# Do Explicit Sort Fields Imply A Filter Context? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [January 5, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/do-explicit-sort-fields-imply-a-filter-context/384377 "2026-01-05T19:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanschelven](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/vanschelven/32/146592_2.png) [@vanschelven](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/vanschelven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/do-explicit-sort-fields-imply-a-filter-context/384377/1 "2026-01-05T19:56:06Z")
[A] This page explains the differences between query and filtered context quite well: > **[Query and filter context | Reference](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/query-languages/query-dsl/query-filter-context)** > > By default, Elasticsearch sorts matching search results by relevance score, which measures how well each document matches a query. The relevance score... When there's no need for query context (e.g. because sorting on something else explicitly) filtered context has many advantages. [B] This page states that, "When sorting on a field, scores are not computed.": [https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/elasticsearch/rest-apis/sort-search-results#\_track\_scores](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/elasticsearch/rest-apis/sort-search-results#_track_scores) This _might_ seem to imply some of the advantages of filtered context (e.g. availability for caching) but is not conclusive / not adamantly clear. [QUESTION]: does sorting on some field explicitly imply that all parts of the query are executed in filtered context, and if so where can I find this in the documentation / source code / some authoritative place? Best I could find is this: [How do I create a boolean "OR" filter?](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-do-i-create-a-boolean-or-filter/282281) but it's not very conclusive at all.