---
id: LANG-24
family: GR-LANG
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/gr-lang/lang-24
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# LANG-24 — A null extraction is a miss, not a failure

*GR-LANG (Part I) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

Extraction engines cannot tell a stored null from no match at all, so the extractor treats both the same way, and only null, never a falsy value.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. An extraction that evaluates cleanly and yields null is a miss: the configured default is delivered, the extractor reports success as false (meaning no non-null match was found), and the node succeeds.
>
> 2. Only null is a miss; false, zero and the empty string are delivered as found.

## Related rules

- Names: LANG-8, LANG-22
- Referenced by: LANG-22, LANG-29

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.