# Filtering nested objects using inner hits total

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [July 25, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302 "2016-07-25T14:18:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JeremyFelder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@JeremyFelder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/JeremyFelder)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302/1 "2016-07-25T14:18:50Z")

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I'm new to Elasticsearch so forgive me if I don't know the lingo.

I have this mapping with a nested object `Command`

`"Command": { "type": "nested", "include_in_parent": true, "properties": { "Src": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "Dst": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "CommandName": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "Time": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "Action": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, } }, "OsInfo": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "OsRev": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "OsUID": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" }, "Osname": { "type": "string", "index": "not_analyzed" },`

I have a query  
`{ "query": { "filtered": { "query": { "bool": { "must": [{"nested": { "path": "Command", "query": { "bool": { "must": [ {"match": {"Command.Action": "Create"}}] } }, "inner_hits": { "size": 20, "_source": ["Action"] }, "score_mode": "sum" } } ] } } } } }`

which gives me 20 inner hits (with only the Action field) sorted from most inner hits to least per outer hit

My question is how do i filter the outer hits based on the amount of inner hits?  
For example:  
I want all the outer docs that have exactly 4 inner hits from Command.Action:Create

Thanks!  
Jeremy

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mvg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/mvg/32/98890_2.png) [@mvg](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mvg)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302/2 "2016-07-26T21:13:35Z")

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This isn't possible with inner\_hits. However it is possible to do this by wrapping the `nested` query's inner query in a `constant_score` query with a boost of 1 (add a score of 1 per nested document) and wrapping the `nested` query into a `function_score` query and only allowing top level hits with a score of 4:

```auto
{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": [
        {
          "function_score": {
            "query": {
              "nested": {
                "path": "Command",
                "query": {
                  "constant_score": {
                    "query": {
                      "match": {
                        "Command.Action": "Create"
                      }
                    },
                    "boost": 1
                  }
                },
                "score_mode": "sum",
                "inner_hits": {
                  "size": 20,
                  "_source": [
                    "Action"
                  ]
                }
              }
            },
            "min_score" : 4
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

```

Note: I'm not sure what ES version you're using, but this query does assume a 2.x version.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JeremyFelder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@JeremyFelder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/JeremyFelder)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302/3 "2016-07-28T06:22:00Z")

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Thanks for the answer! This only gives a lower bound for the inner hits though.. is there a `max_score` that I could use to set an upper bound as well or an `exact_score` to find all docs with the exact amount?

Thanks!

Jeremy

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<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:** [July 5, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filtering-nested-objects-using-inner-hits-total/56302/4 "2017-07-05T22:32:19Z")

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