Filters

API Platform provides a generic system to apply filters and sort criteria on collections. Useful filters for Doctrine ORM, MongoDB ODM, and ElasticSearch are provided with the library.

You can also create custom filters that fit your specific needs. You can also add filtering support to your custom state providers by implementing interfaces provided by the library.

By default, all filters are disabled. They must be enabled explicitly.

When a filter is enabled, it automatically appears in the OpenAPI and GraphQL documentations. It is also automatically documented as a hydra:search property for JSON-LD responses.

Watch the Filtering & Searching screencast

Filters are services (see the section on custom filters), and they can be linked to a Resource in two ways:

1. Through the resource declaration, as the filters attribute.

For example, having a filter service declaration in services.yaml:

# api/config/services.yaml
services:
    # ...
    offer.date_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.date_filter'
        arguments: [ { dateProperty: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines.
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

Alternatively, you can choose to use a dedicated file to gather filters together:

# api/config/filters.yaml
services:
    offer.date_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.date_filter'
        arguments: [ { dateProperty: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]

We’re linking the filter offer.date_filter with the resource like this:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource(filters: ['offer.date_filter'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# api/config/api_platform/resources.yaml
resources:
    App\Entity\Offer:
        operations:
            ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
                filters: ['offer.date_filter']
        # ...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!-- api/config/api_platform/resources.xml -->

<resources xmlns="https://api-platform.com/schema/metadata/resources-3.0"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="https://api-platform.com/schema/metadata/resources-3.0
        https://api-platform.com/schema/metadata/resources-3.0.xsd">
    <resource class="App\Entity\Offer">
        <operations>
            <operation class="ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection">
                <filters>
                    <filter>offer.date_filter</filter>
                </filters>
            </operation>
            <!-- ... -->
        </operations>
    </resource>
</resources>

2. By using the #[ApiFilter] attribute.

This attribute automatically declares the service, and you just have to use the filter class you want:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\DateFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(DateFilter::class, properties: ['dateProperty'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

Learn more on how the ApiFilter attribute works.

For the sake of consistency, we’re using the attribute in the below documentation.

For MongoDB ODM, all the filters are in the namespace ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\Filter. The filter services all begin with api_platform.doctrine_mongodb.odm.

If Doctrine ORM or MongoDB ODM support is enabled, adding filters is as easy as registering a filter service in the api/config/services.yaml file and adding an attribute to your resource configuration.

The search filter supports exact, partial, start, end, and word_start matching strategies:

• partial strategy uses LIKE %text% to search for fields that contain text.
• start strategy uses LIKE text% to search for fields that start with text.
• end strategy uses LIKE %text to search for fields that end with text.
• word_start strategy uses LIKE text% OR LIKE % text% to search for fields that contain words starting with text.

Prepend the letter i to the filter if you want it to be case insensitive. For example ipartial or iexact. Note that this will use the LOWER function and will impact performance if there is no proper index.

Case insensitivity may already be enforced at the database level depending on the collation used. If you are using MySQL, note that the commonly used utf8_unicode_ci collation (and its sibling utf8mb4_unicode_ci) are already case-insensitive, as indicated by the _ci part in their names.

Note: Search filters with the exact strategy can have multiple values for the same property (in this case the condition will be similar to a SQL IN clause).

Syntax: ?property[]=foo&property[]=bar

In the following example, we will see how to allow the filtering of a list of e-commerce offers:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\SearchFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['id' => 'exact', 'price' => 'exact', 'description' => 'partial'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.search_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.search_filter'
        arguments: [ { id: 'exact', price: 'exact', description: 'partial' } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.search_filter']

http://localhost:8000/api/offers?price=10 will return all offers with a price being exactly 10. http://localhost:8000/api/offers?description=shirt will return all offers with a description containing the word “shirt”.

