Filters & Operators

Overview

Filters are the core of Criteria. They define conditions that records must match. Each filter consists of a field, an operator, and (usually) a value.

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .where("age", "greaterThan", 18)
  //      ↑         ↑           ↑
  //    field    operator     value

Filter Methods

Generic `where()`

The most flexible method - accepts any field, operator, and value:

criteria.where("status", "equals", "active");
criteria.where("age", "greaterThan", 18);
criteria.where("email", "contains", "@company.com");
criteria.where("role", "in", ["admin", "moderator"]);

Shorthand Methods

Convenience methods for common operations:

// Equality
criteria.whereEquals("status", "active");
// Equivalent to: .where("status", "equals", "active")

// String contains
criteria.whereContains("name", "john");
// Equivalent to: .where("name", "contains", "john")

// Array inclusion
criteria.whereIn("role", ["admin", "moderator"]);
// Equivalent to: .where("role", "in", ["admin", "moderator"])

// Range
criteria.whereBetween("age", 18, 65);
// Equivalent to: .where("age", "between", [18, 65])

// Null checks
criteria.whereNull("deletedAt");
criteria.whereNotNull("email");

Operators by Type

String Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`equals`	Exact match	`where("name", "equals", "John")`
`notEquals`	Not equal	`where("status", "notEquals", "deleted")`
`contains`	Contains substring (case-insensitive)	`where("bio", "contains", "developer")`
`startsWith`	Starts with prefix	`where("email", "startsWith", "admin")`
`endsWith`	Ends with suffix	`where("email", "endsWith", "@gmail.com")`
`in`	In array of values	`where("status", "in", ["active", "pending"])`
`notIn`	Not in array	`where("role", "notIn", ["banned", "suspended"])`
`isNull`	Is null/undefined	`where("nickname", "isNull")`
`isNotNull`	Is not null	`where("email", "isNotNull")`

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .whereEquals("status", "active")
  .whereContains("name", "john")
  .where("email", "endsWith", "@company.com")
  .whereNotNull("verifiedAt");

Number Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`equals`	Exact match	`where("age", "equals", 25)`
`notEquals`	Not equal	`where("score", "notEquals", 0)`
`greaterThan`	Greater than	`where("age", "greaterThan", 18)`
`greaterThanOrEqual`	Greater than or equal	`where("price", "greaterThanOrEqual", 100)`
`lessThan`	Less than	`where("quantity", "lessThan", 10)`
`lessThanOrEqual`	Less than or equal	`where("discount", "lessThanOrEqual", 50)`
`between`	Between two values (inclusive)	`where("age", "between", [18, 65])`
`in`	In array of values	`where("status", "in", [1, 2, 3])`
`notIn`	Not in array	`where("priority", "notIn", [0, -1])`
`isNull`	Is null	`where("score", "isNull")`
`isNotNull`	Is not null	`where("rating", "isNotNull")`

const criteria = Criteria.create<Product>()
  .where("price", "greaterThanOrEqual", 10)
  .where("price", "lessThan", 100)
  .whereBetween("stock", 1, 1000)
  .where("rating", "greaterThan", 4);

Date Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`equals`	Exact match	`where("date", "equals", specificDate)`
`notEquals`	Not equal	`where("updatedAt", "notEquals", oldDate)`
`greaterThan`	After date	`where("createdAt", "greaterThan", lastWeek)`
`greaterThanOrEqual`	On or after	`where("startDate", "greaterThanOrEqual", today)`
`lessThan`	Before date	`where("expiresAt", "lessThan", now)`
`lessThanOrEqual`	On or before	`where("deadline", "lessThanOrEqual", endOfMonth)`
`between`	Within date range	`where("createdAt", "between", [startDate, endDate])`
`isNull`	Is null	`where("deletedAt", "isNull")`
`isNotNull`	Is not null	`where("publishedAt", "isNotNull")`

const now = new Date();
const lastWeek = new Date(now.getTime() - 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
const lastMonth = new Date(now.getTime() - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);

const criteria = Criteria.create<Article>()
  .where("publishedAt", "greaterThan", lastWeek)
  .whereBetween("createdAt", lastMonth, now)
  .whereNull("deletedAt");

Boolean Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`equals`	Is true/false	`where("isActive", "equals", true)`
`notEquals`	Opposite value	`where("isDeleted", "notEquals", true)`
`isNull`	Is null	`where("isVerified", "isNull")`
`isNotNull`	Is not null	`where("isAdmin", "isNotNull")`

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .whereEquals("isActive", true)
  .whereEquals("isVerified", true)
  .where("isBanned", "notEquals", true);

Array Operators

For array fields in your entity:

Operator	Description	Example
`in`	Array contains any of values	`where("tags", "in", ["featured", "popular"])`
`notIn`	Array doesn’t contain any	`where("categories", "notIn", ["archived"])`
`isNull`	Is null/empty	`where("permissions", "isNull")`
`isNotNull`	Is not null/empty	`where("roles", "isNotNull")`

const criteria = Criteria.create<Article>()
  .where("tags", "in", ["javascript", "typescript"])
  .where("categories", "notIn", ["draft", "archived"]);

