directus/docs/reference/api/query.md

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pageClass: page-reference
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# Global Query Parameters

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> 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.

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- [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)
- [Export](#export)

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## Fields

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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.

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### Examples

Get all top-level fields\
`*`

Get all top-level fields and all second-level relational fields\
`*.*`

::: tip Performance & Size

While the fields wildcard is very useful for debugging purposes, we recommend only requesting _specific_ fields for
production use. By only requesting the fields you really need, you can speed up the request, and reduce the overall
output size.

:::

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.source
```

In GraphQL, this can be achieved using Union Types.

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### REST API

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

// or

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

### GraphQL

_Natively supported in GraphQL_

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---

## Filter

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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.

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### 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 that are published between two dates

```json
{
	"date_published": {
		"_between": ["2021-01-24", "2021-02-23"]
	}
}
```

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)!

:::

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### REST API

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

// or

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

### GraphQL

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

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## Search

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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.

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### Example

Find all items that mention Directus\
`Directus`

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### REST API

```
?search=Directus
```

### GraphQL

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

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---

## Sort

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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.

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### Examples

Sort by creation date descending\
`-date_created`

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

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### REST API

```
?sort=sort,-date_created

// or

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

### GraphQL

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

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## Limit

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

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### 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.

:::

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### REST API

```
?limit=200
```

### GraphQL

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

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---

## Offset

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

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### Examples

Get items 101—200\
`100`

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### REST API

```
?offset=100
```

### GraphQL

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

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## Page

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

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### Examples

Get items 1-100\
`1`

Get items 101-200\
`2`

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### REST API

```
?page=2
```

### GraphQL

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

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---

## Deep

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

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### Examples

Limit the nested related articles to 3

```json
{
	"related_articles": {
		"_limit": 3
	}
}
```

Only get 3 related articles, with only the top rated comment nested

```json
{
	"related_articles": {
		"_limit": 3,
		"comments": {
			"_sort": "rating",
			"_limit": 1
		}
	}
}
```

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### REST API

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

// or

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

### GraphQL

_Natively supported in GraphQL:_

```graphql
query {
	members {
		favorite_games(filter: { name: { _eq: "Mariokart 8" } }) {
			id
			featured_image {
				filename_disk
			}
		}
	}
}
```

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---

## Metadata

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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.

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### 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.

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### REST API

```
?meta=total_count

?meta=filter_count

?meta=*
```

### GraphQL

n/a

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## Export

Save the current API response to a file.

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Saves the API response to a file. Accepts one of `json`, `csv`, `xml`.

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### REST API

```
?export=json
?export=csv
?export=xml
```

### GraphQL

n/a

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