The search API allows to execute a search query and get back search hits that match the query. It can be executed across one or more indices and across one or more types. The query can either be provided using the Query DSL. The body of the search request is built using the SearchSourceBuilder. Here is an example:

import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.FilterBuilders.*;
import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders.*;

SearchResponse response = client.prepareSearch("test")
        .setSearchType(SearchType.DFS_QUERY_THEN_FETCH)
        .setQuery(termQuery("multi", "test"))
        .setFrom(0).setSize(60).setExplain(true)
        .execute()
        .actionGet();

For more information on the search operation, check out the REST search docs.

Using scrolls in Java

Read the scroll documentation first!

import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.FilterBuilders.*;
import static org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders.*;

QueryBuilder qb = termQuery("multi", "test");

SearchResponse scrollResp = client.prepareSearch(test)
		.setSearchType(SearchType.SCAN)
		.setScroll(new TimeValue(60000))
		.setQuery(qb.buildAsBytes())
		.setSize(100).execute().actionGet(); //100 hits per shard will be returned for each scroll
//Scroll until no hits are returned
while (true) {
    scrollResp = client.prepareSearchScroll(scrollResp.getScrollId()).setScroll(new TimeValue(600000)).execute().actionGet();
    boolean hitsRead = false;
    for (SearchHit hit : scrollResp.getHits()) {
        hitsRead = true;
        //Handle the hit...
    }
    //Break condition: No hits are returned
    if (!hitsRead) {
        break;
    }
}

Operation Threading

The search API allows to set the threading model the operation will be performed when the actual execution of the API is performed on the same node (the API is executed on a shard that is allocated on the same server).

There are three threading modes.The NO_THREADS mode means that the search operation will be executed on the calling thread. The SINGLE_THREAD mode means that the search operation will be executed on a single different thread for all local shards. The THREAD_PER_SHARD mode means that the search operation will be executed on a different thread for each local shard.

The default mode is SINGLE_THREAD.