Object-level queries (Get)

This page covers object-level query functions. They are collectively referred to as Get queries within.

Parameters

A Get query requires the target collection to be specified.

• In GraphQL calls, the properties to be retrieved to be must be specified explicitly.

• In gRPC calls, all properties are fetched by default.

• Metadata retrieval is optional in both GraphQL and gRPC calls.

Available arguments

Each Get query can include any of the following types of arguments:

Argument	Description	Required
Collection	Also called "class". The object collection to be retrieved from.	Yes
Properties	Properties to be retrieved	Yes (GraphQL) (No if using gRPC API)
Cross-references	Cross-references to be retrieved	No
Metadata	Metadata (additional properties) to be retrieved	No
Conditional filters	Filter the objects to be retrieved	No
Search operators	Specify the search strategy (e.g. near text, hybrid, bm25)	No
Additional operators	Specify additional operators (e.g. limit, offset, sort)	No
Tenant name	Specify the tenant name	Yes, if multi-tenancy enabled. (Read more: what is multi-tenancy?)
Consistency level	Specify the consistency level	No

Example usage

PythonGoJavaCurlGraphQL

  API docs

More infoCode snippets in the documentation reflect the latest client library and Weaviate Database version. Check the Release notes for specific versions.

If a snippet doesn't work or you have feedback, please open a GitHub issue.

import weaviate
import weaviate.classes as wvc
import os

client = weaviate.connect_to_local()

try:
    collection = client.collections.use("JeopardyQuestion")
    response = collection.query.fetch_objects()

    for o in response.objects:
        print(o.properties)  # Inspect returned objects
finally:
    client.close()

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"

  "github.com/weaviate/weaviate-go-client/v5/weaviate"
  "github.com/weaviate/weaviate-go-client/v5/weaviate/graphql"
)

func main() {
  cfg := weaviate.Config{
    Host:   "WEAVIATE_INSTANCE_URL",  // Replace with your Weaviate URL
    Scheme: "https",
  }
  client, err := weaviate.NewClient(cfg)
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  fields := []graphql.Field{
    {Name: "question"},
    {Name: "answer"},
    {Name: "points"},
  }
  ctx := context.Background()
  result, err := client.GraphQL().Get().
    WithClassName("JeopardyQuestion").
    WithFields(fields...).
    Do(ctx)
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  fmt.Printf("%v", result)
}

package io.weaviate;

import io.weaviate.client.Config;
import io.weaviate.client.WeaviateClient;
import io.weaviate.client.base.Result;
import io.weaviate.client.v1.graphql.model.GraphQLResponse;
import io.weaviate.client.v1.graphql.query.fields.Field;

public class App {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Config config = new Config("https", "WEAVIATE_INSTANCE_URL");  // Replace with your Weaviate URL
    WeaviateClient client = new WeaviateClient(config);

    Field title = Field.builder().name("question").build();
    Field url = Field.builder().name("answer").build();
    Field wordCount = Field.builder().name("points").build();

    Result<GraphQLResponse> result = client.graphQL().get()
      .withClassName("JeopardyQuestion")
      .withFields(title, url, wordCount)
      .run();
    if (result.hasErrors()) {
      System.out.println(result.getError());
      return;
    }
    System.out.println(result.getResult());
  }
}

echo '{
  "query": "{
    Get {
      JeopardyQuestion {
        question
        answer
        points
      }
    }
  }"
}' | curl \
    -X POST \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -H 'Authorization: Bearer learn-weaviate' \
    -d @- \
    https://edu-demo.weaviate.network/v1/graphql

{
  Get {
    JeopardyQuestion {
      question
      answer
      points
    }
  }
}

Example response

The above query will result in something like the following:

