# Event object The Event object describes an incoming [event](/core/events.md). ## How to access it * Use `event` in any task code * Use `event` in the [Liquid console](/app/liquid-console.md) when viewing an event in Mechanic ## What it contains * `event.topic` – containing the event topic (e.g. `shopify/customers/create`) * `event.data` – containing all data that arrived with this event (e.g. the native webhook payload from Shopify, the payload after custom Shopify webhook customization, the data from an incoming email, etc) * `event.source` – reflects the source that triggered the event (e.g. `"shopify"`, `"user"`, or `custom_shopify_webhook_subscription:` for custom Shopify webhook deliveries) * `event.created_at` – the date and time at which Mechanic received the event * `event.shopify_topic` – on Shopify-sourced events (both native subscription deliveries and [custom Shopify webhook](/platform/shopify/custom-webhooks.md) deliveries), this contains the source Shopify topic in Mechanic's canonical form (e.g. `shopify/products/update`). For native deliveries it equals `event.topic`; for custom Shopify webhook deliveries, `event.topic` is the webhook's `user/...` topic and `event.shopify_topic` exposes the underlying Shopify topic. It's `nil` for non-Shopify events. * `event.parent` – if applicable, a reference to the event that used an [Event action](/core/actions/event.md) to create this event; parents are available up to five generations deep (e.g. `{{ event.parent.parent.parent.parent.parent }}`), but no further In preview mode, this object *also* contains a "preview" attribute, as in `event.preview`, set to `true`. (In all other modes, event objects do *not* have this property.) When this attribute is present, the task should render actions that are indicative of what the merchant should expect the task to do – and these "preview" actions will be shown to the merchant. These actions will also be used to determine what Shopify permissions Mechanic will request from the merchant. [Learn more about preview actions](/core/tasks/previews.md) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://learn.mechanic.dev/platform/liquid/objects/event.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.