Filters can be combined together: http://localhost:8000/api/offers?price=10&description=shirt

It is possible to filter on relations too, if Offer has a Product relation:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\SearchFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['product' => 'exact'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.search_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.search_filter'
        arguments: [ { product: 'exact' } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.search_filter']

With this service definition, it is possible to find all offers belonging to the product identified by a given IRI. Try the following: http://localhost:8000/api/offers?product=/api/products/12. Using a numeric ID is also supported: http://localhost:8000/api/offers?product=12

The above URLs will return all offers for the product having the following IRI as JSON-LD identifier (@id): http://localhost:8000/api/products/12.

The date filter allows filtering a collection by date intervals.

Syntax: ?property[<after|before|strictly_after|strictly_before>]=value

The value can take any date format supported by the \DateTime constructor.

The after and before filters will filter including the value whereas strictly_after and strictly_before will filter excluding the value.

Like other filters, the date filter must be explicitly enabled:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\DateFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(DateFilter::class, properties: ['createdAt'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.date_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.date_filter'
        arguments: [ { createdAt: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.date_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter offers by date with the following query: /offers?createdAt[after]=2018-03-19.

It will return all offers where createdAt is superior or equal to 2018-03-19.

The date filter is able to deal with date properties having null values. Four behaviors are available at the property level of the filter:

For instance, exclude entries with a property value of null with the following service definition:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\DateFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(DateFilter::class, properties: ['dateProperty' => DateFilter::EXCLUDE_NULL])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.date_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.date_filter'
        arguments: [ { dateProperty: exclude_null } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.date_filter']

The boolean filter allows you to search on boolean fields and values.

Syntax: ?property=<true|false|1|0>

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\BooleanFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(BooleanFilter::class, properties: ['isAvailableGenericallyInMyCountry'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.boolean_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.boolean_filter'
        arguments: [ { isAvailableGenericallyInMyCountry: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.boolean_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter offers with the following query: /offers?isAvailableGenericallyInMyCountry=true.

It will return all offers where isAvailableGenericallyInMyCountry equals true.

The numeric filter allows you to search on numeric fields and values.

Syntax: ?property=<int|bigint|decimal...>

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\NumericFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(NumericFilter::class, properties: ['sold'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.numeric_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.numeric_filter'
        arguments: [ { sold: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.numeric_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter offers with the following query: /offers?sold=1.

It will return all offers with sold equals 1.

The range filter allows you to filter by a value lower than, greater than, lower than or equal, greater than or equal and between two values.

Syntax: ?property[<lt|gt|lte|gte|between>]=value

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\RangeFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(RangeFilter::class, properties: ['price'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.range_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.range_filter'
        arguments: [ { price: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.range_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter the price with the following query: /offers?price[between]=12.99..15.99.

It will return all offers with price between 12.99 and 15.99.

You can filter offers by joining two values, for example: /offers?price[gt]=12.99&price[lt]=19.99.

The “exists” filter allows you to select items based on a nullable field value. It will also check the emptiness of a collection association.

Syntax: ?exists[property]=<true|false|1|0>

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Core\Bridge\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\ExistsFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(ExistsFilter::class, properties: ['transportFees'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.exists_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.exists_filter'
        arguments: [ { transportFees: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.exists_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter offers on the nullable field with the following query: /offers?exists[transportFees]=true.

It will return all offers where transportFees is not null.

A conflict will occur if exists is also the name of a property with the search filter enabled. Luckily, the query parameter name to use is configurable:

# api/config/packages/api_platform.yaml
api_platform:
    collection:
        exists_parameter_name: 'not_null' # the URL query parameter to use is now "not_null"

The order filter allows sorting a collection against the given properties.

Syntax: ?order[property]=<asc|desc>

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['id', 'name'], arguments: ['orderParameterName' => 'order'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments:
            $properties: { id: ~, name: ~ }
            $orderParameterName: order
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.order_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /offers, you can filter offers by name in ascending order and then by ID in descending order with the following query: /offers?order[name]=desc&order[id]=asc.

