[[search-your-data]]
= Search your data

[partintro]
--

[[search-query]]
A _search query_, or _query_, is a request for information about data in one or
more {es} indices.

You can think of a query as a question, written in a way {es} understands.
Depending on your data, you can use a query to get answers to questions like:

* What pages on my website contain a specific word or phrase?
* What processes on my server take longer than 500 milliseconds to respond?
* What users on my network ran `regsvr32.exe` within the last week?
* How many of my products have a price greater than $20?

A _search_ consists of one or more queries that are combined and sent to {es}.
Documents that match a search's queries are returned in the _hits_, or
_search results_, of the response.

A search may also contain additional information used to better process its
queries. For example, a search may be limited to a specific index or only return
a specific number of results.

[discrete]
[[search-toc]]
=== In this section

* <<run-a-search>>
* <<near-real-time>>
* <<modules-cross-cluster-search>>
* <<async-search-intro>>

--

include::run-a-search.asciidoc[]
include::{es-repo-dir}/search/near-real-time.asciidoc[]
include::{es-repo-dir}/async-search.asciidoc[]
include::{es-repo-dir}/modules/cross-cluster-search.asciidoc[]
