directus/docs/reference/api/query.md

---
pageClass: page-reference
---

# Global Query Parameters

> Most Directus API Endpoint operations can be manipulated with the following parameters. It is important to understand them to get the most out of the platform.

- [Fields](#fields)
- [Filter](#filter)
- [Search](#search)
- [Sort](#sort)
- [Limit](#limit)
- [Offset](#offset) / [Page](#page)
- [Deep](#deep)
- [Metadata](#metadata)
  - [Total Count](#total-count)
  - [Filter Count](#filter-count)

---

## Fields

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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.

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### 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=<m2a-field>:<collection-scope>.<field>`.

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).

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?fields=title,body,featured_image.*

// or

?fields[]=title
&fields[]=body
&fields[]=featured_image.*
```

### GraphQL

n/a

</div>
</div>

---

## Filter

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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.

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### 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)!

:::

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?filter[first_name][_eq]=Rijk

// or

?filter={ "first_name": { "_eq": "Rijk" }}
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		users(filter: { first_name: { _eq: "Rijk" } }) {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Search

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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.

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### Example

Find all items that mention Directus\
`Directus`

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?search=Directus
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		articles(search: "Directus") {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Sort

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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.

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### Examples

Sort by creation date descending\
`-date_created`

Sort by a "sort" field, followed by publish date descending\
`sort, -publish_date`

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?sort=sort,-date_created

// or

?sort[]=sort
&sort[]=-date_created
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		articles(sort: ["sort", "-date_created"]) {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Limit

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### 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.

:::

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?limit=200
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		articles(limit: 200) {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Offset

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### Examples

Get items 100—200\
`100`

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?offset=100
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		articles(offset: 100) {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Page

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### Examples

Get items 1-100\
`1`

Get items 101-200\
`2`

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?page=2
```

### GraphQL

```graphql
query {
	items {
		articles(page: 2) {
			id
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
</div>

---

## Deep

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### 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"
			}
		}
	}
}
```

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?deep[translations][filter][languages_code][_eq]=en-US

// or

?deep={ "translations": { "filter": { "languages_code": { "_eq": "en-US" }}}}
```

### GraphQL

n/a

</div>
</div>

---

## Metadata

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

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.

</div>
</div>

<div class="two-up">
<div class="left">

### 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.

</div>
<div class="right">

### REST API

```
?meta=total_count

?meta=filter_count

?meta=*
```

### GraphQL

n/a

</div>
</div>

---