{'points': 400.0, 'answer': 'Refrigerator Car', 'air_date': '1997-02-14', 'hasCategory': 'TRANSPORTATION', 'question': 'In the 19th century Gustavus Swift developed this type of railway car to preserve his packed meat', 'round': 'Jeopardy!'}
{'points': 800.0, 'hasCategory': 'FICTIONAL CHARACTERS', 'answer': 'Forsyte', 'air_date': '1998-05-27', 'question': 'Last name of Soames & Irene, the 2 principal characters in John Galsworthy\'s 3 novel "saga"', 'round': 'Double Jeopardy!'}
{'points': 500.0, 'answer': 'Duluth', 'air_date': '1996-12-17', 'hasCategory': 'MUSEUMS', 'question': 'This eastern Minnesota city is home to the Lake Superior Museum of Transportation', 'round': 'Jeopardy!'}
{'points': 1000.0, 'answer': 'Ear', 'air_date': '1988-11-16', 'hasCategory': 'HISTORY', 'round': 'Double Jeopardy!', 'question': "An eighteenth-century war was named for this part of Robert Jenkins' body, reputedly cut off by Spaniards"}
{'points': 400.0, 'answer': 'Bonnie Blair', 'air_date': '1997-02-28', 'hasCategory': 'SPORTS', 'round': 'Jeopardy!', 'question': "At the 1994 Olympics, this U.S. woman speed skater surpassed Eric Heiden's medal total"}
{'points': 1600.0, 'answer': 'Turkish', 'air_date': '2008-03-24', 'hasCategory': 'LANGUAGES', 'question': 'In the 1920s this language of Anatolia switched from the Arabic to the Latin alphabet', 'round': 'Double Jeopardy!'}
{'points': 100.0, 'answer': 'Ireland', 'air_date': '1998-10-01', 'hasCategory': 'POTPOURRI', 'round': 'Jeopardy!', 'question': "Country in which you'd find the Book of Kells"}
{'points': 800.0, 'answer': 'Ichabod Crane', 'air_date': '2008-01-03', 'hasCategory': 'LITERATURE', 'round': 'Double Jeopardy!', 'question': 'Washington Irving based this character on his friend Jesse Merwin, a schoolteacher'}
{'points': 300.0, 'air_date': '1997-12-05', 'hasCategory': 'LITERATURE', 'answer': '"The Prince and the Pauper"', 'question': 'Tom Canty, born in a slum called Offal Court, & Edward Tudor are the title characters in this Twain novel', 'round': 'Jeopardy!'}
{'points': 500.0, 'answer': 'Seattle', 'air_date': '1999-05-10', 'hasCategory': 'U.S. CITIES', 'round': 'Jeopardy!', 'question': "The site of the World's Fair in 1962, it's flanked on the west by Puget Sound & on the east by Lake Washington"}

Order of retrieved objects

Without any arguments, the objects are retrieved according to their ID.

Accordingly, such a Get query is not suitable for a substantive object retrieval strategy. Consider the Cursor API for that purpose.

Read more

• How-to search: Basics

Get groupBy

You can use retrieve groups of objects that match the query.

The groups are defined by a property, and the number of groups and objects per group can be limited.

groupBy limitations

• groupBy only works with near<Media> operators.
• The groupBy path is limited to one property or cross-reference. Nested paths are not supported.

Syntax

{
  Get{
    <Class>(
      <vectorSearchOperator>  # e.g. nearVector, nearObject, nearText
      groupBy:{
        path: [<propertyName>]  # Property to group by (only one property or cross-reference)
        groups: <number>  # Max. number of groups
        objectsPerGroup: <number>  # Max. number of objects per group
      }
    ) {
      _additional {
        group {
          id  # An identifier for the group in this search
          groupedBy{ value path }  # Value and path of the property grouped by
          count  # Count of objects in this group
          maxDistance  # Maximum distance from the group to the query vector
          minDistance  # Minimum distance from the group to the query vector
          hits {  # Where the actual properties for each grouped objects will be
            <properties>  # Properties of the individual object
            _additional {
              id  # UUID of the individual object
              vector  # The vector of the individual object
              distance  # The distance from the individual object to the query vector
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Example usage:

PythonRaw GraphQL

  API docs

More infoCode snippets in the documentation reflect the latest client library and Weaviate Database version. Check the Release notes for specific versions.

If a snippet doesn't work or you have feedback, please open a GitHub issue.

    questions = client.collections.use("JeopardyQuestion")
    response = questions.query.near_text(
        query="animals",
        group_by=wvc.query.GroupBy(
            prop="points",
            number_of_groups=3,
            objects_per_group=5
        )
    )

    for k, v in response.groups.items():  # View by group
        print(k, v)

    for o in response.objects:  # View by object
        print(o)

The other clients do not yet natively support groupby operations. Please use "raw" graphql queries to perform groupby operations.

