ObjectQL

ObjectQL is the JSON query format the data engine consumes. It's what /api/v1/data/:object accepts, what views compile to, what reports serialise into, and what the AI query_data tool produces.

Two shapes:

• Simple list — pass where, orderBy, limit, expand etc. as query-string params to GET /api/v1/data/:object.
• Advanced query — POST the full query body to /api/v1/data/:object/query (required for groupBy and aggregations).

Query shape

{
  object:        string,                  // required — target object name
  fields?:       string[],                // projection (default: all visible fields)
  where?:        FilterCondition,         // see Filters
  orderBy?:      SortNode[],              // [{ field, order: 'asc' | 'desc' }]
  limit?:        number,                  // page size
  offset?:       number,                  // offset pagination
  cursor?:       string,                  // cursor pagination (preferred)
  expand?:       string[],                // batch-resolve relation fields
  joins?:        JoinNode[],              // explicit joins (inner | left | right | full)
  groupBy?:      (string | GroupByNode)[],
  aggregations?: AggregationNode[],       // sum/avg/count/min/max/...
  having?:       FilterCondition,         // filter after aggregation
  distinct?:     boolean
}

Schema source: packages/spec/src/data/query.zod.ts.

Filters

where is a tree of conditions. Field operators are prefixed with $; logical combinators ($and, $or, $not) sit at the top level.

Comparison

All comparison operators also accept a field reference for cross-field comparison: { end_at: { $gt: { $field: "start_at" } } }.

Set & range

String

Null & existence

Logical combinators

{
  "$and": [
    { "status": { "$eq": "open" } },
    {
      "$or": [
        { "priority": { "$in": ["high", "urgent"] } },
        { "due_at":   { "$lt": { "$cel": "now()" } } }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

CEL expressions can be embedded with { "$cel": "..." } — useful for "now-relative" filters that the server evaluates at query time.

Sorting

"orderBy": [
  { "field": "priority", "order": "desc" },
  { "field": "created_at", "order": "asc" }
]

Query-string shorthand: ?orderBy=-priority,created_at.

Pagination

Cursor (recommended). The response includes nextCursor; pass it back as cursor on the next request.

GET /api/v1/data/ticket?limit=50&orderBy=-created_at
→ { items: [...], nextCursor: "eyJ..." }

GET /api/v1/data/ticket?limit=50&cursor=eyJ...

Offset. Simpler but degrades on large tables.

GET /api/v1/data/ticket?limit=50&offset=200

The runtime caps limit per object via ObjectSpec.maxPageSize (default 200).

Relations — expand

expand batch-resolves foreign keys so you don't N+1.

{
  "object": "support_ticket",
  "expand": ["assignee", "customer.account"],
  "limit": 20
}

Returns each ticket with assignee and customer.account materialised as nested objects instead of just IDs.

Joins

For ad-hoc joins outside the metadata graph:

"joins": [
  { "type": "left", "object": "user", "as": "u", "on": "assignee_id = u.id" }
]

type: inner | left | right | full. Joined tables are accessible in where, orderBy, and aggregations via the as alias.

Aggregation

POST /api/v1/data/:object/query only.

{
  "object": "order",
  "where": { "status": { "$ne": "cancelled" } },
  "groupBy": [
    "customer_id",
    { "field": "created_at", "dateGranularity": "month" }
  ],
  "aggregations": [
    { "function": "sum",   "field": "amount", "alias": "total_sales" },
    { "function": "count", "alias": "order_count" }
  ],
  "having": { "total_sales": { "$gt": 10000 } },
  "orderBy": [{ "field": "total_sales", "order": "desc" }],
  "limit": 25
}

Functions: count, sum, avg, min, max, count_distinct, array_agg, string_agg.

Date granularity (for time-bucketed group-by): day | week | month | quarter | year.

Distinct

{ "object": "ticket", "fields": ["status"], "distinct": true }

Search

Full-text search across searchable: true fields is exposed at GET /api/v1/search?q=...&object=ticket. Per-object scoring rules configured on the object spec.

Where ObjectQL shows up

• GET /api/v1/data/:object — query-string form
• POST /api/v1/data/:object/query — full body, supports aggregations
• View definitions (filter, sort) — compile to ObjectQL
• Reports — serialise to ObjectQL
• The AI query_data tool — produces an ObjectQL body for the approval queue

See also

• REST API — endpoints that consume ObjectQL
• Field types — what's queryable
• CEL — expression language used inside $cel filters
• @objectstack/spec/data/query.zod.ts — authoritative schema