[[query-dsl-has-child-query]]
=== Has Child Query

The `has_child` query works the same as the
<<query-dsl-has-child-filter,has_child>> filter,
by automatically wrapping the filter with a
<<query-dsl-constant-score-query,constant_score>>
(when using the default score type). It has the same syntax as the
<<query-dsl-has-child-filter,has_child>> filter:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "has_child" : {
        "type" : "blog_tag",
        "query" : {
            "term" : {
                "tag" : "something"
            }
        }
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------

An important difference with the `top_children` query is that this query
is always executed in two iterations whereas the `top_children` query
can be executed in one or more iteration. When using the `has_child`
query the `total_hits` is always correct.

[float]
==== Scoring capabilities

The `has_child` also has scoring support. The
supported score types are `max`, `sum`, `avg` or `none`. The default is
`none` and yields the same behaviour as in previous versions. If the
score type is set to another value than `none`, the scores of all the
matching child documents are aggregated into the associated parent
documents. The score type can be specified with the `score_mode` field
inside the `has_child` query:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "has_child" : {
        "type" : "blog_tag",
        "score_mode" : "sum",
        "query" : {
            "term" : {
                "tag" : "something"
            }
        }
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------

[float]
==== Min/Max Children

coming[1.3.0]

The `has_child` query allows you to specify that a minimum and/or maximum
number of children are required to match for the parent doc to be considered
a match:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
    "has_child" : {
        "type" : "blog_tag",
        "score_mode" : "sum",
        "min_children": 2, <1>
        "max_children": 10, <1>
        "query" : {
            "term" : {
                "tag" : "something"
            }
        }
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------
<1> Both `min_children` and `max_children` are optional.

The  `min_children` and `max_children` parameters can be combined with
the `score_mode` parameter.

[float]
==== Memory Considerations

In order to support parent-child joins, all of the (string) parent IDs 
must be resident in memory (in the <<index-modules-fielddata,field data cache>>. 
Additionaly, every child document is mapped to its parent using a long 
value (approximately). It is advisable to keep the string parent ID short
in order to reduce memory usage.

You can check how much memory is being used by the ID cache using the
<<indices-stats,indices stats>> or <<cluster-nodes-stats,nodes stats>>
APIS, eg:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
curl -XGET "http://localhost:9200/_stats/id_cache?pretty&human"
--------------------------------------------------