Issues with using the 'where' field in Mixpanel export API causing error 400 | Mixpanel Community

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Issues with using the 'where' field in Mixpanel export API causing error 400 | Mixpanel Community

kapa.ai
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Hi Gustavo S., Please stand by as I search the Mixpanel knowledge base for an AI-powered answer. I normally take about 15 seconds or so. In case AI cannot answer your question, feel free to reach out to Mixpanel support at mixpanel.com/get-support. If you have follow-up questions for this thread, please tag me again with your question: @kapa.ai <follow-up question> 👋
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kapa.ai
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Two issues: 1. You’re URL‑encoding the where value yourself. Guzzle will URL‑encode query parameters, so this ends up double‑encoded and Mixpanel can’t parse the expression. The Export API expects a plain segmentation expression string in where, e.g. properties["distinct_id"] == "3147". [Segmentation expr; Export params]2. You’re filtering on the wrong property name. In raw export, distinct_id is a top‑level property, not inside properties[...]. To filter by it, you should use properties["distinct_id"] only if you actually send distinct_id as an event property; otherwise, you typically filter on your own event properties (e.g. properties["user_id"]). The docs only define the grammar, not a special case for distinct_id, so if distinct_id is not an event property in your data, this expression will never match. [Segmentation expr; Export desc]Given what’s in the docs, you should at least fix the first problem. Let Guzzle handle encoding: LBKS$where = 'properties["distinct_id"] == "3147"';LBKS$response = $client-> request('GET', '[https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export](https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export)', [ 'http_errors' => false, 'auth' => [$username, $secret], 'headers' => [ 'accept' => 'text/plain', ], 'query' => [ 'project_id' => $projectId, 'from_date' => $fromDate, 'to_date' => $toDate, 'limit' => 1, 'event' => json_encode([$eventName]), 'where' => $where, // no urlencode() ], ]);LBKSIf this still returns 400, the knowledge sources don’t provide further details on specific 400 error messages for the Export API, so I can’t say more precisely what Mixpanel is rejecting.
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Gustavo S.
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kapa.ai how do i filter by user id?
kapa.ai
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Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
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To filter by user ID in the Export API where clause, you need to filter on an event property that contains your user ID (for example, a property you send like user_id or $user_id), not on the internal distinct_id field.The segmentation/where syntax is: txt properties["<property_name> "] <operator> <value> LBKS [Segmentation expr]So if you send your user ID as an event property called user_id, your PHP code should look like: LBKS$where = 'properties["user_id"] == "3147"';LBKS$response = $client-> request('GET', '[https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export](https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export)', [ 'http_errors' => false, 'auth' => [$username, $secret], 'headers' => [ 'accept' => 'text/plain', ], 'query' => [ 'project_id' => $projectId, 'from_date' => $fromDate, 'to_date' => $toDate, 'limit' => 1, 'event' => json_encode([$eventName]), 'where' => $where, // note: not urlencoded; Guzzle encodes it ], ]);LBKSKey points from the docs: - where is “an expression to filter events by” using the segmentation expression grammar. [Export params; Segmentation expr] - User IDs you control should be sent as event properties (e.g. user_id or $user_id) or as profile properties, not as the reserved internal distinct_id field. [Reserved props; Identity overview]The knowledge sources do not explicitly document filtering on the internal distinct_id in the where clause, so the reliable, documented approach is to filter on your own user‑ID event property as shown above.
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Gustavo S.
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kapa.ai so I can only filter by event properties? What about the user linked to the event? How do I filter by that?
kapa.ai
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Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
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You’re right to distinguish between: - Event properties (what happened on that event), and - User/profile properties (who the user is).For the Raw Event Export API (/export), the docs only describe filtering with segmentation expressions over event properties via the where parameter. The grammar is explicitly properties["..."] ... and there is no documented way to reference user/profile fields there. [Segmentation expr; Export params]So, based on the docs: - With Export API you can filter only by event properties (including any user ID you also send as an event property, e.g. properties["user_id"] == "123"). - To filter by user/profile properties (e.g. $email, plan, etc.), you need a profile‑oriented export, not the raw event export: - Use Engage / Query Profiles API (/api/query/engage) and filter with where on user properties. [Engage query; Exporting profiles] - Or use JQL join(Events(), People()) if you still rely on JQL, where selectors can access both properties[...] (events) and user[...] (profiles). [JQL join]The knowledge sources do not document a way to say “filter events by linked user profile property” directly in the /export API, so the supported patterns are: 1. Put your user identifier on the event (e.g. user_id or $user_id) and filter via where on that event property, or 2. Export profiles (Engage API) or use JQL joins when you need profile‑based filtering.
