Ansible in a Minute · Ansible Core ·
Use list to loop over dictionary keys
Short answer
Pipe dict.keys() through the list filter so a loop works on Python 3.
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Request
loop service_ports.keys() piped through list filter
Example
A quick heads-up: Every environment is different. Review and test this example before you run it on systems you care about.
---
- name: Loop over dictionary keys with the list filter
hosts: all
gather_facts: false
vars:
service_ports:
http: 80
https: 443
tasks:
- name: Print each service port key
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
loop: "{{ service_ports.keys() | list }}"How it works
On Python 3, keys(), values(), and items() return a view. Ansible cannot turn that view string back into a list. The list filter makes the loop portable.
When to use it
- Looping over keys or values of a dict var
- Writing templates that run on Python 3 controllers
Requirements
- Ansible: >=2.14
Validation
- Syntax validated
- Not execution-tested
- Last verified 2026-09-15
Notes
Use dict.items() | list when you need key and value. Do not use iterkeys(), itervalues(), or iteritems(). Those methods do not exist in Python 3.
Reference
- Dictionary views (Ansible docs)
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