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facet (MongoDB Search Operator)

facet

The facet collector groups results by values or ranges in the specified faceted fields and returns the count for each of those groups.

You can use facet with both the $search and $searchMeta stages. MongoDB recommends using facet with the $searchMeta stage to retrieve metadata results only for the query. To retrieve metadata results and query results using the $search stage, you must use the $$SEARCH_META aggregation variable. To learn more, see SEARCH_META Aggregation Variable.

If you define storedSource in your embeddedDocuments field type definition, you can use returnScope with returnStoredSource to facet on nested fields inside an array of objects. Otherwise, you can only facet on the root embeddedDocuments type field. For an example of faceting on:

facet has the following syntax:

{
"$searchMeta"|"$search": {
"index": <index name>, // optional, defaults to "default"
"facet": {
"operator": {
<operator-specifications>
},
"facets": {
<facet-definitions>
}
},
"returnScope": {
"path": "<embedded-documents-field-to-query>"
},
"returnStoredSource": true
}
}
Field
Type
Required?
Description

facets

document

yes

Information for bucketing the data for each facet. You must specify at least one Facet Definition. Each facet definition can also specify Facet Aggregations to compute metrics for each bucket.

operator

document

no

Operator to use to perform the facet over. If omitted, MongoDB Search performs the facet over all documents in the collection.

Facet queries are memory-intensive, regardless of your cluster tier. Queries that specify Facet Aggregations or nested facets require more memory and disk than other facet queries. Before you use facets in production, confirm that your cluster has enough memory for your workload. To learn more, see Search Memory Management. To get sizing guidance for your workload, request support.

The memory that a facet query requires depends on the number of unique values in the field that you facet on, not the number of buckets that you request using numBuckets or boundaries. For example, a facet that requests 20 buckets on a field with five million unique values still counts every unique value to determine the top 20 buckets.

For nested facets, the total unique values computed in a query multiply based on the unique values across each level of nesting. Even when each individual field has low cardinality, the combination of values across nested paths can produce a large number of unique buckets. To learn more about how nested facets multiply buckets, see Nested Facets.

MongoDB Search tracks bucket counts separately for each query, so total memory use scales with the number of concurrent facet queries. On a sharded cluster, MongoDB Search also requires memory to merge the buckets from each shard, which scales with the number of shards and the number of buckets.

The facet definition document contains the facet name and options specific to a type of facet. MongoDB Search supports the following types of facets:

Important

stringFacet is now outdated. Use token instead, which provides improved faceting.

To learn more about the differences between the updated and outdated field types for facet, see Comparing Field Types for Facet.

String facets allow you to narrow down MongoDB Search results based on the most frequent string values in the specified string field. The string field must be indexed as token. To facet on string fields in embedded documents, you must also index the parent fields as the document type. When you facet on strings in arrays or embedded documents, MongoDB Search returns facet counts based on the number of matching root documents.

String facets have the following syntax:

{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet":{
"operator": {
<operator-specification>
},
"facets": {
"<facet-name>" : {
"type" : "string",
"path" : "<field-path>",
"numBuckets" : <number-of-categories>,
}
}
}
}
}
Option
Type
Description
Required?

numBuckets

int

Maximum number of facet categories to return in the results. Value must be less than or equal to 10000. If specified, MongoDB Search may return fewer categories than requested if the data is grouped into fewer categories than your requested number. If omitted, defaults to 10, which means that MongoDB Search returns only the top 10 facet categories by count.

no

path

string

Field path to facet on. You can specify a field that is indexed as a token.

yes

type

string

Type of facet. Value must be string.

yes

Example

The following example uses an index named default on the sample_mflix.movies collection. The genres field in the collection is indexed as the token type and the year field is indexed as the number type.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"genres": {
"type": "token"
},
"year": {
"type": "number"
}
}
}
}

The query uses the $searchMeta stage to search the year field in the movies collection for movies from 2000 to 2015 and retrieve a count of the number of movies in each genre.

