic#if): ``` IF("vip" IN client.tags, discount > 0, discount == 0) ``` it evaluates to: ``` discount > 0 ``` ### Profile segmentations You can check if a profile belongs to a [segmentation](/docs/analytics/segmentations). The segmentation is identified by its UUID and calculated at the time of the request. ``` client.segmentations HAS ``` **Example:** A profile belongs to segmentation `39d39ad1-6d7b-4401-b067-998bf7d56d9f`. When you create the following [IF statement](/developers/iql/logic#if): ``` IF(client.segmentations HAS "39d39ad1-6d7b-4401-b067-998bf7d56d9f", discount > 0, discount == 0) ``` it evaluates to: ``` discount > 0 ``` ### Profile expressions You can access the result of an [expression](/docs/analytics/expressions) calculated for the context profile. The expression is identified by UUID and calculated at the time of the request. ``` client.expressions.uuid ``` **Example:** Expression `0abc195a-548e-460d-a904-1e285b8adb96` returns `15.0` for the context profile. If you create the following filter: ``` discount > client.expressions.0abc195a-548e-460d-a904-1e285b8adb96 ``` it evaluates to: ``` discount > 15.0 ``` If the expression does not exist, its value in the filter is `null`. ### Profile aggregates You can access the result of an [aggregate](/docs/analytics/aggregates) calculated for the context profile. The aggregate is identified by UUID and calculated at the time of the request. ``` client.aggregates.uuid ``` **Example:** Aggregate `08dfe176-2a37-3234-bf4f-3fa9b3b309bc` returns `180.0` for the context profile. If you create the following filter: ``` price.value < client.aggregates.08dfe176-2a37-3234-bf4f-3fa9b3b309bc ``` it evaluates to: ``` price.value < 180.0 ``` If the aggregate does not exist, its value in the filter is `null`. ## What happens if an attribute does not exist in the context? If an attribute does not exist in the context, its value becomes `null == true` and the filter which uses it becomes unprocessable. If that filter is part of a larger expression, it is ignored. **Example 1:** The following filter matches NO ITEMS: ``` discount == context.thisAttributeDoesNotExist ``` **Example 2:** The following filter matches items whose `discount == 0`, because the other condition is unprocessable. ``` discount == 0 AND discount == context.thisAttributeDoesNotExist ``` ### Check if a value exists The `IS DEFINED` operator allows you to check if an attribute exists and has a non-null value. The following filter uses an [IF statement](/developers/iql/logic#if) to check if an attribute exists and act accordingly: ``` IF(context.thisAttributeDoesNotExist IS DEFINED, discount > 0, discount == 0) ``` The context attribute does not exist, so the `discount == 0` filter is applied.