Track total hits up to 10,000 by default (#37466)

This commit changes the default for the `track_total_hits` option of the search request
to `10,000`. This means that by default search requests will accurately track the total hit count
up to `10,000` documents, requests that match more than this value will set the `"total.relation"`
to `"gte"` (e.g. greater than or equals) and the `"total.value"` to `10,000` in the search response.
Scroll queries are not impacted, they will continue to count the total hits accurately.
The default is set back to `true` (accurate hit count) if `rest_total_hits_as_int` is set in the search request.
I choose `10,000` as the default because that's also the number we use to limit pagination. This means that users will be able to know how far they can jump (up to 10,000) even if the total number of hits is not accurate.

Closes #33028

docs/reference/getting-started.asciidoc

@@ -793,7 +793,11 @@ As for the response, we see the following parts:
 * `hits._score` and `max_score` - ignore these fields for now
 
 The accuracy of `hits.total` is controlled by the request parameter `track_total_hits`, when set to true
-the request will track the total hits accurately (`"relation": "eq"`).
+the request will track the total hits accurately (`"relation": "eq"`). It defaults to `10,000`
+which means that the total hit count is accurately tracked up to `10,000` documents.
+You can force an accurate count by setting `track_total_hits` to true explicitly.
+See the <<search-request-track-total-hits, request body>> documentation
+for more details.
 
 Here is the same exact search above using the alternative request body method:
 

docs/reference/index-modules/index-sorting.asciidoc

@@ -195,7 +195,8 @@ as soon as N documents have been collected per segment.
 
 <1> The total number of hits matching the query is unknown because of early termination.
 
-NOTE: Aggregations will collect all documents that match the query regardless of the value of `track_total_hits`
+NOTE: Aggregations will collect all documents that match the query regardless
+of the value of `track_total_hits`
 
 [[index-modules-index-sorting-conjunctions]]
 === Use index sorting to speed up conjunctions

docs/reference/migration/migrate_7_0/search.asciidoc

@@ -205,3 +205,34 @@ If `track_total_hits` is set to `false` in the search request the search respons
 will set `hits.total` to null and the object will not be displayed in the rest
 layer. You can add `rest_total_hits_as_int=true` in the search request parameters
 to get the old format back (`"total": -1`).
+
+[float]
+==== `track_total_hits` defaults to 10,000
+
+By default search request will count the total hits accurately up to `10,000`
+documents. If the total number of hits that match the query is greater than this
+ value, the response will indicate that the returned value is a lower bound:
+
+[source,js]
+--------------------------------------------------
+{
+     "_shards": ...
+     "timed_out": false,
+     "took": 100,
+     "hits": {
+         "max_score": 1.0,
+         "total" : {
+             "value": 10000,    <1>
+             "relation": "gte"  <2>
+         },
+         "hits": ...
+     }
+}
+--------------------------------------------------
+// NOTCONSOLE
+
+<1> There are at least 10000 documents that match the query
+<2> This is a lower bound (`"gte"`).
+
+You can force the count to always be accurate by setting `"track_total_hits`
+to true explicitly in the search request.

docs/reference/query-dsl/rank-feature-query.asciidoc

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ of the query.
 Compared to using <<query-dsl-function-score-query,`function_score`>> or other
 ways to modify the score, this query has the benefit of being able to
 efficiently skip non-competitive hits when
-<<search-uri-request,`track_total_hits`>> is set to `false`. Speedups may be
+<<search-uri-request,`track_total_hits`>> is not set to `true`. Speedups may be
 spectacular.
 
 Here is an example that indexes various features:

docs/reference/search/request/track-total-hits.asciidoc

@@ -4,9 +4,20 @@
 Generally the total hit count can't be computed accurately without visiting all
 matches, which is costly for queries that match lots of documents. The
 `track_total_hits` parameter allows you to control how the total number of hits
-should be tracked. When set to `true` the search response will always track the
-number of hits that match the query accurately (e.g. `total.relation` will always
-be equal to `"eq"` when `track_total_hits is set to true).
+should be tracked.
+Given that it is often enough to have a lower bound of the number of hits,
+such as "there are at least 10000 hits", the default is set to `10,000`.
+This means that requests will count the total hit accurately up to `10,000` hits.
+It's is a good trade off to speed up searches if you don't need the accurate number
+of hits after a certain threshold.
+
+When set to `true` the search response will always track the number of hits that
+match the query accurately (e.g. `total.relation` will always be equal to `"eq"`
+when `track_total_hits is set to true). Otherwise the `"total.relation"` returned
+in the `"total"` object in the search response determines how the `"total.value"`
+should be interpreted. A value of `"gte"` means that the `"total.value"` is a
+lower bound of the total hits that match the query and a value of `"eq"` indicates
+that `"total.value"` is the accurate count.
 