By default, whenever the query does not specify the direction explicitly (e.g.: /offers?order[name]&order[id]), filters will not be applied unless you configure a default order direction to use:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['id' => 'ASC', 'name' => 'DESC'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments: [ { id: 'ASC', name: 'DESC' } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.order_filter']

When the property used for ordering can contain null values, you may want to specify how null values are treated in the comparison:

For instance, treat entries with a property value of null as the smallest, with the following service definition:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['validFrom' => ['nulls_comparison' => OrderFilter::NULLS_SMALLEST, 'default_direction' => 'DESC']])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments: [ { validFrom: { nulls_comparison: 'nulls_smallest', default_direction: 'DESC' } } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.order_filter']

The strategy to use by default can be configured globally:

# api/config/packages/api_platform.yaml
api_platform:
    collection:
        order_nulls_comparison: 'nulls_smallest'

A conflict will occur if order is also the name of a property with the search filter enabled. Luckily, the query parameter name to use is configurable:

# api/config/packages/api_platform.yaml
api_platform:
    collection:
        order_parameter_name: '_order' # the URL query parameter to use is now "_order"

Sometimes, you need to be able to perform filtering based on some linked resources (on the other side of a relation). All built-in filters support nested properties using the dot (.) syntax, e.g.:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\OrderFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\SearchFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['product.releaseDate'])]
#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['product.color' => 'exact'])]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments: [ { product.releaseDate: ~ } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false
    offer.search_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.search_filter'
        arguments: [ { product.color: 'exact' } ]
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.order_filter', 'offer.search_filter']

The above allows you to find offers by their respective product’s color: http://localhost:8000/api/offers?product.color=red, or order offers by the product’s release date: http://localhost:8000/api/offers?order[product.releaseDate]=desc

As we have seen in previous examples, properties where filters can be applied must be explicitly declared. If you don’t care about security and performance (e.g. an API with restricted access), it is also possible to enable built-in filters for all properties:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class)]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    offer.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments: [ ~ ] # Pass null to enable the filter for all properties
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Offer.yaml
App\Entity\Offer:
    # ...
    operations:
        ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection:
            filters: ['offer.order_filter']

Note: Filters on nested properties must still be enabled explicitly, in order to keep things sane.

Regardless of this option, filters can be applied on a property only if:

• the property exists
• the value is supported (ex: asc or desc for the order filters).

It means that the filter will be silently ignored if the property:

• does not exist
• is not enabled
• has an invalid value

The order filter allows to sort a collection against the given properties.

Syntax: ?order[property]=<asc|desc>

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Model/Tweet.php

namespace App\Model;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['id', 'date'], arguments: ['orderParameterName' => 'order'])]
class Tweet
{
    // ...
}

# config/services.yaml
services:
    tweet.order_filter:
        parent: 'api_platform.doctrine.orm.order_filter'
        arguments:
            $properties: { id: ~, date: ~ }
            $orderParameterName: 'order'
        tags:  [ 'api_platform.filter' ]
        # The following are mandatory only if a _defaults section is defined with inverted values.
        # You may want to isolate filters in a dedicated file to avoid adding the following lines (by adding them in the defaults section)
        autowire: false
        autoconfigure: false
        public: false

# config/api/Tweet.yaml
App\Entity\Tweet:
    # ...
    filters: ['tweet.order_filter']

Given that the collection endpoint is /tweets, you can filter tweets by ID and date in ascending or descending order: /tweets?order[id]=asc&order[date]=desc.

By default, whenever the query does not specify the direction explicitly (e.g: /tweets?order[id]&order[date]), filters will not be applied unless you configure a default order direction to use:

<?php
// api/src/Model/Tweet.php

namespace App\Model;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\OrderFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['id' => 'asc', 'date' => 'desc'])]
class Tweet
{
    // ...
}

A conflict will occur if order is also the name of a property with the term filter enabled. Luckily, the query parameter name to use is configurable:

# api/config/packages/api_platform.yaml
api_platform:
    collection:
        order_parameter_name: '_order' # the URL query parameter to use is now "_order"

The match filter allows us to find resources that match the specified text on full-text fields.

Syntax: ?property[]=value

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Model/Tweet.php

namespace App\Model;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\MatchFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(MatchFilter::class, properties: ['message'])]
class Tweet
{
    // ...
}

Given that the collection endpoint is /tweets, you can filter tweets by message content.

