Query DSL

    With query DSL, you need to specify a query in the parameter of the search. One of the simplest searches in OpenSearch uses the match_all query, which matches all documents in an index:

    A query can consist of many query clauses. You can combine query clauses to produce complex queries.

    Broadly, you can classify queries into two categories—leaf queries and compound queries:

    • Leaf queries: Leaf queries search for a specified value in a certain field or fields. You can use leaf queries on their own. They include the following query types:

      • Term-level queries: Use term-level queries to search documents for an exact specified term, such as an ID or value range. Term-level queries do not analyze search terms or sort results by relevance score. To learn more, see Term-level queries.

      • Joining queries: Use joining queries to search nested fields or return parent and child documents that match a specific query. Types of joining queries include nested, has_child, has_parent, and queries.

      • Span queries: Use span queries to perform precise positional searches. Span queries are low-level, specific queries that provide control over the order and proximity of specified query terms. They are primarily used to search legal documents. To learn more, see .

    • Compound queries: Compound queries serve as wrappers for multiple leaf or compound clauses either to combine their results or to modify their behavior. They include the Boolean, disjunction max, constant score, function score, and boosting query types. To learn more, see Compound queries.

    Due to word boundaries associated with Unicode special characters, the Unicode standard analyzer cannot index a text field type value as a whole value when it includes one of these special characters. As a result, a text field value that includes a special character is parsed by the standard analyzer as multiple values separated by the special character, effectively tokenizing the different elements on either side of it. This can lead to unintentional filtering of documents and potentially compromise control over their access.

    The examples below illustrate values containing special characters that will be parsed improperly by the standard analyzer. In this example, the existence of the hyphen/minus sign in the value prevents the analyzer from distinguishing between the two different users for user.id and interprets them as one and the same:

    To avoid this circumstance when using either query DSL or the REST API, you can use a custom analyzer or map the field as , which performs an exact-match search. See for the latter option.