 [source,js]
 --------------------------------------------------
@@ -50,57 +61,9 @@ GET twitter/_search
 <1> The total number of hits that match the query.
 <2> The count is accurate (e.g. `"eq"` means equals).
 
-If you don't need to track the total number of hits you can improve query times
-by setting this option to `false`. In such case the search can efficiently skip
-non-competitive hits because it doesn't need to count all matches:
-
-[source,js]
---------------------------------------------------
-GET twitter/_search
-{
-    "track_total_hits": false,
-     "query": {
-        "match" : {
-            "message" : "Elasticsearch"
-        }
-     }
-}
---------------------------------------------------
-// CONSOLE
-// TEST[continued]
-
-\... returns:
-
-[source,js]
---------------------------------------------------
-{
-    "_shards": ...
-    "timed_out": false,
-    "took": 10,
-    "hits" : { <1>
-        "max_score": 1.0,
-        "hits": ...
-    }
-}
---------------------------------------------------
-// TESTRESPONSE[s/"_shards": \.\.\./"_shards": "$body._shards",/]
-// TESTRESPONSE[s/"took": 10/"took": $body.took/]
-// TESTRESPONSE[s/"max_score": 1\.0/"max_score": $body.hits.max_score/]
-// TESTRESPONSE[s/"hits": \.\.\./"hits": "$body.hits.hits"/]
-
-<1> The total number of hits is unknown.
-
-Given that it is often enough to have a lower bound of the number of hits,
-such as "there are at least 1000 hits", it is also possible to set
-`track_total_hits` as an integer that represents the number of hits to count
-accurately. The search can efficiently skip non-competitive document as soon
-as  collecting at least $`track_total_hits` documents. This is a good trade
-off to speed up searches if you don't need the accurate number of hits after
-a certain threshold.
-
-
-For instance the following query will track the total hit count that match
-the query accurately up to 100 documents:
+It is also possible to set `track_total_hits` to an integer.
+For instance the following query will accurately track the total hit count that match
+the query up to 100 documents:
 
 [source,js]
 --------------------------------------------------
@@ -118,8 +81,8 @@ GET twitter/_search
 // TEST[continued]
 
 The `hits.total.relation` in the response will indicate if the
-value returned in `hits.total.value` is accurate (`eq`) or a lower
-bound of the total (`gte`).
+value returned in `hits.total.value` is accurate (`"eq"`) or a lower
+bound of the total (`"gte"`).
 
 For instance the following response:
 
@@ -173,4 +136,46 @@ will indicate that the returned value is a lower bound:
 // TEST[skip:response is already tested in the previous snippet]
 
 <1> There are at least 100 documents that match the query
-<2> This is a lower bound (`gte`).
+<2> This is a lower bound (`"gte"`).
+
+If you don't need to track the total number of hits at all you can improve query
+times by setting this option to `false`:
+
+[source,js]
+--------------------------------------------------
+GET twitter/_search
+{
+    "track_total_hits": false,
+     "query": {
+        "match" : {
+            "message" : "Elasticsearch"
+        }
+     }
+}
+--------------------------------------------------
+// CONSOLE
+// TEST[continued]
+
+\... returns:
+
+[source,js]
+--------------------------------------------------
+{
+    "_shards": ...
+    "timed_out": false,
+    "took": 10,
+    "hits" : { <1>
+        "max_score": 1.0,
+        "hits": ...
+    }
+}
+--------------------------------------------------
+// TESTRESPONSE[s/"_shards": \.\.\./"_shards": "$body._shards",/]
+// TESTRESPONSE[s/"took": 10/"took": $body.took/]
+// TESTRESPONSE[s/"max_score": 1\.0/"max_score": $body.hits.max_score/]
+// TESTRESPONSE[s/"hits": \.\.\./"hits": "$body.hits.hits"/]
+
+<1> The total number of hits is unknown.
+
+Finally you can force an accurate count by setting `"track_total_hits"`
+to `true` in the request.

docs/reference/search/uri-request.asciidoc

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ is important).
 |`track_scores` |When sorting, set to `true` in order to still track
 scores and return them as part of each hit.
 