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Gustavo S.
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kapa.ai ok, how can I do that using JQL? on which api?
kapa.ai
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Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
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You can do this with JQL by: 1. Calling the JQL Query API endpoint: POST [https://mixpanel.com/api/query/jql](https://mixpanel.com/api/query/jql) [JQL HTTP]2. Sending a script that joins events and profiles and filters on the user fields you care about, using join(Events(), People()). [JQL join]
Example JQL script: filter events by user property
This example returns all events between two dates where the user’s email matches a value: js function main() { return join( Events({ from_date: params.from_date, to_date: params.to_date }), People(), { type: "inner", selectors: [{ selector: 'user["$email"] == "jane.doe@[example.com](http://example.com)"' }] } ); }LBKSYou pass params as JSON in the params form field of the HTTP request; they become available as the params global in the script. [JQL API; JQL basics]
Example HTTP call (structure)
Using curl (you’d do the same from PHP/Guzzle, just as a POST with form fields): sh curl [https://mixpanel.com/api/query/jql](https://mixpanel.com/api/query/jql) \ -u YOUR_API_SECRET: \ --data-urlencode 'script=FUNCTION_MAIN_CODE_HERE' \ --data-urlencode 'params={"from_date":"2025-12-28","to_date":"2025-12-28"}'LBKSWhere FUNCTION_MAIN_CODE_HERE is the function main() { ... } script above. [JQL HTTP]Within selectors.selector you can reference: - Event properties: properties["checkout"] == true, etc. - User properties: user["plan"] == "Premium", user["$email"] == "...", etc. [JQL join]Note: JQL is in maintenance mode; docs recommend using Export API / Engage Query / Data Pipelines for new work, but JQL is still how you can directly filter events by linked user properties. [JQL status; JQL app]
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Gustavo S.
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kapa.ai I still want to use the export api, but filter by event property "Booking"
kapa.ai
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Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
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You can do that with the where parameter on the Raw Event Export API; where accepts a segmentation expression over event properties. [Export API; Segmentation expr]Assuming your event property is literally named Booking: LBKS$where = 'properties["Booking"] == "some_value"'; // adjust operator/value as neededLBKS$response = $client-> request('GET', '[https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export](https://data-eu.mixpanel.com/api/2.0/export)', [ 'http_errors' => false, 'auth' => [$username, $secret], 'headers' => [ 'accept' => 'text/plain', ], 'query' => [ 'project_id' => $projectId, 'from_date' => $fromDate, 'to_date' => $toDate, 'limit' => 100, 'event' => json_encode([$eventName]), 'where' => $where, // IMPORTANT: plain string, no urlencode() ], ]);LBKSKey points: - where must be a valid expression like properties["Booking"] == "X" or defined(properties["Booking"]), etc. [Segmentation expr] - Don’t urlencode the where string yourself; your HTTP client will encode query params. Double‑encoding can cause 400 errors. [Export API]If Booking is numeric or boolean, use the appropriate literal, e.g.: txt properties["Booking"] > 0 boolean(properties["Booking"]) number(properties["Booking"]) > = 10LBKS
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Gustavo S.
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kapa.ai why is this event track using the php sdk failing? [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 196 ] : Queued message: {"$token":"0575d0615457cc818a156ccb1c0f1c27","$distinct_id":"2622","$time":1768915231.800992,"$set":{"$distinct_id":"2622"}} [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 196 ] : Queued message: {"event":"checkout","properties":{"mp_lib":"php","distinct_id":"2622","Type":"onetime","Booking":3618,"FirstTime":false,"CheckoutOrigin":"app","BookingFlow":"backend","BookingCreatedByAdmin":false,"time":1763508265,"Value":"148.57","token":"0575d0615457cc818a156ccb1c0f1c27"}} [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 113 ] : Flush called - queue size: 1 [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 114 ] : Making blocking cURL call to https://api.mixpanel.com/track [ ConsumerStrategies_CurlConsumer - line 152 ] : 0 [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 123 ] : Batch consumption failed! [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 128 ] : added batch back to queue, queue size is now 1 [ Base_MixpanelBase - line 135 ] : Batch of 1 consumed, queue size is now 1