Sort clauses for collections (Python)

Many Data API commands use sort clauses to sort documents by field values, or to perform vector search or hybrid search.

You must use & to escape any . or & in field names in a sort clause. Dot notation, which is used to reference nested fields, should not be escaped. For more information, see Work with . and & in field names (Python).

Sort by field values

Use a sort clause to sort documents by field values in ascending or descending order.

When sorting by multiple fields, the order of the fields in the sort clause controls the order of the sorting.

Sort clauses can use only indexed fields. If you apply selective indexing when you create a collection, you cannot reference non-indexed fields in sort queries.

You can’t sort the $lexical field in ascending or descending order. Instead, you must sort by lexicographical match.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.constants import SortMode

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient()
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT", token="APPLICATION_TOKEN"
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find documents
cursor = collection.find(
    {"metadata.language": "English"},
    sort={
        "rating": SortMode.ASCENDING,
        "title": SortMode.DESCENDING,
    },
)

for document in cursor:
    print(document)

Sort by vector similarity (vector search)

To find the documents whose $vector value is most similar to a given vector, use a sort clause with the vector embeddings that you want to match. To find the documents whose $vector value is most similar to the $vector value generated from a given search string, use a sort with the search string that you want to vectorize and match. For more information, see Find data with vector search.

Vector search is only available for vector-enabled collections. For more information, see Create a collection that can store vector embeddings and $vector in collections (Python).

Vector search with vectorize is only available for collections that have vectorize enabled. For more information, see Create a collection that can automatically generate vector embeddings and $vectorize in collections (Python).

Example sorting against a search vector

from astrapy import DataAPIClient

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient()
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT", token="APPLICATION_TOKEN"
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find documents
cursor = collection.find({}, sort={"$vector": [0.08, -0.62, 0.39]})

for document in cursor:
    print(document)

Example sorting against a search string

from astrapy import DataAPIClient

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient()
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT", token="APPLICATION_TOKEN"
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find documents
cursor = collection.find({}, sort={"$vectorize": "Text to vectorize"})

for document in cursor:
    print(document)

Sort by lexicographical matching (BM25-based ranking)

Sort on the $lexical field to the documents whose $lexical field value is most relevant to a given string of space-separated keywords or terms.

This is only available for collections with lexical enabled. For more information, see Create a collection that supports lexicographical matching.

When sorting on the $lexical field, you can’t include additional sort clauses.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient()
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT", token="APPLICATION_TOKEN"
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find documents
cursor = collection.find(
    sort={"$lexical": "tree hill grassy"},
)

for document in cursor:
    print(document)

Sort by vector similarity and lexicographical matching (hybrid search)

A hybrid search uses a reranker model to combine results from a vector search and a lexical search. When you find documents via hybrid search, you use a sort clause to specify the queries for the underlying vector search and hybrid search.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient()
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT", token="APPLICATION_TOKEN"
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find documents
cursor = collection.find_and_rerank(
    sort={
        "$hybrid": {
            "$vectorize": "A tree in the woods",
            "$lexical": "house hill grassy",
        },
    },
)

for result in cursor:
    print(result.document)

Commands that support sort clauses for collections

There are many Data API commands that support sort clauses for collections.

For more examples of sort clauses, see the reference for the command that you want to run: