packer/website/content/docs/templates/hcl_templates/functions/collection/distinct.mdx

---
page_title: distinct function reference
description: The `distinct` function removes duplicate elements from a list. Learn how to use the `distince` function in Packer templates.
---

# `distinct` Function

`distinct` takes a list and returns a new list with any duplicate elements
removed.

The first occurrence of each value is retained and the relative ordering of
these elements is preserved.

## Examples

```shell-session
> distinct(["a", "b", "a", "c", "d", "b"])
[
  "a",
  "b",
  "c",
  "d",
]
```