'Contains' function always resulting in false

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Posted on by Usernametwice

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Hi there,

I am facing a strange issue where a contains function is always resulting in false.

I have 3 compose actions for simplicity.

Compose 1 has the following inputs -

items('Apply_to_each')?['emailaddress1']

Compose 2 has the following inputs (this compose action contains outputs of an Array variable action higher up in flow) -

variables(userEmailArray)

Compose 3 has the following inputs -

contains(outputs('Compose_2'), outputs('Compose_1'))

Strangely this always results in 'false' even though I know it should be true. I have double checked the email coming out of Compose 1 is in the Compose 2 results. I have also tried using trim and toLower to get rid of spacing or uppercase values but no luck.

Really stuck here so any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

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Building flows

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Srini007 3,327 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @Usernametwice23

This could be because you are checking a EmailID against to EmailIDarray
Check below post for your reference

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Flows/Check-if-an-item-exists-in-array/td-p/249531

If you find this reply helpful, please consider giving it a LIKE AND
If this reply answers your question or solves your issue, please ACCEPT AS SOLUTION

Thanks,
Srini

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Expiscornovus 33,195 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @Usernametwice23,

It could work. Would be good to see what are you using in your array variable as a value?

Is it that value structured like below?

["jane@contoso.onmicrosoft.com","john@contoso.onmicrosoft.com"]

Can you share a screenshot of the compose1, compose2 and compose 3 actions of the flow run, which didn't work?

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Usernametwice 503 on at

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Hi @Expiscornovus

Thank you for your response. In regards to what I am using in my array variable as a value - I am using the outputs of a 'select' action which is returning a long list of emails from a HTTP request to Azure.

The value structure coming out of the array is like below:
[ { "email": "sample1@sampleemail.com" }, { "email": "sample2@sampleemail.com" } ]

Sure, I can share the screenshots -

As mentioned I did a search on the Compose 2 results and the email is definitely there.

Thank you very much for your help!!

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Usernametwice 503 on at

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Hi I got this figured out.

Ended up using a filter array and compared the email coming from the List above.

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Expiscornovus 33,195 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @Usernametwice23,

Apologies for the delayed reply.

You can use that same approach in the Select action as well. Just switch the map field of the Select action to text mode (with the button on the right side). In that Map field you can use the

item()['email']

This way you don't have to add the new Compose and Filter Array actions and you can simply reuse your Select action.

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