/tweets?message=Hello%20World will return all tweets that match the text Hello World.

The term filter allows us to find resources that contain the exact specified terms.

Syntax: ?property[]=value

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Model/User.php

namespace App\Model;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\TermFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(TermFilter::class, properties: ['gender', 'age'])]
class User
{
    // ...
}

Given that the collection endpoint is /users, you can filter users by gender and age.

/users?gender=female will return all users whose gender is female. /users?age=42 will return all users whose age is 42.

Filters can be combined together: /users?gender=female&age=42.

Sometimes, you need to be able to perform filtering based on some linked resources (on the other side of a relation). All built-in filters support nested properties using the (.) syntax.

<?php
// api/src/Model/Tweet.php

namespace App\Model;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\OrderFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\TermFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(OrderFilter::class, properties: ['author.firstName'])]
#[ApiFilter(TermFilter::class, properties: ['author.gender'])]
class Tweet
{
    // ...
}

The above allows you to find tweets by their respective author’s gender /tweets?author.gender=male, or order tweets by the author’s first name /tweets?order[author.firstName]=desc.

The group filter allows you to filter by serialization groups.

Syntax: ?groups[]=<group>

You can add as many groups as you need.

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Book.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Serializer\Filter\GroupFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(GroupFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'groups', 'overrideDefaultGroups' => false, 'whitelist' => ['allowed_group']])]
class Book
{
    // ...
}

Three arguments are available to configure the filter:

• parameterName is the query parameter name (default groups)
• overrideDefaultGroups allows to override the default serialization groups (default false)
• whitelist groups whitelist to avoid uncontrolled data exposure (default null to allow all groups)

Given that the collection endpoint is /books, you can filter by serialization groups with the following query: /books?groups[]=read&groups[]=write.

Note: We strongly recommend using Vulcain instead of this filter. Vulcain is faster, allows a better hit rate, and is supported out of the box in the API Platform distribution.

The property filter adds the possibility to select the properties to serialize (sparse fieldsets).

Syntax: ?properties[]=<property>&properties[<relation>][]=<property>

You can add as many properties as you need.

Enable the filter:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Book.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Serializer\Filter\PropertyFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(PropertyFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'properties', 'overrideDefaultProperties' => false, 'whitelist' => ['allowed_property']])]
class Book
{
    // ...
}

Three arguments are available to configure the filter:

• parameterName is the query parameter name (default properties)
• overrideDefaultProperties allows to override the default serialization properties (default false)
• whitelist properties whitelist to avoid uncontrolled data exposure (default null to allow all properties)

Given that the collection endpoint is /books, you can filter the serialization properties with the following query: /books?properties[]=title&properties[]=author. If you want to include some properties of the nested “author” document, use: /books?properties[]=title&properties[author][]=name.

Custom filters can be written by implementing the ApiPlatform\Api\FilterInterface interface.

API Platform provides a convenient way to create Doctrine ORM and MongoDB ODM filters. If you use custom state providers, you can still create filters by implementing the previously mentioned interface, but - as API Platform isn’t aware of your persistence system’s internals - you have to create the filtering logic by yourself.

Doctrine ORM filters have access to the context created from the HTTP request and to the QueryBuilder instance used to retrieve data from the database. They are only applied to collections. If you want to deal with the DQL query generated to retrieve items, extensions are the way to go.

A Doctrine ORM filter is basically a class implementing the ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\FilterInterface. API Platform includes a convenient abstract class implementing this interface and providing utility methods: ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\AbstractFilter.

In the following example, we create a class to filter a collection by applying a regular expression to a property. The REGEXP DQL function used in this example can be found in the DoctrineExtensions library. This library must be properly installed and registered to use this example (works only with MySQL).