1db.movies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$searchMeta": {
4 "facet": {
5 "operator": {
6 "range": {
7 "path": "year",
8 "gte": 2000,
9 "lte": 2015
10 }
11 },
12 "facets": {
13 "genresFacet": {
14 "type": "string",
15 "path": "genres"
16 }
17 }
18 }
19 }
20 }
21])

To learn more about these results, see Facet Results.

Important

numberFacet is now outdated. Use number instead, which provides improved faceting.

To learn more about the differences between the updated and outdated field types for facet, see Comparing Field Types for Facet.

Numeric facets allow you to determine the frequency of numeric values in your search results by breaking the results into separate ranges of numbers. When you facet on numbers in arrays or embedded documents, MongoDB Search returns facet counts based on the number of matching root documents.

Numeric facets have the following syntax:

{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet":{
"operator": {
<operator-specification>
},
"facets": {
"<facet-name>" : {
"type" : "number",
"path" : "<field-path>",
"boundaries" : <array-of-numbers>,
"default": "<bucket-name>"
}
}
}
}
}
Option
Type
Description
Required?

boundaries

array of numbers

List of numeric values in ascending order that specify the boundaries for your buckets. You must specify between two and ten thousand ([2, 10000]) boundary values. Each adjacent pair of values defines a bucket with an inclusive lower bound and an exclusive upper bound. You can specify any combination of values of the following BSON types:

  • 32-bit integer (int32)

  • 64-bit integer (int64)

  • 64-bit binary floating point (double)

yes

default

string

Name of an additional bucket that counts documents returned from the operator that do not fall within the specified boundaries. If omitted, MongoDB Search includes the results of the facet operator that do not fall under a specified bucket also, but doesn't include it in any bucket counts.

no

path

string

Field path to facet on. You can specify a field that is indexed as the number type.

yes

type

string

Type of facet. Value must be number.

yes

Example

The following example uses an index named default on the sample_mflix.movies collection. The year field in the collection is indexed as the number type.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"year": [
{
"type": "number"
}
]
}
}
}

The query uses the $searchMeta stage to search the year field in the movies collection for movies between the years 1980 and 2000 and retrieve metadata results for the query. The query specifies three buckets:

  • 1980, inclusive lower bound for this bucket

  • 1990, exclusive upper bound for the 1980 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket

  • 2000, exclusive upper bound for the 1990 bucket

The query also specifies a default bucket named other to retrieve results of the query that don't fall under any of the specified boundaries.

1db.movies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$searchMeta": {
4 "facet": {
5 "operator": {
6 "range": {
7 "path": "year",
8 "gte": 1980,
9 "lte": 2000
10 }
11 },
12 "facets": {
13 "yearFacet": {
14 "type": "number",
15 "path": "year",
16 "boundaries": [1980,1990,2000],
17 "default": "other"
18 }
19 }
20 }
21 }
22 }
23])

To learn more about these results, see Facet Results.

Important

dateFacet is now outdated. Use date instead, which provides improved faceting.

To learn more about the differences between the updated and outdated field types for facet, see Comparing Field Types for Facet.

Date facets allow you to narrow down search results based on a date. When you facet on dates in arrays or embedded documents, MongoDB Search returns facet counts based on the number of matching root documents.

Date facets have the following syntax:

{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet":{
"operator": {
<operator-specification>
},
"facets": {
"<facet-name>" : {
"type" : "date",
"path" : "<field-path>",
"boundaries" : <array-of-dates>,
"default": "<bucket-name>"
}
}
}
}
}
Option
Type
Description
Required?

boundaries

array of numbers

List of date values that specify the boundaries for each bucket. You must specify:

  • At least two boundaries, which are less than or equal to ten thousand ([2, 10000])

  • Values in ascending order, with the earliest date first

Each adjacent pair of values acts as the inclusive lower bound and the exclusive upper bound for the bucket.

yes

default

string

Name of an additional bucket that counts documents returned from the operator that do not fall within the specified boundaries. If omitted, MongoDB Search includes the results of the facet operator that do not fall under a specified bucket also, but MongoDB Search doesn't include these results in any bucket counts.

