Choose the fields that are returned in the current dataset. This parameter supports dot notation to request nested relational fields. You can also use a wildcard (\*) to include all fields at a specific depth.

### Examples Get all top-level fields\ `*` Get all top-level fields and all second-level relational fields\ `*.*` ::: warning Nested Wildcard While you can theoretically nest wildcards infinitely, it's not recommended for production use. Nested wildcards can result in degraded performance, and circular parent-child-parent structures. ::: Get all top-level fields and second-level relational fields within images\ `*,images.*` Get only the first_name and last_name fields\ `first_name,last_name` Get all top-level and second-level relational fields, and third-level fields within images.thumbnails\ `*.*,images.thumbnails.*` ### Many-To-Any (Union Types) Seeing that Many-to-Any (m2a) fields have nested data from multiple collections, it's not always safe / wanted to fetch the same field from every related collection. In m2a fields, you can use the following syntax to specify what fields to fetch from which related nested collection type:\ `?fields=:.`. Lets say we have a collection `pages` with a many-to-any field called `sections` that points to `headings`, `paragraphs`, and `videos`. We only want to fetch `title` and `level` from `headings`, `body` from `paragraphs` and `source` from `videos`. We can achieve that by using: ``` sections.item:headings.title sections.item:headings.level sections.item:paragraphs.body sections.item:videos.body ``` In GraphQL, this can be achieved using [Union Types](/reference/api/graphql/#many-to-any-union-types).

### REST API ``` ?fields=title,body,featured_image.* // or ?fields[]=title &fields[]=body &fields[]=featured_image.* ``` ### GraphQL n/a

Used to search items in a collection that matches the filter's conditions. The filter param follows [the Filter Rules spec](/reference/filter-rules/), which includes additional information on logical operators (AND/OR), nested relational filtering, and dynamic variables.

### Examples Retrieve all items where `first_name` equals "Rijk" ```json { "first_name": { "_eq": "Rijk" } } ``` Retrieve all items in one of the following categories: "vegetables", "fruit" ```json { "categories": { "_in": ["vegetables", "fruit"] } } ``` Retrieve all items where the author's "vip" flag is true ```json { "author": { "vip": { "_eq": true } } } ``` ::: tip Nested Filters The above example will filter the _top level_ items based on a condition _in_ the related item. If you're looking to filter the related items themselves, take a look at [the `deep` parameter](#deep)! :::

### REST API ``` ?filter[first_name][_eq]=Rijk // or ?filter={ "first_name": { "_eq": "Rijk" }} ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { users(filter: { first_name: { _eq: "Rijk" } }) { id } } } ```

The search parameter allows you to perform a search on all string and text type fields within a collection. It's an easy way to search for an item without creating complex field filters – though it is far less optimized. It only searches the root item's fields, related item fields are not included.

### Example Find all items that mention Directus\ `Directus`

### REST API ``` ?search=Directus ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { articles(search: "Directus") { id } } } ```

What field(s) to sort by. Sorting defaults to ascending, but a minus sign (`-`) can be used to reverse this to descending order. Fields are prioritized by the order in the parameter.

### Examples Sort by creation date descending\ `-date_created` Sort by a "sort" field, followed by publish date descending\ `sort, -publish_date`

### REST API ``` ?sort=sort,-date_created // or ?sort[]=sort &sort[]=-date_created ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { articles(sort: ["sort", "-date_created"]) { id } } } ```

Set the maximum number of items that will be returned. The default limit is set to `100`.

### Examples Get the first 200 items\ `200` Get all items\ `-1` ::: warning All Items Depending on the size of your collection, fetching unlimited data may result in degraded performance or timeouts, use with caution. :::

### REST API ``` ?limit=200 ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { articles(limit: 200) { id } } } ```

Skip the first `n` items in the response. Can be used for pagination.

### Examples Get items 100—200\ `100`

### REST API ``` ?offset=100 ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { articles(offset: 100) { id } } } ```

An alternative to `offset`. Page is a way to set `offset` under the hood by calculating `limit * page`. Page is 1-indexed.

### Examples Get items 1-100\ `1` Get items 101-200\ `2`

### REST API ``` ?page=2 ``` ### GraphQL ```graphql query { items { articles(page: 2) { id } } } ```

Deep allows you to set any of the other query parameters on a nested relational dataset.

### Examples Limit the nested related articles to 3 ```json { "related_articles": { "limit": 3 } } ``` Fetch only the `en-US` translations ```json { "translations": { "filter": { "languages_code": { "_eq": "en-US" } } } } ```

### REST API ``` ?deep[translations][filter][languages_code][_eq]=en-US // or ?deep={ "translations": { "filter": { "languages_code": { "_eq": "en-US" }}}} ``` ### GraphQL n/a

Metadata allows you to retrieve some additional information about the items in the collection you're fetching. `*` can be used as a wildcard to retrieve all metadata.

### Total Count Returns the total item count of the collection you're querying. ### Filter Count Returns the item count of the collection you're querying, taking the current filter/search parameters into account.

### REST API ``` ?meta=total_count ?meta=filter_count ?meta=* ``` ### GraphQL n/a