-|`track_total_hits` |Defaults to true. Set to `false` in order to disable the tracking
+|`track_total_hits` |Defaults to `10,000`. Set to `false` in order to disable the tracking
 of the total number of hits that match the query.
 It also accepts an integer which in this case represents the number of
 hits to count accurately.

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/AbstractSearchAsyncAction.java

@@ -114,9 +114,11 @@ public final void start() {
             //no search shards to search on, bail with empty response
             //(it happens with search across _all with no indices around and consistent with broadcast operations)
 
-            boolean withTotalHits = request.source() != null ?
-                // total hits is null in the response if the tracking of total hits is disabled
-                request.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo() != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_DISABLED : true;
+            int trackTotalHitsUpTo = request.source() == null ? SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO :
+                request.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo() == null ? SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO :
+                    request.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo();
+            // total hits is null in the response if the tracking of total hits is disabled
+            boolean withTotalHits = trackTotalHitsUpTo != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_DISABLED;
             listener.onResponse(new SearchResponse(InternalSearchResponse.empty(withTotalHits), null, 0, 0, 0, buildTookInMillis(),
                 ShardSearchFailure.EMPTY_ARRAY, clusters));
             return;

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchPhaseController.java

@@ -696,6 +696,15 @@ int getNumBuffered() {
         int getNumReducePhases() { return numReducePhases; }
     }
 
+    private int resolveTrackTotalHits(SearchRequest request) {
+        if (request.scroll() != null) {
+            // no matter what the value of track_total_hits is
+            return SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE;
+        }
+        return request.source() == null ? SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO : request.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo() == null ?
+                SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO : request.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a new ArraySearchPhaseResults instance. This might return an instance that reduces search responses incrementally.
      */
@@ -704,7 +713,7 @@ InitialSearchPhase.ArraySearchPhaseResults<SearchPhaseResult> newSearchPhaseResu
         boolean isScrollRequest = request.scroll() != null;
         final boolean hasAggs = source != null && source.aggregations() != null;
         final boolean hasTopDocs = source == null || source.size() != 0;
-        final int trackTotalHitsUpTo = source == null ? SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO : source.trackTotalHitsUpTo();
+        final int trackTotalHitsUpTo = resolveTrackTotalHits(request);
         final boolean finalReduce = request.getLocalClusterAlias() == null;
 
         if (isScrollRequest == false && (hasAggs || hasTopDocs)) {

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchRequest.java

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.Scroll;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.search.internal.SearchContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.Task;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskId;
 
@@ -222,7 +223,10 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
     public ActionRequestValidationException validate() {
         ActionRequestValidationException validationException = null;
         final Scroll scroll = scroll();
-        if (source != null && source.trackTotalHits() == false && scroll != null) {
+        if (source != null
+                && source.trackTotalHitsUpTo() != null
+                && source.trackTotalHitsUpTo() != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE
+                && scroll != null) {
             validationException =
                 addValidationError("disabling [track_total_hits] is not allowed in a scroll context", validationException);
         }

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamInput.java

@@ -204,6 +204,16 @@ public int readInt() throws IOException {
                 | ((readByte() & 0xFF) << 8) | (readByte() & 0xFF);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Reads an optional {@link Integer}.
+     */
+    public Integer readOptionalInt() throws IOException {
+        if (readBoolean()) {
+            return readInt();
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Reads an int stored in variable-length format.  Reads between one and
      * five bytes.  Smaller values take fewer bytes.  Negative numbers

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/io/stream/StreamOutput.java

@@ -323,6 +323,18 @@ public void writeOptionalString(@Nullable String str) throws IOException {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Writes an optional {@link Integer}.
+     */
+    public void writeOptionalInt(@Nullable Integer integer) throws IOException {
+        if (integer == null) {
+            writeBoolean(false);
+        } else {
+            writeBoolean(true);
+            writeInt(integer);
+        }
+    }
+
     public void writeOptionalVInt(@Nullable Integer integer) throws IOException {
         if (integer == null) {
             writeBoolean(false);

