Why does SUM function work and MIN function not find a number???

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Posted on by DublinOH_User

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Hello:
I was successful in recreating the flow Paulie Murana (YouTube video - MVP) published on

How to instantly sum an Array of numbers in a Power Automate Cloud Flow

What I am looking to do is to find the MIN value from the column array returned.

This flow runs successfully:
Get Items ✅>Select column values ✅> Compose JSON✅> Compose XML✅>Compose SUM of results

xpath(xml(outputs('Compose_JSON')),'sum(/root/Numbers)')

This results in error:

xpath(xml(outputs('Compose_JSON')),'min(/root/Numbers)')
❗Error Details:
Unable to process template language expressions in action 'Compose_min_function' inputs at line '0' and column '0': 'The XPath expression evaluates to a result of type 'Any' that is not supported. The expression must evaluate to a number, a string, a boolean, or a node set.'.

In the end what I am trying to accomplish is:

IF
the "when item is created" NetAmt is less than the lowest value in the GetItemsApprovers MinAmt

then send approval to created by manager
Else
If
"when item is created" NetAmt greater than GetItemsApprovers (MinAmt) and "when item is created" NetAmt less than GetItems (MaxAmt)

get email addresses from Approver People column and send approval/s to those addresses.

Would be thankful to anyone that may be able to help.

DublinOH User

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v-yueyun-msft Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi , @DublinOH_User

The Power Automate only support the Xpath1.0. And the XPath 1.0 doesn't have the fancy min() and max() functions. So we can not use the max or min() function in your xpath.

If you want to get the min of your array, you can directly use the min() function in your flow due to your Select action return an array of Number.

min(body('Select'))

If this reply can help you , you can click mark this reply as solution (Accept solution) which can help more people, thanks in advance!

Best Regards,

Yueyun Zhang
Chriddle 8,729 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Get min value with xpath 1.0

xpath( xml('<Root><Item>111</Item><Item>21</Item><Item>99</Item><Item>200</Item></Root>'), 'number(//Item[not(preceding-sibling::*<=number(.)) and not(following-sibling::*<number(.))])' )
DublinOH_User 150 on at

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@v-yueyun-msft
Thank you for the reply. I did attempt several ways to get min fx to work in the way you suggested. Every time it fails stating the output of Select is not in the format needed for min to be analyzed.
v-yueyun-msft Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi , @DublinOH_User

Thanks for your response! If you want to use the Select action to get the min of the data, you need to check this:

int( item()?['FieldName'] )

If this can not work in your side , you can show me the output of your Select action in your side!

And also you can use the @Chriddle posted xpath code to get the miniest data in your xml which is supported in Xpath1.0. 😀

If this reply can help you , you can click mark this reply as solution (Accept solution) which can help more people, thanks in advance!

Best Regards,

Yueyun Zhang