<?php
// api/src/Filter/RegexpFilter.php

namespace App\Filter;

use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\AbstractFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Util\QueryNameGeneratorInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\Operation;
use Doctrine\ORM\QueryBuilder;
use Symfony\Component\PropertyInfo\Type;

final class RegexpFilter extends AbstractFilter
{
    protected function filterProperty(string $property, $value, QueryBuilder $queryBuilder, QueryNameGeneratorInterface $queryNameGenerator, string $resourceClass, Operation $operation = null, array $context = []): void
    {
        // Otherwise filter is applied to order and page as well
        if (
            !$this->isPropertyEnabled($property, $resourceClass) ||
            !$this->isPropertyMapped($property, $resourceClass)
        ) {
            return;
        }

        $parameterName = $queryNameGenerator->generateParameterName($property); // Generate a unique parameter name to avoid collisions with other filters
        $queryBuilder
            ->andWhere(sprintf('REGEXP(o.%s, :%s) = 1', $property, $parameterName))
            ->setParameter($parameterName, $value);
    }

    // This function is only used to hook in documentation generators (supported by Swagger and Hydra)
    public function getDescription(string $resourceClass): array
    {
        if (!$this->properties) {
            return [];
        }

        $description = [];
        foreach ($this->properties as $property => $strategy) {
            $description["regexp_$property"] = [
                'property' => $property,
                'type' => Type::BUILTIN_TYPE_STRING,
                'required' => false,
                'description' => 'Filter using a regex. This will appear in the OpenApi documentation!',
                'openapi' => [
                    'example' => 'Custom example that will be in the documentation and be the default value of the sandbox',
                    'allowReserved' => false,// if true, query parameters will be not percent-encoded
                    'allowEmptyValue' => true,
                    'explode' => false, // to be true, the type must be Type::BUILTIN_TYPE_ARRAY, ?product=blue,green will be ?product=blue&product=green
                ],
            ];
        }

        return $description;
    }
}

Thanks to Symfony’s automatic service loading, which is enabled by default in the API Platform distribution, the filter is automatically registered as a service!

Finally, add this filter to resources you want to be filtered by using the ApiFilter attribute:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use App\Filter\RegexpFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(RegexpFilter::class)]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

You can now use this filter in the URL like http://example.com/offers?regexp_email=^[FOO]. This new filter will also appear in OpenAPI and Hydra documentations.

In the previous example, the filter can be applied to any property. You can also apply this filter on a specific property:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use App\Filter\RegexpFilter;

#[ApiResource]
class Offer
{
    // ...

    #[ApiFilter(RegexpFilter::class)]
    public string $name;
}

When creating a custom filter you can specify multiple properties of a resource using the usual filter syntax:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php

namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Core\Annotation\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Core\Annotation\ApiResource;
use App\Filter\CustomAndFilter;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(CustomAndFilter::class, properties={"name", "cost"})]
class Offer
{
    // ...
    public string $name;
    public int $cost;
}

These properties can then be accessed in the custom filter like this:

// api/src/Filter/CustomAndFilter.php

protected function filterProperty(string $property, $value, QueryBuilder $queryBuilder, QueryNameGeneratorInterface $queryNameGenerator, string $resourceClass, Operation $operation = null, array $context = []): void {  
  $rootAlias = $queryBuilder->getRootAliases()[0];  
  foreach(array_keys($this->getProperties()) as $prop) { // we use array_keys() because getProperties() returns a map of property => strategy
      if (!$this->isPropertyEnabled($prop, $resourceClass) || !$this->isPropertyMapped($prop, $resourceClass)) {  
          return;  
      }  
      $parameterName = $queryNameGenerator->generateParameterName($prop);  
      $queryBuilder  
          ->andWhere(sprintf('%s.%s LIKE :%s', $rootAlias, $prop, $parameterName))  
          ->setParameter($parameterName, "%" . $value . "%");  
  }  
}

If you don’t use Symfony’s automatic service loading, you have to register the filter as a service by yourself. Use the following service definition (remember, by default, this isn’t needed!):

# api/config/services.yaml
services:
    # ...
    # This whole definition can be omitted if automatic service loading is enabled
    'App\Filter\RegexpFilter':
        # The "arguments" key can be omitted if the autowiring is enabled
        arguments: [ '@doctrine', '@?logger' ]
        # The "tags" key can be omitted if the autoconfiguration is enabled
        tags: [ 'api_platform.filter' ]

