The Advanced editor gives you greater flexibility when building custom tests, especially for evaluating nested properties, arrays, and complex logic that can't be expressed in the Builder tab.

You can:

When you switch to the Advanced editor, Drata automatically converts your selected choices to the JSON-based rule set.

Use the Advanced editor when you need to:

If you're new to custom tests, start with Create a Custom Test before using the Advanced editor.

The editor provides real-time validation to help you build correct test logic:

You cannot save test logic until all validation errors are resolved.

The editor supports IntelliSense to speed up test creation:

Each code block supports up to 70 lines.

When starting from scratch, the editor displays this default structure:

You can nest all and any operators to create complex logic.

Each condition includes:

You can define filtering criteria to narrow which resources are evaluated before conditions run.

Examples:

Filtering criteria can be edited or removed at any time.

Verify encryption is enabled and region is us-west-2:

Evaluate a nested object property using path:

Ensure all snapshots are encrypted:

Require snapshots to be encrypted and use a specific KMS key:

The Advanced editor provides more flexibility and capability for building tests, especially when creating custom tests for nested properties. The Advanced editor can be used to build on top of the logic built through the Builder tab or used independently. For example, if you started creating a test through the Builder tab, you can finish it through the Advanced editor. The Advanced Editor will automatically convert the test logic built on the Builder tab as a JSON object on the Advanced editor.

Before using the Advanced editor to build custom test, ensure you know how to create a custom test.

When creating your JSON object for your custom test, the text editor continuously validates your the JSON syntax and logic so that you can receive instant feedback about the test logic you built or JSON syntax to have the most help when creating the test logic through our advance editor. The instant feedback will provide the specific lines the misconfigurations are found.

For example in the following image, there is no "operator" selected. The message indicates the line number followed by what the misconfiguration is. It can also suggest the potential solutions.

The text editor can also suggest values for you to use by enabling IntelliSense. Enter Ctrl + Space to activate IntelliSense. Enter two quotes with a space (such as " ") and hover your mouse to view the suggested values; select the desired option to auto populate with that selected option.

Note: Each code block can have up to 70 lines.

On the Test Builder page, select the Advanced editor tab.

Let's discover what each of these properties mean.

You can add an additional filtering criteria. The filtering criteria can be deleted or edited. Ensure to select the Exclusion or Inclusion option.

After creating the test logic, ensure to save your changes.

To modify the JSON object within the editor, select the edit icon near the top right above the code block. Ensure to save your changes.

You will not be able to save the conditions in the advanced editor until it is valid.

After saving your work, you can verify if the test logic you built in the Advanced editor can be displayed in the Builder tab.

If the conditions you've entered in the Advanced editor can be shown in the Builder tab, you can seamlessly select the builder tab and the Builder tab will contain and display the logic there.

If the conditions you've created in the advanced editor are too complex for builder tab to automatically fill out the fields, then the tab will be greyed out as an indicator. Most of the time, test logic evaluating a nested property within an array cannot be shown in the Builder tab.

If you select the greyed out builder tab, you will receive a warning message and have the option to remove all of the test logic to go to the Builder tab (which is the Go to builder button) or continue your work on the Advanced editor tab (which is the Stay on editor button).

To save your custom test, you must resolve any JSON syntax issue or test logic. You can view the feedback underneath each code block to verify if your JSON object has any issues.

After building your draft custom test, on the Monitoring page, select your test. Within the Test logic section, you can view your JSON if the test logic you built was too complicated for your Builder tab.

The following sections showcase multiple scenarios when to use the Advanced editor, what kind of test logic can be created, and the example JSON syntax.

When you create a test to verify that both encryption is true and the region is us-west-2, you might need to add another condition. Here is a JSON example with two conditions.

There can be an object or an array for the nested properties. The following sections showcase an example with the scenario and the JSON syntax.

If you would like to evaluate a property of an object, you can use an additional key, "path".

For example, the following code block showcases a part of the AWS DBInstances JSON.

I would like the "KmsKeyId" of the "MasterUserSecret" to be equal to "xyz":

If the property is an array, you can create a nested condition in the value key of the parent property.

For example, this is a part of the AWS DBInstances JSON:

I would like to evaluate every dbInstanceSnapshots to be Encrypted: true.

Another scenario is if I would like every dbInstanceSnapshots to be Encrypted: true and KmsKeyId: 123.

Here is how you can configure conditions in the advanced editor to evaluate tags by Key-Value Pair. The builder will only let you match by the Key. For "fact", select the Tags value that corresponds with that resource. Verify your information with the Resource guide.