no

path

string

Field path to facet on. You can specify a field that is indexed as a date type.

yes

type

string

Type of facet. Value must be date.

yes

Example

The following example uses an index named default on the sample_mflix.movies collection. The released field in the collection is indexed as the date type.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"released": [
{
"type": "date"
}
]
}
}
}

The query uses the $searchMeta stage to search the released field in the movies collection for movies between the years 2000 and 2015 and retrieve metadata results for the query. The query specifies four buckets:

  • 2000-01-01, inclusive lower bound for this bucket

  • 2005-01-01, exclusive upper bound for the 2000-01-01 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket

  • 2010-01-01, exclusive upper bound for the 2005-01-01 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket

  • 2015-01-01, exclusive upper bound for the 2010-01-01 bucket

The query also specifies a default bucket named other to retrieve results of the query that don't fall under any of the specified boundaries.

1db.movies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$searchMeta": {
4 "facet": {
5 "operator": {
6 "range": {
7 "path": "released",
8 "gte": ISODate("2000-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"),
9 "lte": ISODate("2015-01-31T00:00:00.000Z")
10 }
11 },
12 "facets": {
13 "yearFacet": {
14 "type": "date",
15 "path": "released",
16 "boundaries": [ISODate("2000-01-01"), ISODate("2005-01-01"), ISODate("2010-01-01"), ISODate("2015-01-01")],
17 "default": "other"
18 }
19 }
20 }
21 }
22 }
23])

To learn more about these results, see Facet Results.

The updated MongoDB Search field types provide improved functionality to support faceting compared to the outdated types (stringFacet, numberFacet, dateFacet). The following table outlines the key differences in functionality:

Facet Category
Updated Field Type
Outdated Facet Type
Key Differences

String

stringFacet (outdated)

Normalizer Support: The token type supports normalizers that transform facet buckets. For example, with normalizer: lowercase, "ADIDAS" and "adidas" count towards the same bucket while stringFacet treats them as separate buckets.

Numeric

numberFacet (outdated)

Array Support: The number type considers values within arrays for facet buckets. For example, a document with an array value [0, 10] counts towards both buckets [1, 5] and [6, 10] while numberFacet ignores array values completely.

Date

dateFacet (outdated)

Array Support: The date type considers values within arrays for facet buckets. For example, an array value with dates can contribute to multiple date range buckets while dateFacet ignores array values completely.

Note

When both the outdated and updated field types are defined for the same field, the outdated facet types take precedence. For example, if both token and stringFacet are defined for a field, the facet calculation uses the stringFacet mapping.

Important

Facet aggregations is in Preview. The feature and corresponding documentation might change at any time during the Preview period. To learn more, see Preview Features.

To compute metrics for each facet bucket, add an aggregations document to a facet definition. MongoDB Search computes the metrics from the MongoDB Search index, so it is much more efficient than running a $group stage later in your pipeline.

For each facet bucket, aggregations allows you to compute the following values:

  • sum

  • average

  • minimum

  • maximum

  • first

  • last

When using aggregations, you must:

  • Index the field that you specify in the path for each metric as token, number, or date.

  • Explicitly include the count metric if you want the bucket count.

  • Only specify aggregations at the leaf-level of nested facets.

    If you want to compute metrics for an intermediate grouping, specify that grouping as a separate top-level facet with aggregations and no nested facet.

MongoDB Search computes aggregations over the data in the MongoDB Search index, which is eventually consistent.

Note

Memory Requirements

Facet queries that specify aggregations or nested facets increase the memory and disk that your MongoDB Search index requires beyond the requirements for other facet queries. To learn more, see Memory Requirements.

aggregations has the following syntax:

{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet": {
"facets": {
"<facet-name>": {
"type": "<facet-type>",
"path": "<field-path>",
"aggregations": {
"<aggregation-name>": {
"type": "sum" | "min" | "max" | "avg" | "first" | "last",
"path": "<field-path>"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}

Each key in the aggregations document is an aggregation name that you specify. MongoDB Search returns each aggregation in the bucket documents under the name that you specify.

