# Deprecating the "exists" filter for string, text, and Structured Text fields

[date: 2023-03-01T11:40:07.159+01:00]

On fields of type Single-line string, Multi-paragraph text, and Structured Text, we used to allow both `null` value and empty strings (`""`), but in both cases the API would return an empty string.  
  
The `exists` filter, which selects values different from `null`, would then return empty strings instead of `null` values. This behavior is confusing and unpredictable, so we decided to deprecate the `exists` filter for these types of field.

We created a new filter, called `isPresent`, that selects values that are neither `null` nor empty strings. It behaves as the opposite of `isBlank`. The `exists` filter will continue to work, but is now deprecated, and will be removed in future versions of our API.