In the previous example, the filter can be applied to any property. However, thanks to the AbstractFilter class, it can also be enabled for some properties:

# api/config/services.yaml
services:
    'App\Filter\RegexpFilter':
        arguments: [ '@doctrine', '@?logger', { email: ~, anOtherProperty: ~ } ]
        tags: [ 'api_platform.filter' ]

Finally, if you don’t want to use the #[ApiFilter] attribute, you can register the filter on an API resource class using the filters attribute:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Offer.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use App\Filter\RegexpFilter;

#[ApiResource(
    filters: [RegexpFilter::class]
)]
class Offer
{
    // ...
}

Doctrine MongoDB ODM filters have access to the context created from the HTTP request and to the aggregation builder instance used to retrieve data from the database and to execute complex operations on data. They are only applied to collections. If you want to deal with the aggregation pipeline generated to retrieve items, extensions are the way to go.

A Doctrine MongoDB ODM filter is basically a class implementing the ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\Filter\FilterInterface. API Platform includes a convenient abstract class implementing this interface and providing utility methods: ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\Filter\AbstractFilter.

Elasticsearch filters have access to the context created from the HTTP request and to the Elasticsearch query clause. They are only applied to collections. If you want to deal with the query DSL through the search request body, extensions are the way to go.

Existing Elasticsearch filters are applied through a constant score query. A constant score query filter is basically a class implementing the ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\ConstantScoreFilterInterface and the ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\FilterInterface. API Platform includes a convenient abstract class implementing this last interface and providing utility methods: ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Filter\AbstractFilter.

Suppose you want to use the match filter on a property named $fullName and you want to add the and operator to your query:

<?php
// api/src/ElasticSearch/AndOperatorFilterExtension.php

namespace App\ElasticSearch;

use ApiPlatform\Elasticsearch\Extension\RequestBodySearchCollectionExtensionInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\Operation;

class AndOperatorFilterExtension implements RequestBodySearchCollectionExtensionInterface
{
    public function applyToCollection(array $requestBody, string $resourceClass, ?Operation $operation = null, array $context = []): array;
    {
        $requestBody['query'] = $requestBody['query'] ?? [];
        $andQuery = [
            'query' => $context['filters']['fullName'],
            'operator' => 'and',
        ];
        
        $requestBody['query']['constant_score']['filter']['bool']['must'][0]['match']['full_name'] = $andQuery;
        
        return $requestBody;
    }
}

Doctrine ORM features a filter system that allows the developer to add SQL to the conditional clauses of queries, regardless of the place where the SQL is generated (e.g. from a DQL query, or by loading associated entities). These are applied to collections and items and therefore are incredibly useful.

The following information, specific to Doctrine filters in Symfony, is based upon a great article posted on Michaël Perrin’s blog.

Suppose we have a User entity and an Order entity related to the User one. A user should only see his orders and no one else’s.

<?php
// api/src/Entity/User.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource]
class User
{
    // ...
}

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Order.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;

#[ApiResource]
class Order
{
    // ...

    #[ORM\ManyToOne(User::class)]
    #[ORM\JoinColumn(name: 'user_id', referencedColumnName: 'id')]
    public User $user;
    
    // ...
}

The whole idea is that any query on the order table should add a WHERE user_id = :user_id condition.

Start by creating a custom attribute to mark restricted entities:

<?php
// api/src/Attribute/UserAware.php

namespace App\Attribute;

use Attribute;

#[Attribute(Attribute::TARGET_CLASS)]
final class UserAware
{
    public $userFieldName;
}

Then, let’s mark the Order entity as a “user aware” entity.

