Search API

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The search API allows one to execute a search query and get back search hits that match the query. It can be executed across one or more indices and across one or more types. The query can be provided using the query Java API. The body of the search request is built using the SearchSourceBuilder. Here is an example:

import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchType;
import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders.*;
SearchResponse response = client.prepareSearch("index1", "index2")
        .setTypes("type1", "type2")
        .setSearchType(SearchType.DFS_QUERY_THEN_FETCH)
        .setQuery(QueryBuilders.termQuery("multi", "test"))                 // Query
        .setPostFilter(QueryBuilders.rangeQuery("age").from(12).to(18))     // Filter
        .setFrom(0).setSize(60).setExplain(true)
        .get();

Note that all parameters are optional. Here is the smallest search call you can write:

// MatchAll on the whole cluster with all default options
SearchResponse response = client.prepareSearch().get();

Although the Java API defines the additional search types QUERY_AND_FETCH and DFS_QUERY_AND_FETCH, these modes are internal optimizations and should not be specified explicitly by users of the API.

For more information on the search operation, check out the REST search docs.