# Multi\_search: "Unknown key for a START\_OBJECT in \[multi\_match\]."

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [October 31, 2017, 9:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856 "2017-10-31T09:24:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Atul\_Harsha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Atul\_Harsha](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Atul_Harsha)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 9:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856/1 "2017-10-31T09:24:20Z")

</div>

Data:

```
PUT /my_index/my_type/1
{
    "title": "Quick brown rabbits",
    "body": "Brown rabbits are commonly seen."
}

PUT /my_index/my_type/2
{
    "title": "Keeping pets healthy",
    "body": "My quick brown fox eats rabbits on a regular basis."
}

```

Code:

```
GET my_index/my_type/_search
{
    "multi_match": {
        "query": "Quick brown fox",
        "type": "best_fields", 
        "fields": ["title", "body"],
        "tie_breaker": 0.3,
        "minimum_should_match": "30%" 
    }
}

```

Error:

```
{
  "error": {
    "root_cause": [
      {
        "type": "parsing_exception",
        "reason": "Unknown key for a START_OBJECT in [multi_match].",
        "line": 2,
        "col": 20
      }
    ],
    "type": "parsing_exception",
    "reason": "Unknown key for a START_OBJECT in [multi_match].",
    "line": 2,
    "col": 20
  },
  "status": 400
}

```

How should I resolve this error?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![colings86](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/colings86/32/44960_2.png) [@colings86](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/colings86)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 9:31am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856/2 "2017-10-31T09:31:01Z")

</div>

You need to put your query in the `query` part of the search request body. Try this:

```auto
GET my_index/my_type/_search
{
  "query": {
    "multi_match": {
      "query": "Quick brown fox",
      "type": "best_fields",
      "fields": [
        "title",
        "body"
      ],
      "tie_breaker": 0.3,
      "minimum_should_match": "30%"
    }
  }
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Atul\_Harsha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Atul\_Harsha](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Atul_Harsha)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856/3 "2017-10-31T10:55:28Z")

</div>

Thankyou @colings86 for resolving the issue.

---

<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:** [November 28, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multi-search-unknown-key-for-a-start-object-in-multi-match/105856/4 "2017-11-28T10:55:33Z")

</div>

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