{
  Get{
    JeopardyQuestion(
      nearText: {
        concepts: ["animals"],
        distance: 0.2
      }
      groupBy: {  # How to group the results
        path: ["points"]
        groups: 3
        objectsPerGroup: 5
      }
    ) {
      _additional {
        group {  # Data to be returned
          id
          groupedBy{ value path }
          count
          hits {  # Actual properties to be retrieved
            question
            answer
            _additional {
              id
              distance
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Consistency levels

Added in v1.19

Where replication is enabled, you can specify a consistency argument with a Get query. The available options are:

• ONE
• QUORUM (Default)
• ALL

Read more about consistency levels here.

PythonGoJavaGraphQL

  API docs

More infoCode snippets in the documentation reflect the latest client library and Weaviate Database version. Check the Release notes for specific versions.

If a snippet doesn't work or you have feedback, please open a GitHub issue.

import weaviate
import weaviate.classes as wvc
import os

client = weaviate.connect_to_local()

try:
    questions = client.collections.use("JeopardyQuestion").with_consistency_level(consistency_level=wvc.config.ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM)
    response = collection.query.fetch_objects()

    for o in response.objects:
        print(o.properties)  # Inspect returned objects
finally:
    client.close()

resp, err := client.GraphQL().Get().
    WithClassName("Article").
    WithFields(fields...).
    WithConsistencyLevel(replication.ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM).
    Do(ctx)

Field name = Field.builder().name("name").build();
Field _additional = Field.builder()
      .name("_additional")
      .fields(new Field[]{Field.builder().name("isConsistent").build()})
      .build();

Result<GraphQLResponse> result = client.graphQL().get()
      .withClassName("Article").withConsistencyLevel(ConsistencyLevel.QUORUM)
      .withFields(name, _additional)
      .run();

{
  Get {
    Article (consistencyLevel: QUORUM) {
      name
      _additional {
        isConsistent
      }
    }
  }
}

Multi-tenancy

Added in v1.20

In a multi-tenancy collection, each Get query must specify a tenant.

PythonJavaGoGraphQL

  API docs

More infoCode snippets in the documentation reflect the latest client library and Weaviate Database version. Check the Release notes for specific versions.

If a snippet doesn't work or you have feedback, please open a GitHub issue.

multi_collection = client.collections.use("MultiTenancyCollection")

# Get collection specific to the required tenant
multi_tenantA = multi_collection.with_tenant("tenantA")

# Query tenantA
result = multi_tenantA.query.fetch_objects(
    limit=2,
)

print(result.objects[0].properties)

Result<GraphQLResponse> result = client.graphQL().get()
  .withClassName("MultiTenancyCollection")
  .withFields(Field.builder().name("question").build())
  .withTenant("tenantA")
  .run();

result, err := client.GraphQL().Get().
  WithClassName("MultiTenancyCollection").
  WithFields(graphql.Field{Name: "question"}).
  WithTenant("tenantA").
  Do(ctx)

{
  Get {
    MultiTenancyCollection (
      tenant: "tenantA"
      limit: 2
    ) {
      name
    }
  }
}

Read more

• How-to manage data: Multi-tenancy operations

Cross-references

Cross-references and query performance

Queries involving cross-references can be slower than queries that do not involve cross-references, especially at scale such as for multiple objects or complex queries.

At the first instance, we strongly encourage you to consider whether you can avoid using cross-references in your data schema. As a scalable AI database, Weaviate is well-placed to perform complex queries with vector, keyword and hybrid searches involving filters. You may benefit from rethinking your data schema to avoid cross-references where possible.

For example, instead of creating separate "Author" and "Book" collections with cross-references, consider embedding author information directly in Book objects and using searches and filters to find books by author characteristics.

Weaviate supports cross-references between objects. Each cross-reference behaves like a property.

You can retrieve cross-referenced properties with a Get query.

PythonGoJavaCurlGraphQL

  API docs

More infoCode snippets in the documentation reflect the latest client library and Weaviate Database version. Check the Release notes for specific versions.

If a snippet doesn't work or you have feedback, please open a GitHub issue.

    questions = client.collections.use("JeopardyQuestion")
    response = questions.query.fetch_objects(
        return_references=wvc.query.QueryReference(
            link_on="hasCategory",
            return_properties=["title"]
        )
    )

    for o in response.objects:
        print(f"References for {o.uuid}")
        for ro in o.references["hasCategory"].objects:  # Inspect returned references
            print(ro.properties)

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"