Option
Type
Description
Required?

path

string

Field path to compute the metric over. This is required for all metric types except count, which doesn't accept a path. Every other metric type computes a value from a second field, so you must name that field. For example, to return the average rating of the documents in a bucket, specify avg with a path of rating. The count metric counts the documents in the bucket, so it doesn't need a second field.

conditional

type

string

Type of metric to compute. Value can be one of the following:

  • count

  • sum

  • avg

  • min

  • max

  • first

  • last

To learn more about each metric type, see Metric Types.

yes

Type
Field Requirements
Description

count

None

Counts the documents in the bucket. Don't specify a path for this metric type. If you omit aggregations from a facet definition, MongoDB Search returns a count metric for the bucket. If you specify aggregations, MongoDB Search returns a count metric only if you specify count in the aggregations document.

sum

Adds the values of the specified field for the documents in the bucket.

avg

Returns the average of the values of the specified field for the documents in the bucket. If no document in the bucket has a value for the field, MongoDB Search returns null.

min

None

Returns the lowest value of the specified field for the documents in the bucket.

max

None

Returns the highest value of the specified field for the documents in the bucket.

first

None

Returns the value of the specified field for the first document in the bucket, according to the order that the query sort option defines. If the query doesn't specify a sort, the order is arbitrary. To learn how to specify a sort, see Sort MongoDB Search Results.

last

None

Returns the value of the specified field for the last document in the bucket, according to the order that the query sort option defines. If the query doesn't specify a sort, the order is arbitrary. To learn how to specify a sort, see Sort MongoDB Search Results.

Important

min and max support all field types, including token. When MongoDB Search computes these metrics, it skips any document in which the field resolves to an unsupported type. MongoDB Search doesn't return an error when it skips a document. To determine whether MongoDB Search skipped documents in a bucket, add a count metric to the same aggregations document and compare it to the number of documents that you expect.

For values that MongoDB Search doesn't skip, min selects the smallest value in the bucket and max selects the largest. If the values aren't all of the same type, MongoDB Search applies BSON type comparison order to determine which value is smallest or largest.

Each metric type handles a field that resolves to more than one value, such as an array, differently:

  • sum and avg skip the document.

  • min and max select the lowest and highest value in the array to use as a representative element for the document.

  • first and last return all of the values as an array.

For first and last, the returned array differs from the source document in the following ways:

  • The order of the values might differ. MongoDB Search reads the values from the index, which doesn't preserve the order of the source document. For example, if a document contains ["red", "blue", "green"], MongoDB Search might return ["blue", "green", "red"].

  • MongoDB Search returns only one instance of a duplicate value.

  • MongoDB Search returns every value at the path, including values of a type that you can't facet on. For example, if an array contains both strings and a boolean, MongoDB Search returns the boolean with the strings.

To return the values exactly as the source document contains them, define storedSource for the field in your index definition and set returnStoredSource to true in your query.

Important

Nested facets is in Preview. The feature and corresponding documentation might change at any time during the Preview period. To learn more, see Preview Features.

To group the documents in each bucket by additional fields, add a facets document to an existing facet definition. Each nested facet definition uses the same syntax as a top-level facet definition, so you can nest facets to build a tree of groupings. MongoDB Search returns the buckets for a nested facet inside each bucket of its parent facet. You can nest facets without limit on the number of levels. However, the following restrictions apply:

  • You can specify aggregations only on a leaf facet in a nested facet tree. A facet definition that specifies facets can't also specify aggregations. To compute metrics for an intermediate grouping, specify that grouping as a separate top-level facet with aggregations and no nested facet.

  • The total number of unique buckets that a query can return can't exceed 100000. To calculate the buckets that one facet tree produces, multiply the number of buckets at each level of its nesting branch. The number of buckets at a level is numBuckets for a string facet or the number of buckets that boundaries and default define for a number or date facet. For example, a facet that requests 20 buckets and contains a nested facet that requests 20 buckets produces 400 unique buckets. Because each level multiplies this total, requesting more buckets at each level reduces the number of levels that you can nest.

