> For the complete MongoDB documentation index, see www.mongodb.com/docs/llms.txt # Count MongoDB Search Results The MongoDB Search `count` option adds a field to the [metadata results](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/searchmeta.md#std-label-fts-metadata-results) document that displays a count of the search results for the query. You can use `count` to determine the size of the result set. You can use it in the [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) or [`$searchMeta`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/searchmeta.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-searchMeta) stage. You must use it in conjunction with the [operators](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/operators-collectors/overview.md#std-label-operators-ref) or [collectors](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/operators-collectors/overview.md#std-label-collectors-ref) to display either the total number of documents or a lower bound on the number of documents that match the query. MongoDB recommends using `count` with the [`$searchMeta`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/searchmeta.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-searchMeta) stage to retrieve metadata results only for the query. To retrieve metadata results and query results using the [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) stage, you must use the `$$SEARCH_META` variable. To learn more, see [`SEARCH_META` Aggregation Variable.](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/counting.md#std-label-fts-count-aggregation-variable) ## Considerations To use the `count` option over sharded collections, your cluster must run MongoDB 7.0 or later. On sharded clusters running MongoDB 7.2.0, [`$searchMeta`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/searchmeta.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-searchMeta) might return an error for `count`. MongoDB Search doesn't include the `count` results in the results for queries run with `count` in [explain](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/explain.md#std-label-explain-ref) mode. ## Syntax `count` has the following syntax: ```json { "$searchMeta"|"$search": { "index": "", // optional, defaults to "default" "": { }, "count": { "type": "lowerBound"|"total", "threshold": //optional } } } ``` ## Options | Field | Type | Description | Required? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `type` | string | Type of count of the documents in the result set. Value can be one of the following: `lowerBound` - for a lower bound count of the number of documents that match the query. You can set the `threshold` for the lower bound number.; `total` - for an exact count of the number of documents that match the query. If the result set is large, MongoDB Search might take longer than for `lowerBound` to return the count. If omitted, defaults to `lowerBound`. | no | | `threshold` | int | Number of documents to include in the exact count if `type` is `lowerBound`. If omitted, defaults to `1000`, which indicates that any number up to `1000` is an exact count and any number above `1000` is a rough count of the number of documents in the result. | no | ## Count Results The count document included in the results document contains the following integer fields: | Option | Description | | --- | --- | | `lowerBound` | Lower bound for this result set. This is returned by default if you omit the `type` option and when you explicitly request a [count](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/counting.md#std-label-count-ref) of type `lowerBound`. | | `total` | Total count for this result set. This is returned only when a [count](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/counting.md#std-label-count-ref) of type `total` is requested. | ## `SEARCH_META` Aggregation Variable When you run your query using the [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) stage, MongoDB Search stores the metadata results in the `$$SEARCH_META` variable and returns only the search results. You can use the `$$SEARCH_META` variable in all the supported [aggregation pipeline stages](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/operator/aggregation-pipeline/) to view the metadata results for your [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) query. You can also use the `$$SEARCH_META` variable with [facet.aggregations.](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/operators-collectors/facet.md#std-label-fts-facet-aggregation) MongoDB recommends using the `$$SEARCH_META` variable only if you need both the search results and the metadata results. Otherwise, use the: - [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) stage for just the search results. - [`$searchMeta`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/searchmeta.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-searchMeta) stage for just the metadata results. **Example:** ### Basic Suppose an index on the `released` field in the `sample_mflix.movies` collection: ```json { "mappings": { "dynamic": false, "fields": { "released": { "type": "date" } } } } ``` The following query searches for movies released near September 01, 2011 in the `movies` collection. The query requests a total count of the results. The query includes a: The sample query uses the following stages: | [`$search`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/aggregation-stages/search.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-search) | Searches for movies released near September 01, 2011 in the `movies` collection. The query requests a total count of the results and metadata on the `genres` field. | | --- | --- | | [`$project`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/operator/aggregation/project.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-project) | Excludes all fields except `title` and `released` from the documents and includes the metadata results stored in the `$$SEARCH_META` variable as the value of a field named `meta`. | | [`$limit`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/operator/aggregation/limit.md#mongodb-pipeline-pipe.-limit) | Limits the output to `2` documents. | ```json db.movies.aggregate([ { "$search": { "near": { "path": "released", "origin": ISODate("2011-09-01T00:00:00.000+00:00"), "pivot": 7776000000 }, "count": { "type": "total" } } }, { "$project": { "meta": "$$SEARCH_META", "title": 1, "released": 1 } }, { "$limit": 2 } ]) ``` **Output:** ```json { "_id" : ObjectId("573a13c3f29313caabd6b025"), "title" : "Submarino", "released" : ISODate("2011-09-01T00:00:00Z"), "meta" : { "count" : { "total" : NumberLong(23026) } } } { "_id" : ObjectId("573a13c7f29313caabd748f7"), "title" : "Devil's Playground", "released" : ISODate("2011-09-01T00:00:00Z"), "meta" : { "count" : { "total" : NumberLong(23026) } } } ``` To learn more about the results, see [Count Results.](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/query/counting.md#std-label-count-results) ## Examples The following example uses an index on the `year` field in the `sample_mflix.movies` collection: ```json { "mappings": { "dynamic": false, "fields": { "year": { "type": "number" } } } } ``` ### lowerBound Example The following query searches for the movies between the years `2010` and `2015` in the `movies` collection. The query requests a lower bound count of the results: ```json db.movies.aggregate([ { "$searchMeta": { "range": { "path": "year", "gte": 2010, "lte": 2015 }, "count": { "type": "lowerBound" } } } ]) ``` MongoDB Search returns the following results: ```json { "count" : { "lowerBound" : NumberLong(1001) } } ```