How do I correctly use $ifEmpty in n8n to dynamically evaluate a fallback value?

Below is an explanation and some solutions:

What’s Happening

When you wrap something in quotes in an expression, n8n treats it as a literal string. In your expression

  {{ $ifEmpty( $json.Value1, “$json.Value2” ) }}

the second parameter is interpreted exactly as "$json.Value2" (a string), rather than as an expression that returns the content of Value2. Removing the quotes directly causes a syntax error because the expression parser does not expect raw JSON properties inside a string literal context.

Workarounds

There are a few ways to handle the situation:

1. Use the Logical OR Operator

   Because both values are strings, you can use JavaScript’s logical OR (||) to return Value1 when truthy (i.e. not empty) or Value2 otherwise:

   JAVASCRIPTCopied
   {{ $json.Value1 || $json.Value2 }}

   This is often the cleanest approach when you simply want a fallback.

2. Stick with the $if Method

   You already found that using the $if function works well:

   JAVASCRIPTCopied
   {{ $if($json.Value1 == null, $json.Value2, $json.Value1) }}

   This method explicitly checks if Value1 is null and returns Value2 if so.

3. Expression Mode vs. Fixed Mode

   If you’re using the Edit Fields node in Manual Mapping mode, be sure that your field is set to treat the value as an expression rather than a fixed string. When dragging in values from the Input, n8n wraps them in an expression automatically. If you type in your own expression with quotes, it is considered a fixed value. Ensure that you switch to expression mode if you’re typing a dynamic expression.

Conclusion

At this time there isn’t a way to have the $ifEmpty function evaluate a second parameter as an expression if it’s wrapped in quotes. The recommended solutions are to use either a logical OR operator or use the $if expression instead. Both approaches allow you to avoid the issue of returning a literal string while keeping your expressions readable and dynamic.