For a facet query, MongoDB Search returns a mapping of the defined facet names to an array of buckets for that facet in the results. The facet result document contains the buckets option, which is an array of resulting buckets for the facet. Each facet bucket document in the array has the following fields:

Option
Type
Description

_id

object

Unique identifier that identifies this facet bucket. This value matches the type of data that is being faceted on.

count

int

Count of documents in this facet bucket. To learn more about the count field, see Count MongoDB Search Results.

If the facet definition specifies Facet Aggregations, each bucket document contains the metrics that you name in the aggregations document instead of the count field. If the facet definition specifies nested facets, each bucket document contains a facet field with the results for the nested facet.

MongoDB Search allows you to view and select multiple buckets within the same facet simultaneously. Typically, selecting a bucket within a facet filters search results according to that selection and alters counts for all facets.

Example

Suppose an index definition for the sample_airbnb.listings collection specifies facets for the following fields:

  • cancellation_policy

  • room_type

  • accommodates

The cancellation_policy facet has the following buckets:

  • flexible

  • moderate

  • strict_14_with_grace_period

  • super_strict_30

  • super_strict_60

Each bucket has its own result count. When you search for the moderate cancellation_policy, the counts for the four other buckets go to 0. Additionally, the counts for buckets in the room_type and accommodates facets reduce to the number of results in each bucket that also have a flexible cancellation_policy.

In scenarios where you need more granular control of how facets affect search result counts, enable multi-select faceting with the doesNotAffect property in your faceted queries. These facets still filter results, but the query doesn't alter their result counts.

You can specify doesNotAffect in the following operators:

To exclude multiple facets, specify an array of facet names. Most use cases exclude only the facet that shares a path with the filter. For example, an equals filter on the rating field specifies the name of the facet that uses rating as its path.

Note

The doesNotAffect option doesn't work with facets that specify aggregations. To learn more, see Limitations.

Example

Consider a query against the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection for documents with a moderate cancellation_policy. If you specify a doesNotAffect value of cancellation_policy, the counts for buckets in the cancellation_policy facet don't change, but the result counts for the buckets of other facets reduce to the number of results in each bucket that also have a moderate cancellation_policy.

For more information, see the Multi-Select Faceting example.

Finally, for use cases with many facets, you can limit which other filters affect a given facet. You can do this by specifying any facet in the doesNotAffect property of any filter, including facets on other fields. This allows you to observe at a glance which selections narrow options more or less quickly.

Example

Consider a query against the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection for documents with an accommodates value of 3. If you specify a doesNotAffect value of cancellation_policy, the result counts for the room_type buckets reduce to the number of results in each bucket that also accommodate 3 people, but the result counts for the buckets in cancellation_policy are unaffected.

For more information, see the Inter-Facet Filter Exclusion example.

When you run your query using the $search stage, MongoDB Search stores the metadata results in the $$SEARCH_META variable and returns only the search results. You can use the $$SEARCH_META variable in all the supported aggregation pipeline stages to view the metadata results for your $search query. You can also use the $$SEARCH_META variable with facet.aggregations.

MongoDB recommends using the $$SEARCH_META variable only if you need both the search results and the metadata results. Otherwise, use the:

  • $search stage for just the search results.

  • $searchMeta stage for just the metadata results.

The following limitations apply to Facet Aggregations:

  • You can't use the following options with aggregations:

  • You can't facet or compute aggregations on the following BSON types:

    • binData

    • bool

    • decimal

    • null

    • objectId

    • timestamp

    To compute metrics over one of these types, use a view to convert the field to a supported type before you index it.

The following examples use the sample data. The metadata results example demonstrates how to run a $searchMeta query with facet to retrieve only the metadata in the results. The metadata and search results example demonstrates how to run a $search query with facet and the $SEARCH_META aggregation variable to retrieve both the search and metadata results. The returnScope example demonstrates how to facet on nested fields in an array of objects dynamically indexed using the embeddedDocuments type. The nested facet example demonstrates how to group results by a second field and compute metrics for each bucket.

