Shotgrid API '$FROM$' syntax

Is anyone familar with this $FROM$ syntax? Is this documented anywhere? I see it used a few times in tk-core but it doesn’t really explain what’s happening here and when/when not to use it.

import shotgun_api3
sg = shotgun_api3.Shotgun('URL', 'SCRIPT_NAME', 'SCRIPT_KEY')

sg.find('Step', [['$FROM$Task.step.entity', 'is', [{'type': 'Shot', 'id': <AN ID>}]]], [])

It seems to be doing 2 queries in one line but just wanted to confirm and understand use cases.