Filtering vs Query Context

Elasticsearch has two contexts: query and filter.

Query Context

{
  "query": {
    "match": { "description": "fast car" }
  }
}

• Scores results
• Used for relevance

Filter Context

{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "filter": [ { "term": { "status": "active" } } ]
    }
  }
}

• No scoring
• Cached → faster

Best Practice

• Use query for search relevance
• Use filter for conditions (status, range, categories)

Tip: Combining query + filter in a bool query gives best performance.