Complete the previous steps in the tutorial and install dependencies

The index definition on the sample_mflix.movies collection specifies the following for the fields to index:

Field Name
Data Type

directors

year

released

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"directors": {
"type": "token"
},
"year": {
"type": "number"
},
"released": {
"type": "date"
}
}
}
}

The following query searches for movies released between January 01, 2000 and January 31, 2015. It requests metadata on the directors and year fields.

1db.movies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$searchMeta": {
4 "facet": {
5 "operator": {
6 "range": {
7 "path": "released",
8 "gte": ISODate("2000-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"),
9 "lte": ISODate("2015-01-31T00:00:00.000Z")
10 }
11 },
12 "facets": {
13 "directorsFacet": {
14 "type": "string",
15 "path": "directors",
16 "numBuckets" : 7
17 },
18 "yearFacet" : {
19 "type" : "number",
20 "path" : "year",
21 "boundaries" : [2000,2005,2010, 2015]
22 }
23 }
24 }
25 }
26 }
27])

The results show a count of the following in the sample_mflix.movies collection:

  • Number of movies from the year 2000, inclusive lower bound, to 2015, exclusive upper bound, that MongoDB Search returned for the query

  • Number of movies for each director that MongoDB Search returned for the query

To learn more about these results, see Facet Results.

Search using $search and retrieve both search and metadata results using $$SEARCH_META variable.

The index definition on the sample_mflix.movies collection specifies the following for the fields to index:

Field Name
Data Type

genres

released

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"genres": {
"type": "token"
},
"released": {
"type": "date"
}
}
}
}

The following query searches for movies released near July 01, 1999 using the $search stage. The query includes a $facet stage to process the input documents using the following sub-pipeline stages:

  • $project stage to exclude all fields in the documents except the title and released fields in the docs output field

  • $limit stage to do the following:

    • Limit the $search stage output to 2 documents

    • Limit the output to 1 document in the meta output field

    Note

    The limit must be small for the results to fit in a 16 MB document.

  • $replaceWith stage to include the metadata results stored in the $$SEARCH_META variable in the meta output field

The query also includes a $set stage to add the meta field.

Note

To see the metadata results for the following query, MongoDB Search must return documents that match the query.

1db.movies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$search": {
4 "facet": {
5 "operator": {
6 "near": {
7 "path": "released",
8 "origin": ISODate("1999-07-01T00:00:00.000+00:00"),
9 "pivot": 7776000000
10 }
11 },
12 "facets": {
13 "genresFacet": {
14 "type": "string",
15 "path": "genres"
16 }
17 }
18 }
19 }
20 },
21 { "$limit": 2 },
22 {
23 "$facet": {
24 "docs": [
25 { "$project":
26 {
27 "title": 1,
28 "released": 1
29 }
30 }
31 ],
32 "meta": [
33 {"$replaceWith": "$$SEARCH_META"},
34 {"$limit": 1}
35 ]
36 }
37 },
38 {
39 "$set": {
40 "meta": {
41 "$arrayElemAt": ["$meta", 0]
42 }
43 }
44 }
45])

To learn more about these results, see Facet Results.

Search using facet and facet on child fields in embeddedDocuments.

The index definition on the sample_training.companies collection indexes the funding_rounds field as the embeddedDocuments type. It dynamically indexes all fields in the funding_rounds array of objects and stores the raised_currency_code and raised_amount fields in the funding_rounds array of objects using the storedSource option.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"funding_rounds": {
"type": "embeddedDocuments",
"dynamic": true,
"storedSource": {
"include": [
"raised_currency_code",
"raised_amount"
]
}
}
}
}
}

The following query:

  • Uses the text (MongoDB Search Operator) to search for funds raised in USD.

