Exact conditions and ranges

Terms and identifiers

term matches one indexed value without full-text analysis; terms accepts any value from a list. Brands normally use keyword. Case and normalization must agree with mapping. ids searches _id rather than a custom sku field. Exact queries do not split ordinary-looking input into words.

Boundaries and time

range uses gt, gte, lt and lte. Inclusive starts and exclusive ends prevent double-counting boundaries across adjacent intervals. Date math such as now-7d/d rounds boundaries; time_zone affects local boundary interpretation, while now represents the current instant. Distinguish a calendar week from the last 168 hours.

Checking absence

exists checks for an indexed value. A missing rating is commonly expressed as must_not exists. Absence can result from null, empty arrays and mapping options such as ignore_above. A key in _source and presence in searchable structures are different properties. Validate mandatory business data before indexing.

{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "filter": [
        {
          "terms": {
            "brand": [
              "Sony",
              "Bose"
            ]
          }
        },
        {
          "range": {
            "price": {
              "gte": 50,
              "lt": 200
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Catalog reasoning example

Test prices 49.99, 50, 199.99 and 200 against [50,200): only 50 and 199.99 should pass. A missing price should not pass range. Test date boundaries in the chosen time zone similarly. Small counterexamples detect gte/lte mistakes more reliably than a total count over arbitrary data. For exists, compare null, an empty array and an empty string separately.

{
  "query": {
    "term": {
      "sku": "missing-sku"
    }
  }
}

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 0,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": []
  }
}

Find an exact brand

term searches for an indexed value without analyzing the input. For a brand identifier, select brand.keyword: it stores the complete value, including case. Sony and sony are different keyword values in this mapping. The brand field itself is text, so its indexed tokens are not the same thing as the original full brand string.

The same term syntax works for boolean and numeric fields: use true rather than the string "true", and a number rather than a formatted price string. Query fields use indexed paths, whereas _source contains original document fields: brand.keyword is a mapping subfield, not a separate property in the source JSON.

{
  "query": {
    "term": {
      "brand.keyword": "Sony"
    }
  },
  "size": 2,
  "_source": [
    "name",
    "brand"
  ],
  "sort": [
    {
      "id": "asc"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 50,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": [
      {
        "_id": "3",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Sony Travel Speaker 3",
          "brand": "Sony"
        }
      },
      {
        "_id": "9",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Sony Premium Travel Laptop 9",
          "brand": "Sony"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Match several statuses

terms tests membership in a list: a document matches if the field equals any listed value. This is logical OR over exact values of one field, not a requirement to contain every value. Our status is a single keyword. Put values in an array even if only two alternatives are needed.

Use terms for a compact exact-value selection; use bool when alternatives involve different fields or combine multiple conditions. A list does not create independent query blocks. Missing fields do not match a supplied ordinary value, so missing status is not automatically part of the selection.

{
  "query": {
    "terms": {
      "status": [
        "preorder",
        "discontinued"
      ]
    }
  },
  "size": 2,
  "_source": [
    "name",
    "status"
  ],
  "sort": [
    {
      "id": "asc"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 200,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": [
      {
        "_id": "1",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Wireless",
          "status": "preorder"
        }
      },
      {
        "_id": "2",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Reference device",
          "status": "discontinued"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Filter a price range

range compares indexed values rather than strings. gte and lte include the boundary; gt and lt exclude it. State both bounds in the same range object when one field must lie inside an interval. The example selects prices from 200 through 800, including both endpoints.

Translate natural-language limits before writing JSON: "below" means lt, "at least" means gte. Numeric field types handle fractional values, so 499.99 and 500 can fall on opposite sides of a boundary. The same query family supports dates, but price should receive numeric values, not strings with currency symbols.

{
  "query": {
    "range": {
      "price": {
        "gte": 200,
        "lte": 800
      }
    }
  },
  "size": 2,
  "_source": [
    "name",
    "price"
  ],
  "sort": [
    {
      "price": "asc"
    },
    {
      "id": "asc"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 60,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": [
      {
        "_id": "5",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Dell USB Cable 5",
          "price": 499
        }
      },
      {
        "_id": "15",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Sony USB Cable 15",
          "price": 499
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Find rated products

exists checks whether a field has an indexed value. In our mapping, an absent rating and a rating set to null both fail this test. A numeric zero is a valid value and must not be treated as missing. An empty text string is also not the same as a missing field.

An existing source property is not a universal guarantee of an indexed value: indexing options can change that. For these exercises the mapping is fixed and has no null_value substitution. To select documents without a rating, invert exists with bool.must_not; you will use that combination in the advanced lesson.

{
  "query": {
    "exists": {
      "field": "rating"
    }
  },
  "size": 2,
  "_source": [
    "name",
    "rating"
  ],
  "sort": [
    {
      "id": "asc"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 258,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": [
      {
        "_id": "1",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Wireless",
          "rating": 3.1
        }
      },
      {
        "_id": "2",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "name": "Reference device",
          "rating": 3.2
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}