Guides / Managing results / Refine results / Filtering

Filters and facet filters

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For most uses, the filters parameter is the best choice for filtering. However, numericFilters and facetFilters also offer comparable capabilities and can be used to suit different filtering needs.

Differences between filtering parameters

Whatever filtering parameter you use, the aim is to filter records based on their attributes. To exclude results, use the NOT operator. However, there are some differences:

filters

  Notes
Parameter filters
Syntax String
Best for Filtering with a mix of string and numeric filters
Key points A familiar SQL syntax. You can use boolean logical operators: AND, OR, NOT

Examples

Find all books written by Stephen King:

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index.search('', {
  filters: 'author:"Stephen King"'
});

Exclude all non-fiction books (based on their tag):

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index.search('', {
  filters: 'NOT _tags:non-fiction'
});

numericFilters

  Notes
Parameter numericFilters
Syntax String
Best for Filtering dates and numeric values
Key points Like filters but limited to numeric data

Example

Find all books that cost more than $20:

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index.search('', {
  numericFilters: 'price>20'
});

facetFilters

  Notes
Parameter facetFilters
Syntax String or string array
Best for Filtering with a mix of strings and complex boolean logic
Key points Can’t be used for numeric filtering

Examples

Find books written by Stephen King or belonging to the horror genre, and also published by Penguin.

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index.search('', {
  facetFilters: [["author:Stephen King", "genre:Horror"], "publisher:Penguin"]
});

Exclude eBooks from the results:

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index.search('', {
  facetFilters: "category:-Ebook"
});

Combining filters and facetFilters

You can combine filter and facet filters in the same search query. For example:

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 index.search('', {
   filters: '(author:"Stephen King" OR genre:"Horror")',
   facetFilters: ["publisher:Penguin"]
 });

In this case, the results of this are the same as the preceding example for facetFilters but more generally may prove to be more flexible. For example, you can use filters programmatically to create a reduced set of records based on a user’s profile, and then apply facetFilters to reflect the facets that users have chosen.

Limits and performance

Since each filter adds complexity to queries, there’s a limit on the total number of combined filters you can use of 1,000.

Faceting on unique or uncommon attributes may degrade search performance and relevance.

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