  • Uses returnScope options to set the query context to the embeddedDocuments field named funding_rounds. To use returnScope, the query:

    • Specifies the returnStoredSource option, which is required, to return the stored source fields.
  • Facets on the raised_amount field in the funding_rounds array of objects. The query specifies three buckets:

    • 5000000, inclusive lower bound for this bucket

    • 5250000, exclusive upper bound for the 5000000 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket

    • 5500000, exclusive upper bound for the 5250000 bucket

1db.companies.aggregate([
2 {
3 "$searchMeta": {
4 "returnStoredSource": true,
5 "returnScope": {
6 "path": "funding_rounds"
7 },
8 "facet": {
9 "operator": {
10 "text": {
11 "path": "funding_rounds.raised_currency_code",
12 "query": "USD"
13 }
14 },
15 "facets": {
16 "raisedAmountFacet": {
17 "type": "number",
18 "path": "funding_rounds.raised_amount",
19 "boundaries": [5000000, 5250000, 5500000]
20 }
21 }
22 }
23 }
24 }
25])

In the preceding MongoDB Search results, the facet counts are based on the embedded child documents and not the parents.

Search with doesNotAffect for more granular control over facet filtering.

The following index definition on the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection automatically indexes all dynamically indexable fields and configures the cancellation_policy, room_type, and price fields for faceted search.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": true,
"fields": {
"cancellation_policy": {
"type": "token"
},
"room_type": {
"type": "token"
},
"accommodates": {
"type": "number"
}
}
}
}

The following query uses the $searchMeta stage to perform the following actions:

  • Facet on the cancellation_policy, roomType, and accommodates fields.

    The cancellation_policy facet has the following buckets:

    • "strict_14_with_grace_period"

    • "moderate"

    • "flexible"

    • "super_strict_30"

    • "super_strict_60"

    The room_type facet has the following buckets:

    • "Entire home/apt"

    • "Private room"

    • "Shared room"

    The query breaks the accommodates facet into buckets for:

    • 1, inclusive lower bound for this bucket

    • 2, exclusive upper bound for the 1 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket.

    • 4, exclusive upper bound for the 2 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket.

    • 8, exclusive upper bound for the 4 bucket

  • Perform a compound Operator search for listings that must contain the text new york city in the description and filters the results for listings with a moderate cancellation_policy. The doesNotAffect setting ensures that filtering by a moderate cancellation_policy doesn't alter the counts of other buckets in the facet; the counts for "strict_14_with_grace_period", "flexible", "super_strict_30", and "super_strict_60" are non-zero values.

1db.listingsAndReviews.aggregate([
2 {
3 $searchMeta: {
4 facet: {
5 facets: {
6 accommodatesFacet: {
7 path: "accommodates",
8 type: "number",
9 boundaries: [1,2,4,8],
10 },
11 cancellationFacet: {
12 path: "cancellation_policy",
13 type: "string",
14 },
15 roomTypeFacet: {
16 path: "room_type",
17 type: "string",
18 }
19 },
20 operator: {
21 compound: {
22 must: [
23 {
24 text: {
25 path: "description",
26 query: "new york city",
27 },
28 },
29 ],
30 filter: [
31 {
32 equals: {
33 path: "cancellation_policy",
34 value: "moderate",
35 doesNotAffect:
36 "cancellationFacet",
37 },
38 },
39 ],
40 },
41 },
42 },
43 }
44 },
45]

The counts for buckets in cancellationFacet are not reduced to zero even though the query filters on a value of moderate.

Search with doesNotAffect on a facet other than the queried field.

The following index definition on the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection indexes the cancellation_policy, room_type, and price fields, enabling faceted search on them.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": true,
"fields": {
"cancellation_policy": {
"type": "token"
},
"room_type": {
"type": "token"
},
"accommodates": {
"type": "number"
}
}
}
}

The following query:

  • Search for listings that include the text new york city in their description and that have a cancellation_policy of moderate.

  • Facet on the cancellation_policy, roomType, and accommodates fields.

    Each of the cancellation_policy and roomType facets has three buckets, corresponding to the three unique values of these fields across the collection. The query breaks the accommodates facet into buckets for:

    • 1, inclusive lower bound for this bucket

    • 2, exclusive upper bound for the 1 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket.

    • 4, exclusive upper bound for the 2 bucket and inclusive lower bound for this bucket.

