Match query in Elasticsearch - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Match query?

Given the following Elasticsearch Match query, what documents will be matched if the index contains documents with the field title having values:
1. "Quick brown fox"
2. "Brown fox jumps"
3. "Lazy dog"

Query:

{"query": {"match": {"title": "brown fox"}}}

Elasticsearch

{"query": {"match": {"title": "brown fox"}}}

A Documents 1 and 2 only

B Documents 1, 2, and 3

C Document 2 only

D Document 3 only

💡 Hint

Match query analyzes the input text and looks for documents containing any of the terms after analysis.

The match query analyzes the input 'brown fox' into terms 'brown' and 'fox'. Documents 1 and 2 contain both terms, so they match. Document 3 does not contain either term.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

How does the operator parameter affect a Match query?

In an Elasticsearch Match query, what is the effect of setting the operator parameter to and instead of the default or?

A The query matches documents containing none of the terms

B The query matches documents containing all the terms in the query string

C The query matches documents containing any of the terms in the query string

D The query matches documents only if the terms appear in the exact order

💡 Hint

Think about how 'and' changes the condition from 'any' to 'all'.

Setting operator to 'and' means all terms must be present in the document for it to match. The default 'or' matches if any term is present.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this Match query return no results?

Consider this Match query:

{"query": {"match": {"description": {"query": "fast runner", "operator": "and"}}}}

Given documents:
1. {"description": "fast and agile"}
2. {"description": "runner and jumper"}
3. {"description": "fast runner"}

Why does the query return only document 3?

A Because the query string is treated as a phrase and only exact matches are returned

B Because the query is missing a 'match_phrase' type

C Because operator 'and' requires both 'fast' and 'runner' to be present in the same document

D Because the field 'description' is not analyzed

💡 Hint

Check how the 'and' operator affects term matching in documents.

The 'and' operator requires all terms to be present. Documents 1 and 2 have only one of the terms each, so they don't match. Document 3 has both terms.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Identify the syntax error in this Match query

Which option contains a syntax error in the Elasticsearch Match query?

A {"query": {"match": {"content": {"query": "quick fox", "operator": "or"}}}}

B {"query": {"match": {"content": {"query": "quick fox", "fuzziness": "AUTO"}}}}

C {"query": {"match": {"content": "quick fox"}}}

D {"query": {"match": {"content": {"query": "quick fox", "operator": or}}}}

💡 Hint

Check the quotes around string values in JSON.

Option D is invalid JSON because the value or is not quoted, causing a syntax error.

🚀 Application

expert

Which Match query option produces exactly 2 matched documents?

Given an index with documents:
1. {"text": "apple banana cherry"}
2. {"text": "banana cherry"}
3. {"text": "apple cherry"}
4. {"text": "banana apple"}

Which Match query will match exactly documents 1 and 3?

A {"query": {"match": {"text": {"query": "apple cherry", "operator": "and"}}}}

B {"query": {"match": {"text": {"query": "banana cherry", "operator": "and"}}}}

C {"query": {"match": {"text": {"query": "apple banana", "operator": "or"}}}}

D {"query": {"match": {"text": {"query": "apple", "operator": "and"}}}}

💡 Hint

Look for documents containing both 'apple' and 'cherry'.

Option A matches documents containing both 'apple' and 'cherry' which are documents 1 and 3 only.