Count search results
Get the number of documents matching a query.
The query can either be provided using a simple query string as a parameter or using the Query DSL defined within the request body.
The latter must be nested in a query
key, which is the same as the search API.
The count API supports multi-target syntax. You can run a single count API search across multiple data streams and indices.
The operation is broadcast across all shards. For each shard ID group, a replica is chosen and the search is run against it. This means that replicas increase the scalability of the count.
Query parameters
-
allow_no_indices boolean
If
false
, the request returns an error if any wildcard expression, index alias, or_all
value targets only missing or closed indices. This behavior applies even if the request targets other open indices. For example, a request targetingfoo*,bar*
returns an error if an index starts withfoo
but no index starts withbar
. -
analyzer string
The analyzer to use for the query string. This parameter can be used only when the
q
query string parameter is specified. -
analyze_wildcard boolean
If
true
, wildcard and prefix queries are analyzed. This parameter can be used only when theq
query string parameter is specified. -
default_operator string
The default operator for query string query:
AND
orOR
. This parameter can be used only when theq
query string parameter is specified.Values are
and
,AND
,or
, orOR
. -
df string
The field to use as a default when no field prefix is given in the query string. This parameter can be used only when the
q
query string parameter is specified. -
expand_wildcards string | array[string]
The type of index that wildcard patterns can match. If the request can target data streams, this argument determines whether wildcard expressions match hidden data streams. It supports comma-separated values, such as
open,hidden
. -
If
true
, concrete, expanded, or aliased indices are ignored when frozen. -
lenient boolean
If
true
, format-based query failures (such as providing text to a numeric field) in the query string will be ignored. This parameter can be used only when theq
query string parameter is specified. -
min_score number
The minimum
_score
value that documents must have to be included in the result. -
preference string
The node or shard the operation should be performed on. By default, it is random.
-
routing string
A custom value used to route operations to a specific shard.
-
terminate_after number
The maximum number of documents to collect for each shard. If a query reaches this limit, Elasticsearch terminates the query early. Elasticsearch collects documents before sorting.
IMPORTANT: Use with caution. Elasticsearch applies this parameter to each shard handling the request. When possible, let Elasticsearch perform early termination automatically. Avoid specifying this parameter for requests that target data streams with backing indices across multiple data tiers.
-
q string
The query in Lucene query string syntax.
curl \
-X GET http://api.example.com/_count \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":{}}'
{
"query": {}
}
{
"count": 42.0,
"_shards": {
"failed": 42.0,
"successful": 42.0,
"total": 42.0,
"failures": [
{
"index": "string",
"node": "string",
"reason": {
"type": "string",
"reason": "string",
"stack_trace": "string",
"caused_by": {},
"root_cause": [
{}
],
"suppressed": [
{}
]
},
"shard": 42.0,
"status": "string"
}
],
"skipped": 42.0
}
}