  "github.com/weaviate/weaviate-go-client/v5/weaviate"
  "github.com/weaviate/weaviate-go-client/v5/weaviate/graphql"
)

func main() {
  cfg := weaviate.Config{
    Host:   "localhost:8080",
    Scheme: "http",
  }
  client, err := weaviate.NewClient(cfg)
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  ctx := context.Background()
  fields := []graphql.Field{
    {Name: "title"},
    {Name: "url"},
    {Name: "wordCount"},
    {Name: "inPublication", Fields: []graphql.Field{
      {Name: "... on Publication", Fields: []graphql.Field{
        {Name: "name"},
      }},
    }},
  }
  result, err := client.GraphQL().Get().
    WithClassName("Article").
    WithFields(fields...).
    Do(ctx)
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  fmt.Printf("%v", result)
}

package io.weaviate;

import io.weaviate.client.Config;
import io.weaviate.client.WeaviateClient;
import io.weaviate.client.base.Result;
import io.weaviate.client.v1.graphql.model.GraphQLResponse;
import io.weaviate.client.v1.graphql.query.fields.Field;

public class App {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Config config = new Config("http", "localhost:8080");
    WeaviateClient client = new WeaviateClient(config);
    Field title = Field.builder().name("title").build();
    Field url = Field.builder().name("url").build();
    Field wordCount = Field.builder().name("wordCount").build();
    Field inPublication = Field.builder()
      .name("inPublication")
      .fields(new Field[]{
        Field.builder()
          .name("... on Publication")
          .fields(new Field[]{
            Field.builder().name("name").build()
          })
          .build()
      })
      .build();

    Result<GraphQLResponse> result = client.graphQL().get()
      .withClassName("Article")
      .withFields(title, url, wordCount, inPublication)
      .run();
    if (result.hasErrors()) {
      System.out.println(result.getError());
      return;
    }
    System.out.println(result.getResult());
  }
}

echo '{
  "query": "{
    Get {
      Article {
        title
        url
        wordCount
        inPublication {
          ... on Publication {
            name
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }"
}' | curl \
    -X POST \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -H 'Authorization: Bearer learn-weaviate' \
    -d @- \
    https://edu-demo.weaviate.network/v1/graphql

{
  Get {
    JeopardyQuestion {
      question
      answer
      points
      hasCategory {                # the reference property
        ... on JeopardyCategory {  # the destination class
          title                    # the property related to target class
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Expected response

{
  "data": {
    "Get": {
      "JeopardyQuestion": [
        {
          "answer": "Jonah",
          "hasCategory": [
            {
              "title": "THE BIBLE"
            }
          ],
          "points": 100,
          "question": "This prophet passed the time he spent inside a fish offering up prayers"
        },
        // shortened for brevity
      ]
    }
  }
}

Read more

• How-to retrieve cross-referenced properties

Additional properties / metadata

Various metadata properties may be retrieved with Get{} requests. They include:

Property	Description
id	Object id
vector	Object vector
generate	Generative module outputs
rerank	Reranker module outputs
creationTimeUnix	Object creation time
lastUpdateTimeUnix	Object last updated time
distance	Vector distance to query (vector search only)
certainty	Vector distance to query, normalized to certainty (vector search only)
score	Search score (BM25 and hybrid only)
explainScore	Explanation of the score (BM25 and hybrid only)
classification	Classification outputs
featureProjection	Feature projection outputs

They are returned through the _additional properties in the response.

For further information see:

Read more

• References: GraphQL: Additional properties
• How-to search: Specify fetched properties

Search operators

The following search operators are available.

Argument	Description	Required integration type	Learn more
nearObject	Vector search using a Weaviate object	none	Learn more
nearVector	Vector search using a raw vector	none	Learn more
nearText	Vector search using a text query	Text embedding model
nearImage	Vector search using an image	Multi-modal embedding model
hybrid	Combine vector and BM25 search results	none	Learn more
bm25	Keyword search with BM25F ranking	none	Learn more

For further information see:

Read more

• References: GraphQL: Search operators
• How-to search: Similarity search
• How-to search: Image search
• How-to search: BM25 search
• How-to search: Hybrid search

Conditional filters

Get{} queries can be combined with a conditional filter.

For further information see:

Read more

• References: GraphQL: Conditional Filters
• How-to search: Filters

Additional operators

Get{} queries can be combined with additional operators such as limit, offset, autocut, after or sort.

For further information see:

Read more

• References: GraphQL: Additional Operators

Related pages

• How-to: Search: Basics

Questions and feedback

If you have any questions or feedback, let us know in the user forum.

Technical questions

If you have questions feel free to post on our Community forum.

Documentation feedback

Leave feedback by opening a GitHub issue.