    • 8, exclusive upper bound for the 4 bucket

  • Set the doesNotAffect property in the equals operator of the compound.filter to accommodatesFacet. This excludes the buckets within the accommodates facet from filtering. As a result, filtering on the moderate cancellation_policy reduces the counts of other buckets in the cancellation_policy facet to 0, and reduces the counts of buckets in the roomType facet, but the counts of buckets in the accommodates facet are unchanged. This allows you to compare the impact of filtering on different facets.

1db.listingsAndReviews.aggregate([
2 {
3 $searchMeta: {
4 facet: {
5 facets: {
6 accommodatesFacet: {
7 path: "accommodates",
8 type: "number",
9 boundaries: [1,2,4,8],
10 },
11 cancellationFacet: {
12 path: "cancellation_policy",
13 type: "string",
14 },
15 roomTypeFacet: {
16 path: "room_type",
17 type: "string",
18 }
19 },
20 operator: {
21 compound: {
22 must: [
23 {
24 text: {
25 path: "description",
26 query: "new york city",
27 },
28 },
29 ],
30 filter: [
31 {
32 equals: {
33 path: "cancellation_policy",
34 value: "moderate",
35 doesNotAffect:
36 "accommodatesFacet",
37 },
38 },
39 ],
40 },
41 },
42 },
43 },
44 },
45]

Search with facet aggregations.

The following example uses an index named default on the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection. The property_type and amenities fields in the collection are indexed as the token type and the accommodates field is indexed as the number type.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"property_type": [
{
"type": "token"
}
],
"amenities": [
{
"type": "token"
}
],
"accommodates": [
{
"type": "number"
}
]
}
}
}

The query uses the $searchMeta stage to find the listings that offer at least one of the specified amenities and group them by property_type. For each property type, the query computes the number of listings and the smallest and largest number of guests that a listing accommodates.

db.listingsAndReviews.aggregate([
{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet": {
"operator": {
"in": {
"path": "amenities",
"value": ["Wifi", "Pets allowed", "Wheelchair accessible"]
}
},
"facets": {
"propertyTypeFacet": {
"type": "string",
"path": "property_type",
"aggregations": {
"listingCount": {
"type": "count"
},
"minAccommodates": {
"type": "min",
"path": "accommodates"
},
"maxAccommodates": {
"type": "max",
"path": "accommodates"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
])

Search with nested facets.

The following example uses an index named default on the sample_airbnb.listingsAndReviews collection. The property_type field in the collection is indexed as the token type and the bedrooms and accommodates fields are indexed as the number type.

{
"mappings": {
"dynamic": false,
"fields": {
"property_type": [
{
"type": "token"
}
],
"bedrooms": [
{
"type": "number"
}
],
"accommodates": [
{
"type": "number"
}
]
}
}
}

The query groups the listings by property_type, and then groups the listings in each property type by number of bedrooms. The query computes the number of listings and the largest number of guests that a listing accommodates for each bedroom range.

db.listingsAndReviews.aggregate([
{
"$searchMeta": {
"facet": {
"facets": {
"propertyTypeFacet": {
"type": "string",
"path": "property_type",
"facets": {
"bedroomsFacet": {
"type": "number",
"path": "bedrooms",
"boundaries": [0, 2, 4],
"default": "other",
"aggregations": {
"listingCount": {
"type": "count"
},
"maxAccommodates": {
"type": "max",
"path": "accommodates"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
])

To learn more, see How to Use Facets with MongoDB Search.

You can learn more about facet (MongoDB Search Operator) in MongoDB Search with our course and video.

To learn more about using facets in MongoDB Search, take Unit 9 of the Intro To MongoDB Course on MongoDB University. The 1.5 hour unit includes an overview of MongoDB Search and lessons on creating MongoDB Search indexes, running $search queries using compound operators, and grouping results using facet.

Watch this video to learn about how you can create and use a numeric and string facet (MongoDB Search Operator) in your query to group results and retrieve a count of the results in the groups.

Duration: 11 Minutes