How to lookup specific element in Ansible dictionary or list of these

Lookup specific element in Ansible dictionary or list of these.

Sample playbook to look for elements from elements_to_look_for in first_variable, second_variable and third_variable.

$ cat playbook.yml

---
- hosts: localhost
  vars:
    elements_to_look_for:
      - alpha
      - beta
      - gamma
      - delta
    first_variable:
      - key: beta
        value: beta_value
      - key: gamma
        value: gamma_value
      - key: delta
        value: delta_value
    second_variable:
      alpha:
        value: "alpha_value"
      gamma:
        value: "gamma_value"
      delta:
        value: "delta_value"
    third_variable:
      - "alpha": "alpha_value"
      - "beta":  "beta_value"
      - "delta": "delta_value"

  tasks:
    - name: Display elements to look for
      debug:
        var: elements_to_look_for

    # first dictionary
    # beta, gamma, delta

    - name: Display first variable
      debug:
        var: first_variable

    - name: Look for elements missing in first variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ element }}"
      when:
        - element not in (first_variable | map(attribute='key'))
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

    - name: Look for elements present in first variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ first_variable | selectattr('key','equalto',element) }}"
      when:
        - element in (first_variable | map(attribute='key'))
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

    # second dictionary
    # alpha, gamma, delta

    - name: Display second dictionary
      debug:
        var: second_variable

    - name: Look for elements missing in second variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ element }}"
      when:
         - element not in second_variable.keys()
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

    - name: Look for elements present in second variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ second_variable[element] }}"
      when:
        - element in second_variable.keys()
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

    # third dictionary
    # alpha, beta, delta

    - name: Display third dictionary
      debug:
        var: third_variable

    - name: Look for elements missing in third variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ element }}"
      when:
        - not (third_variable | selectattr(element, 'defined'))
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

    - name: Look for elements present in third variable
      debug:
        msg: "{{ third_variable | selectattr(element, 'defined') }}"
      when:
        - third_variable | selectattr(element, 'defined')
      loop: "{{ elements_to_look_for }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: element

Execute this playbook to see how it works.

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml

[WARNING]: No inventory was parsed, only implicit localhost is available
[WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available. Note that the implicit localhost does not match 'all'

PLAY [localhost] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *****************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Display elements to look for] ****************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "elements_to_look_for": [
        "alpha",
        "beta",
        "gamma",
        "delta"
    ]
}

TASK [Display first variable] **********************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "first_variable": [
        {
            "key": "beta",
            "value": "beta_value"
        },
        {
            "key": "gamma",
            "value": "gamma_value"
        },
        {
            "key": "delta",
            "value": "delta_value"
        }
    ]
}

TASK [Look for elements missing in first variable] *************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=alpha) => {
    "msg": "alpha"
}
skipping: [localhost] => (item=beta) 
skipping: [localhost] => (item=gamma) 
skipping: [localhost] => (item=delta) 

TASK [Look for elements present in first variable] *************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost] => (item=alpha) 
ok: [localhost] => (item=beta) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "key": "beta",
            "value": "beta_value"
        }
    ]
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=gamma) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "key": "gamma",
            "value": "gamma_value"
        }
    ]
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=delta) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "key": "delta",
            "value": "delta_value"
        }
    ]
}

TASK [Display second dictionary] *******************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "second_variable": {
        "alpha": {
            "value": "alpha_value"
        },
        "delta": {
            "value": "delta_value"
        },
        "gamma": {
            "value": "gamma_value"
        }
    }
}

TASK [Look for elements missing in second variable] ************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost] => (item=alpha) 
ok: [localhost] => (item=beta) => {
    "msg": "beta"
}
skipping: [localhost] => (item=gamma) 
skipping: [localhost] => (item=delta) 

TASK [Look for elements present in second variable] ************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=alpha) => {
    "msg": {
        "value": "alpha_value"
    }
}
skipping: [localhost] => (item=beta) 
ok: [localhost] => (item=gamma) => {
    "msg": {
        "value": "gamma_value"
    }
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=delta) => {
    "msg": {
        "value": "delta_value"
    }
}

TASK [Display third dictionary] ********************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "third_variable": [
        {
            "alpha": "alpha_value"
        },
        {
            "beta": "beta_value"
        },
        {
            "delta": "delta_value"
        }
    ]
}

TASK [Look for elements missing in third variable] *************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost] => (item=alpha) 
skipping: [localhost] => (item=beta) 
ok: [localhost] => (item=gamma) => {
    "msg": "gamma"
}
skipping: [localhost] => (item=delta) 

TASK [Look for elements present in third variable] *************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=alpha) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "alpha": "alpha_value"
        }
    ]
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=beta) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "beta": "beta_value"
        }
    ]
}
skipping: [localhost] => (item=gamma) 
ok: [localhost] => (item=delta) => {
    "msg": [
        {
            "delta": "delta_value"
        }
    ]
}

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=11   changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0