[[search-request-track-total-hits]]
=== Track total hits

Generally the total hit count can't be computed accurately without visiting all
matches, which is costly for queries that match lots of documents. The
`track_total_hits` parameter allows you to control how the total number of hits
should be tracked. When set to `true` the search response will always track the
number of hits that match the query accurately (e.g. `total.relation` will always
be equal to `"eq"` when `track_total_hits is set to true).

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
GET twitter/_search
{
    "track_total_hits": true,
     "query": {
        "match" : {
            "message" : "Elasticsearch"
        }
     }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[setup:twitter]
// CONSOLE

\... returns:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "_shards": ...
    "timed_out": false,
    "took": 100,
    "hits": {
        "max_score": 1.0,
        "total" : {
            "value": 2048,    <1>
            "relation": "eq"  <2>
        },
        "hits": ...
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"_shards": \.\.\./"_shards": "$body._shards",/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"took": 100/"took": $body.took/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"max_score": 1\.0/"max_score": $body.hits.max_score/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"value": 2048/"value": $body.hits.total.value/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"hits": \.\.\./"hits": "$body.hits.hits"/]

<1> The total number of hits that match the query.
<2> The count is accurate (e.g. `"eq"` means equals).

If you don't need to track the total number of hits you can improve query times
by setting this option to `false`. In such case the search can efficiently skip
non-competitive hits because it doesn't need to count all matches:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
GET twitter/_search
{
    "track_total_hits": false,
     "query": {
        "match" : {
            "message" : "Elasticsearch"
        }
     }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST[continued]

\... returns:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "_shards": ...
    "timed_out": false,
    "took": 10,
    "hits" : { <1>
        "max_score": 1.0,
        "hits": ...
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"_shards": \.\.\./"_shards": "$body._shards",/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"took": 10/"took": $body.took/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"max_score": 1\.0/"max_score": $body.hits.max_score/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"hits": \.\.\./"hits": "$body.hits.hits"/]

<1> The total number of hits is unknown.

Given that it is often enough to have a lower bound of the number of hits,
such as "there are at least 1000 hits", it is also possible to set
`track_total_hits` as an integer that represents the number of hits to count
accurately. The search can efficiently skip non-competitive document as soon
as  collecting at least $`track_total_hits` documents. This is a good trade
off to speed up searches if you don't need the accurate number of hits after
a certain threshold.


For instance the following query will track the total hit count that match
the query accurately up to 100 documents:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
GET twitter/_search
{
    "track_total_hits": 100,
     "query": {
        "match" : {
            "message" : "Elasticsearch"
        }
     }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST[continued]

The `hits.total.relation` in the response will indicate if the
value returned in `hits.total.value` is accurate (`eq`) or a lower
bound of the total (`gte`).

For instance the following response:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "_shards": ...
    "timed_out": false,
    "took": 30,
    "hits" : {
        "max_score": 1.0,
        "total" : {
            "value": 42,         <1>
            "relation": "eq"     <2>
        },
        "hits": ...
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"_shards": \.\.\./"_shards": "$body._shards",/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"took": 30/"took": $body.took/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"max_score": 1\.0/"max_score": $body.hits.max_score/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"value": 42/"value": $body.hits.total.value/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/"hits": \.\.\./"hits": "$body.hits.hits"/]

<1> 42 documents match the query
<2> and the count is accurate (`"eq"`)

\... indicates that the number of hits returned in the `total`
is accurate.

If the total number of his that match the query is greater than the
value set in `track_total_hits`, the total hits in the response
will indicate that the returned value is a lower bound:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "_shards": ...
    "hits" : {
        "max_score": 1.0,
        "total" : {
            "value": 100,         <1>
            "relation": "gte"     <2>
        },
        "hits": ...
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE
// TEST[skip:response is already tested in the previous snippet]

<1> There are at least 100 documents that match the query
<2> This is a lower bound (`gte`).