# Is it possible to use system.tag.browse with placeholders?

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-system-tag-browse-with-placeholders/117289>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Tags:** ignition81, scripting\
**Created:** [October 1, 2026, 10:44am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-system-tag-browse-with-placeholders/117289 "2026-10-01T10:44:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![danielps1818](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@danielps1818](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/danielps1818)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 10:44am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-system-tag-browse-with-placeholders/117289/1 "2026-10-01T10:44:21Z")

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Hi!

I have a query that given a room ID it returns the total path for that room.

> **Code**
>
> ```python
> def uns_get_path_by_id(provider, wc_id):
> 
> query = {
> "options": {
> "includeUdtMembers": True,
> "includeUdtDefinitions": False
> },
> "condition": {
> "path": "Enterprise/Plant/Section/*/Room01/ID",
> "properties": {
> "op": "Or",
> "conditions": [{
> "op": "And",
> "conditions": [{
> "prop": "value",
> "comp": "Equal",
> "value": wc_id
> }]
> }]
> }
> }
> }
> 
> results = system.tag.query(provider, query)
> 
> if len(results) == 1:
> return results[0].get("fullPath")
> return None
> 
> ```

However I have read some posts where they talk about the difference in efficiency between tag.query and tag.browse ([post](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/execution-speed-comparison-of-system-tag-query-browse-browse-wins/83175)).  
Is it possible to transform what I'm doing with `system.tag.query` to use `system.tag.browse`? My testing says is not, but some of you are really more smart than me so you maybe know something that I don't.

Thx in advance!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pturmel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/pturmel/32/3295_2.png) [@pturmel](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/pturmel)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 11:37am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-system-tag-browse-with-placeholders/117289/2 "2026-10-01T11:37:46Z")

</div>

`system.tag.browse` can neither do embedded placeholders nor property value conditions.  
Consider using a tag change event on your leaf ID tag that updates a persistent dictionary, such as provided by my toolkit's `system.util.globalVarMap`. Then you can find the path with just a dictionary lookup.

Or query all IDs together and cache that.