<?php
// api/src/Entity/Order.php
namespace App\Entity;

use App\Attribute\UserAware;

#[UserAware(userFieldName: "user_id")]
class Order {
    // ...
}

Now, create a Doctrine filter class:

<?php
// api/src/Filter/UserFilter.php

namespace App\Filter;

use App\Attribute\UserAware;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\ClassMetadata;
use Doctrine\ORM\Query\Filter\SQLFilter;

final class UserFilter extends SQLFilter
{
    public function addFilterConstraint(ClassMetadata $targetEntity, $targetTableAlias): string
    {
        // The Doctrine filter is called for any query on any entity
        // Check if the current entity is "user aware" (marked with an attribute)
        $userAware = $targetEntity->getReflectionClass()->getAttributes(UserAware::class)[0] ?? null;

        $fieldName = $userAware?->getArguments()['userFieldName'] ?? null;
        if ($fieldName === '' || is_null($fieldName)) {
            return '';
        }

        try {
            // Don't worry, getParameter automatically escapes parameters
            $userId = $this->getParameter('id');
        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
            // No user ID has been defined
            return '';
        }

        if (empty($fieldName) || empty($userId)) {
            return '';
        }

        return sprintf('%s.%s = %s', $targetTableAlias, $fieldName, $userId);
    }
}

Now, we must configure the Doctrine filter.

# api/config/packages/api_platform.yaml
doctrine:
    orm:
        filters:
            user_filter:
                class: App\Filter\UserFilter
                enabled: true

Done: Doctrine will automatically filter all UserAwareentities!

The attribute can be used on a property or on a class.

If the attribute is given over a property, the filter will be configured on the property. For example, let’s add a search filter on name and on the prop property of the colors relation:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/DummyCar.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\SearchFilter;
use Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection;
use Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
use App\Entity\DummyCarColor;

#[ApiResource]
class DummyCar
{
    #[ORM\Id, ORM\Column, ORM\GeneratedValue]
    private ?int $id = null;

    #[ORM\Column]
    #[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, strategy: 'partial')]
    public ?string $name = null;

    #[ORM\OneToMany(mappedBy: "car", targetEntity: DummyCarColor::class)]
    #[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['colors.prop' => 'ipartial'])]
    public Collection $colors;

    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->colors = new ArrayCollection();
    }

    // ...
}

On the first property, name, it’s straightforward. The first attribute argument is the filter class, the second specifies options, here, the strategy:

#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, strategy: 'partial')]

In the second attribute, we specify properties to which the filter should apply. It’s necessary here because we don’t want to filter colors but the prop property of the colors association. Note that for each given property we specify the strategy:

#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['colors.prop' => 'ipartial'])]

The ApiFilter attribute can be set on the class as well. If you don’t specify any properties, it’ll act on every property of the class.

For example, let’s define three data filters (DateFilter, SearchFilter and BooleanFilter) and two serialization filters (PropertyFilter and GroupFilter) on our DummyCar class:

<?php
// api/src/Entity/DummyCar.php
namespace App\Entity;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\BooleanFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\DateFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Filter\SearchFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Serializer\Filter\GroupFilter;
use ApiPlatform\Serializer\Filter\PropertyFilter;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;

#[ApiResource]
#[ApiFilter(BooleanFilter::class)]
#[ApiFilter(DateFilter::class, strategy: DateFilter::EXCLUDE_NULL)]
#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['colors.prop' => 'ipartial', 'name' => 'partial'])]
#[ApiFilter(PropertyFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'foobar'])]
#[ApiFilter(GroupFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'foobargroups'])]
class DummyCar
{
    // ...
}

The BooleanFilter is applied to every Boolean property of the class. Indeed, in each core filter, we check the Doctrine type. It’s written only by using the filter class:

#[ApiFilter(BooleanFilter::class)]

The DateFilter given here will be applied to every Date property of the DummyCar class with the DateFilter::EXCLUDE_NULL strategy:

#[ApiFilter(DateFilter::class, strategy: DateFilter::EXCLUDE_NULL)]

The SearchFilter here adds properties. The result is the exact same as the example with attributes on properties:

#[ApiFilter(SearchFilter::class, properties: ['colors.prop' => 'ipartial', 'name' => 'partial'])]

Note that you can specify the properties argument on every filter.

The next filters are not related to how the data is fetched but rather to how the serialization is done on those. We can give an arguments option (see here for the available arguments):

#[ApiFilter(PropertyFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'foobar'])]
#[ApiFilter(GroupFilter::class, arguments: ['parameterName' => 'foobargroups'])]