# Elasticsearch docs GET vs POST question

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-docs-get-vs-post-question/110176>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [December 4, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-docs-get-vs-post-question/110176 "2017-12-04T16:20:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![arisbanach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f07891/32.png) [@arisbanach](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/arisbanach)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-docs-get-vs-post-question/110176/1 "2017-12-04T16:20:21Z")

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[This docs page](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/_the_search_api.html) says

> The difference here is that instead of passing q=\* in the URI, we POST a JSON-style query request body to the \_search API. We’ll discuss this JSON query in the next section.

below this example:

> GET /bank/\_search  
> {  
> "query": { "match\_all": {} },  
> "sort": [  
> { "account\_number": "asc" }  
> ]  
> }

I'm confused about this though. This example is using the GET HTTP method, but the explanation says it is POSTing the JSON-style query. Is this a typo, or am I misunderstanding something?

Thank you

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-docs-get-vs-post-question/110176/2 "2018-01-01T16:20:23Z")

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