--- title: Sorting Query Results pubDate: 2026-08-17T09:53:44.266Z antora: editUrl: https://github.com/couchbase/docs-server/edit/release/8.0/modules/fts/pages/fts-sorting.adoc xref: xref:server:fts:fts-sorting.adoc[] --- [Consult the llms.txt file for a full list of contents](/llms.txt) [View original HTML](/server/current/fts/fts-sorting.html) # Sorting Query Results > The FTS results are returned as objects. FTS query includes options to order the results. ## [](#sorting-result-data)Sorting Result Data FTS sorting is sorted by descending order of relevance. It can , however, be customized to sort by different fields, depending on the application. On query-completion, _sorting_ allows specified members of the result-set to be displayed prior to others: this facilitates a review of the most significant data. Within a JSON query object, the required sort-type is specified by using the `sort` field. This takes an array of either _strings_, _objects_, or _numeric_ as its value. ## [](#sorting-with-strings)Sorting with Strings You can specify the value of the `sort` field as an array of strings. These can be of three types: * _field name_: Specifies the name of a field. If multiple fields are included in the array, the sorting of documents begins according to their values for the field whose name is first in the array. If any number of these values are identical, their documents are sorted again, this time according to their values for the field whose name is second; then, if any number of these values are identical, their documents are sorted a third time, this time according to their values for the field whose name is third; and so on. Any document-field may be specified to hold the value on which sorting is to be based, provided that the field has been indexed in some way, whether dynamically or specifically. The default sort-order is _ascending_. If a field-name is prefixed with the `-` character, that field's results are sorted in _descending_ order. * `_id`: Refers to the document identifier. Whenever encountered in the array, causes sorting to occur by document identifer. * `_score`: Refers to the score assigned the document in the result-set. Whenever encountered in the array, causes sorting to occur by score. ## [](#example)Example "sort": ["country", "state", "city","-_score"] This `sort` statement specifies that results will first be sorted by `country`. If some documents are then found to have the same value in their `country` fields, they are re-sorted by `state`. Next, if some of these documents are found to have the same value in their `state` fields, they are re-sorted by `city`. Finally, if some of these documents are found to have the same value in their `city` fields, they are re-sorted by `score`, in _descending_ order. The following JSON query demonstrates how and where the `sort` property can be specified: ```json { "explain": false, "fields": [ "title" ], "highlight": {}, "sort": ["country", "-_score","-_id"], "query":{ "query": "beautiful pool" } } ``` The following example shows how the `sort` field accepts _combinations_ of strings and objects as its value. ```json { ... "sort": [ "country", { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Overall", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" }, { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Location", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" }, "-_score" ] } ``` ## [](#sorting-with-objects)Sorting with Objects Fine-grained control over sort-procedure can be achieved by specifying _objects_ as array-values in the `sort` field. Each object can have the following fields: * `by`: Sorts results on `id`, `score`, or a specified `field` in the Full Text Index. * `field`: Specifies the name of a field on which to sort. Used only if `field` has been specified as the value for the `by` field; otherwise ignored. * `missing`: Specifies the sort-procedure for documents with a missing value in a field specified for sorting. The value of `missing` can be `first`, in which case results with missing values appear _before_ other results; or `last` (the default), in which case they appear _after_. * `mode`: Specifies the search-order for index-fields that contain multiple values (in consequence of arrays or multi-token analyzer-output). The `default` order is undefined but deterministic, allowing the paging of results from `from (_offset_)`, with reliable ordering. To sort using the minimum or maximum value, the value of `mode` should be set to either `min` or `max`. * `type`: Specifies the type of the search-order field value. For example, `string` for text fields, `date` for DateTime fields, or `number` for numeric/geo fields. To fetch more accurate sort results, we strongly recommend specifying the `type` of the sort fields in the sort section of the search request. ## [](#example-2)Example The example below shows how to specify the object-sort. ```json { "explain": false, "fields": [ "*" ], "highlight": {}, "query": { "match": "bathrobes", "field": "reviews.content", "analyzer": "standard" }, "size" : 10, "sort": [ { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Overall", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" } ] } ``` > [!NOTE] > The above sample assumes that the `travel-sample` bucket has been loaded, and a default index has been created on it. For information on loading sample buckets, see [Sample Buckets](../manage/manage-settings/install-sample-buckets.md). For instructions on creating a default Full Text Index by means of the Couchbase Web Console, see [Creating Index from UI](../search/create-search-index-ui.md). This query sorts search-results based on `reviews.ratings.Overall` — a field that is normally multi-valued because it contains an array of different users' ratings. When there are multiple values, the highest `Overall` ratings are used for sorting. Hotels with no `Overall` rating are placed at the end. The following example shows how the `sort` field accepts _combinations_ of strings and objects as its value. ```json { "sort": [ "country", { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Overall", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" }, { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Location", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" }, "-_score" ] } ``` ## [](#sorting-with-numeric)Sorting with Numeric You can specify the value of the `sort` field as a numeric type. You can use the `type` field in the object that you specify with the sort. With `type` field, you can specify the type of the search order to numeric, string, or DateTime. ## [](#example-3)Example The example below shows how to specify the object-sort with type field as `number`. ```json { "explain": false, "fields": [ "*" ], "highlight": {}, "query": { "match": "bathrobes", "field": "reviews.content", "analyzer": "standard" }, "size" : 10, "sort": [ { "by" : "field", "field" : "reviews.ratings.Overall", "mode" : "max", "missing" : "last", "type": "number" } ] } ``` ## [](#tips-for-sorting-with-fields)Tips for Sorting with fields When you sort results on a field that is not indexed, or when a particular document is missing a value for that field, you will see the following series of Unicode non-printable characters appear in the sort field: `\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd` The same characters may render differently when using a graphic tool or command line tools like `jq`. ```json "sort": [ "����������", "hotel_9723", "_score" ] ``` Check your index definition to confirm that you are indexing all the fields you intend to sort by. You can control the sort behavior for missing attributes using the missing field.