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/search/RestCountAction.java

@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public String getName() {
     public RestChannelConsumer prepareRequest(final RestRequest request, final NodeClient client) throws IOException {
         SearchRequest countRequest = new SearchRequest(Strings.splitStringByCommaToArray(request.param("index")));
         countRequest.indicesOptions(IndicesOptions.fromRequest(request, countRequest.indicesOptions()));
-        SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = new SearchSourceBuilder().size(0);
+        SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = new SearchSourceBuilder().size(0).trackTotalHits(true);
         countRequest.source(searchSourceBuilder);
         request.withContentOrSourceParamParserOrNull(parser -> {
             if (parser == null) {

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/search/RestSearchAction.java

@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ public static void parseSearchRequest(SearchRequest searchRequest, RestRequest r
         searchRequest.routing(request.param("routing"));
         searchRequest.preference(request.param("preference"));
         searchRequest.indicesOptions(IndicesOptions.fromRequest(request, searchRequest.indicesOptions()));
+
         checkRestTotalHits(request, searchRequest);
     }
 
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ private static void parseSearchSource(final SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuil
             searchSourceBuilder.trackScores(request.paramAsBoolean("track_scores", false));
         }
 
+
         if (request.hasParam("track_total_hits")) {
             if (Booleans.isBoolean(request.param("track_total_hits"))) {
                 searchSourceBuilder.trackTotalHits(
@@ -289,17 +291,26 @@ private static void parseSearchSource(final SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuil
     }
 
     /**
-     * Throws an {@link IllegalArgumentException} if {@link #TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM}
-     * is used in conjunction with a lower bound value for the track_total_hits option.
+     * Modify the search request to accurately count the total hits that match the query
+     * if {@link #TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM} is set.
+     *
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@link #TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM}
+     * is used in conjunction with a lower bound value (other than {@link SearchContext#DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO})
+     * for the track_total_hits option.
      */
     public static void checkRestTotalHits(RestRequest restRequest, SearchRequest searchRequest) {
-        int trackTotalHitsUpTo = searchRequest.source() == null ?
-            SearchContext.DEFAULT_TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_UP_TO : searchRequest.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo();
-        if (trackTotalHitsUpTo == SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE ||
-                trackTotalHitsUpTo == SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_DISABLED) {
-            return ;
+        boolean totalHitsAsInt = restRequest.paramAsBoolean(TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM, false);
+        if (totalHitsAsInt == false) {
+            return;
+        }
+        if (searchRequest.source() == null) {
+            searchRequest.source(new SearchSourceBuilder());
         }
-        if (restRequest.paramAsBoolean(TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM, false)) {
+        Integer trackTotalHitsUpTo = searchRequest.source().trackTotalHitsUpTo();
+        if (trackTotalHitsUpTo == null) {
+            searchRequest.source().trackTotalHits(true);
+        } else if (trackTotalHitsUpTo != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE
+                && trackTotalHitsUpTo != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_DISABLED) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("[" + TOTAL_HITS_AS_INT_PARAM + "] cannot be used " +
                 "if the tracking of total hits is not accurate, got " + trackTotalHitsUpTo);
         }

server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java

@@ -775,10 +775,14 @@ private void parseSource(DefaultSearchContext context, SearchSourceBuilder sourc
             }
         }
         context.trackScores(source.trackScores());
-        if (source.trackTotalHits() == false && context.scrollContext() != null) {
+        if (source.trackTotalHitsUpTo() != null
+                && source.trackTotalHitsUpTo() != SearchContext.TRACK_TOTAL_HITS_ACCURATE
+                && context.scrollContext() != null) {
             throw new SearchContextException(context, "disabling [track_total_hits] is not allowed in a scroll context");
         }
-        context.trackTotalHitsUpTo(source.trackTotalHitsUpTo());
+        if (source.trackTotalHitsUpTo() != null) {
+            context.trackTotalHitsUpTo(source.trackTotalHitsUpTo());
+        }
         if (source.minScore() != null) {
             context.minimumScore(source.minScore());
         }