---
layout: doc_page
---
A search query returns dimension values that match the search specification.

    <code>{
      "queryType": "search",
      "dataSource": "sample_datasource",
      "granularity": "day",
      "searchDimensions": [
        "dim1",
        "dim2"
      ],
      "query": {
        "type": "insensitive_contains",
        "value": "Ke"
      },
      "sort" : {
        "type": "lexicographic"
      },
      "intervals": [
        "2013-01-01T00:00:00.000/2013-01-03T00:00:00.000"
      ]
    }
    </code>

There are several main parts to a search query:

|property|description|required?|
|--------|-----------|---------|
|queryType|This String should always be "search"; this is the first thing Druid looks at to figure out how to interpret the query|yes|
|dataSource|A String defining the data source to query, very similar to a table in a relational database|yes|
|granularity|Defines the granularity of the query. See [Granularities](Granularities.html)|yes|
|filter|See [Filters](Filters.html)|no|
|intervals|A JSON Object representing ISO-8601 Intervals. This defines the time ranges to run the query over.|yes|
|searchDimensions|The dimensions to run the search over. Excluding this means the search is run over all dimensions.|no|
|query|See [SearchQuerySpec](SearchQuerySpec.html).|yes|
|sort|How the results of the search should sorted. Two possible types here are "lexicographic" and "strlen".|yes|
|context|An additional JSON Object which can be used to specify certain flags.|no|

The format of the result is:

    <code>[
      {
        "timestamp": "2012-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
        "result": [
          {
            "dimension": "dim1",
            "value": "Ke$ha"
          },
          {
            "dimension": "dim2",
            "value": "Ke$haForPresident"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "timestamp": "2012-01-02T00:00:00.000Z",
        "result": [
          {
            "dimension": "dim1",
            "value": "SomethingThatContainsKe"
          },
          {
            "dimension": "dim2",
            "value": "SomethingElseThatContainsKe"
          }      
        ]
      }
    ]
    </code>