> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.meilisearch.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Combine filters and sort

> Use filtering and sorting together to narrow and order search results for a refined user experience.

Combining filters and sorting lets you narrow results to a relevant subset and then control the order in which they appear. For example, you can filter movies by genre and then sort them by rating.

## Configure filterable and sortable attributes

Before using filters and sorting together, you must add the relevant attributes to both `filterableAttributes` and `sortableAttributes`. An attribute used only in filters does not need to be sortable, and an attribute used only for sorting does not need to be filterable.

Suppose you have a `movies` index with documents like this:

<CodeGroup>
  ```json theme={null}
  {
    "id": 1,
    "title": "Mad Max: Fury Road",
    "genres": ["Action", "Adventure"],
    "rating": 8.1,
    "release_date": 1431648000
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

Configure the index so that `genres` is filterable and `rating` is sortable:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl \
    -X PATCH 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/movies/settings' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "filterableAttributes": ["genres", "release_date"],
      "sortableAttributes": ["rating", "release_date"]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

Wait for the settings task to complete before searching.

## Filter and sort in a single request

Once your settings are configured, pass both `filter` and `sort` in the same search request:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl \
    -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/movies/search' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "q": "",
      "filter": "genres = Action",
      "sort": ["rating:desc"]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

This request returns only action movies, sorted by rating from highest to lowest. The `q` parameter is set to an empty string, making this a placeholder search that returns all matching documents.

The response looks like this:

<CodeGroup>
  ```json theme={null}
  {
    "hits": [
      { "id": 1, "title": "Mad Max: Fury Road", "genres": ["Action", "Adventure"], "rating": 8.1 },
      { "id": 5, "title": "John Wick", "genres": ["Action", "Thriller"], "rating": 7.4 },
      { "id": 12, "title": "The Expendables", "genres": ["Action"], "rating": 6.5 }
    ],
    "query": "",
    "processingTimeMs": 1,
    "estimatedTotalHits": 45
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Combine multiple filters with sort

You can use `AND`, `OR`, and `NOT` operators to build complex [filter expressions](/capabilities/filtering_sorting_faceting/advanced/filter_expression_syntax):

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl \
    -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/movies/search' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "q": "hero",
      "filter": "genres = Action AND rating > 7.0",
      "sort": ["release_date:desc"]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

This request searches for "hero" in action movies with a rating above 7.0, sorted by most recent first.

## Combine geo filter with text search and sort

If your documents have `_geo` data, you can combine [geo search](/capabilities/geo_search/overview) filtering with text search and sorting. For example, find restaurants near a specific location and sort them by rating:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl \
    -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/restaurants/search' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "q": "pizza",
      "filter": "_geoRadius(45.472735, 9.184019, 2000)",
      "sort": ["rating:desc"]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

This returns pizza restaurants within 2 km of the specified coordinates, sorted by their rating. Make sure `_geo` is in `filterableAttributes` and `rating` is in `sortableAttributes`.

## Sort by multiple attributes

You can sort by more than one attribute. Meilisearch uses the second sort criterion as a tiebreaker when documents have the same value for the first:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl \
    -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/movies/search' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "q": "",
      "filter": "genres = Action",
      "sort": ["rating:desc", "release_date:desc"]
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

This sorts action movies by rating first, then by release date for movies with the same rating.

## Key points

* Fields used in `filter` must be in `filterableAttributes`
* Fields used in `sort` must be in `sortableAttributes`
* A field can appear in both settings lists if you need to both filter and sort by it
* Filters narrow the result set before sorting is applied
* When combining with a text query, Meilisearch first applies the text relevancy [ranking rules](/capabilities/full_text_search/relevancy/ranking_rules), then uses `sort` as an additional ranking rule

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Filter search results" href="/capabilities/filtering_sorting_faceting/getting_started">
    Learn the basics of configuring and using filters
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sort search results" href="/capabilities/filtering_sorting_faceting/how_to/sort_results">
    Learn more about sorting configuration and options
  </Card>

  <Card title="Build faceted navigation" href="/capabilities/filtering_sorting_faceting/how_to/build_faceted_navigation">
    Add an interactive faceted sidebar to your search
  </Card>
</CardGroup>