Nested Field Paths

Filter on nested object properties:

interface User {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  profile: {
    bio: string;
    location: {
      city: string;
      country: string;
    };
  };
  settings: {
    notifications: boolean;
    theme: string;
  };
}

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .whereContains("profile.bio", "developer")
  .whereEquals("profile.location.country", "Brazil")
  .whereEquals("settings.notifications", true);

Array Item Field Paths

Filter on properties of items in arrays:

interface User {
  id: string;
  posts: {
    title: string;
    published: boolean;
    views: number;
  }[];
  comments: {
    text: string;
    likes: number;
  }[];
}

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .whereContains("posts.title", "tutorial")
  .whereEquals("posts.published", true)
  .where("comments.likes", "greaterThan", 10);

When filtering on array item properties, the filter matches if any item in the array matches the condition. For more control, see Quantifiers.

Combining Multiple Filters

All filters are combined with AND logic:

const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .whereEquals("status", "active")         // AND
  .where("age", "greaterThanOrEqual", 18)  // AND
  .whereNotNull("email")                   // AND
  .whereContains("name", "john");

// Matches users where:
// status = "active"
// AND age >= 18
// AND email IS NOT NULL
// AND name contains "john"

Filter Validation

The library validates filters at runtime:

// Invalid operator for type
const criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
  .where("age", "contains", "18");
// Throws: InvalidCriteriaError: Operator "contains" is not valid for type "number"

// This helps catch configuration errors early

Quantifiers

For array fields, you can specify how the filter should match:

`whereSome` - Any Item Matches

// Match if ANY post has > 100 views
criteria.whereSome("posts.views", "greaterThan", 100);

`whereEvery` - All Items Match

// Match if ALL posts are published
criteria.whereEvery("posts.published", "equals", true);

`whereNone` - No Item Matches

// Match if NO comment has negative likes
criteria.whereNone("comments.likes", "lessThan", 0);

With Query Params

// URL: /users?posts.views:greaterThan@some=100
const criteria = Criteria.fromQueryParams<User>({
  "posts.views:greaterThan@some": "100",
});

Quantifier support depends on your ORM/database. See the integration guides for specific implementations.

Real-World Examples

User Search

function searchUsers(query: string, filters: UserFilters) {
  let criteria = Criteria.create<User>()
    .whereEquals("status", "active")
    .whereNull("deletedAt");

  if (filters.role) {
    criteria = criteria.whereEquals("role", filters.role);
  }

  if (filters.minAge) {
    criteria = criteria.where("age", "greaterThanOrEqual", filters.minAge);
  }

  if (filters.verifiedOnly) {
    criteria = criteria.whereNotNull("verifiedAt");
  }

  if (query) {
    criteria = criteria.search(["name", "email", "bio"], query);
  }

  return criteria.orderByDesc("createdAt").paginate(1, 20);
}

Product Catalog

function getProducts(filters: ProductFilters) {
  let criteria = Criteria.create<Product>()
    .whereEquals("published", true)
    .whereNotNull("stock");

  if (filters.category) {
    criteria = criteria.whereEquals("categoryId", filters.category);
  }

  if (filters.priceRange) {
    criteria = criteria.whereBetween(
      "price",
      filters.priceRange.min,
      filters.priceRange.max
    );
  }

  if (filters.inStock) {
    criteria = criteria.where("stock", "greaterThan", 0);
  }

  if (filters.rating) {
    criteria = criteria.where("rating", "greaterThanOrEqual", filters.rating);
  }

  if (filters.tags?.length) {
    criteria = criteria.whereIn("tags", filters.tags);
  }

  return criteria;
}

Date Range Queries

function getOrdersByPeriod(period: "today" | "week" | "month" | "year") {
  const now = new Date();
  let startDate: Date;

  switch (period) {
    case "today":
      startDate = new Date(now.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0));
      break;
    case "week":
      startDate = new Date(now.getTime() - 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
      break;
    case "month":
      startDate = new Date(now.getTime() - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
      break;
    case "year":
      startDate = new Date(now.getTime() - 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
      break;
  }

  return Criteria.create<Order>()
    .where("createdAt", "greaterThanOrEqual", startDate)
    .whereNotNull("completedAt")
    .orderByDesc("createdAt");
}

Filter Interface

For reference, here’s the Filter type structure:

interface Filter<TField = string, TValue = unknown> {
  field: TField;
  operator: FilterOperator;
  value: TValue;
  options?: {
    quantifier?: "some" | "every" | "none";
  };
}

type FilterOperator =
  | "equals"
  | "notEquals"
  | "greaterThan"
  | "greaterThanOrEqual"
  | "lessThan"
  | "lessThanOrEqual"
  | "contains"
  | "startsWith"
  | "endsWith"
  | "in"
  | "notIn"
  | "between"
  | "isNull"
  | "isNotNull";

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Validation

Criteria

Repository

Integrations

Overview

Filter Methods

Generic `where()`

Shorthand Methods

Operators by Type

String Operators

Number Operators

Date Operators

Boolean Operators

Array Operators

Nested Field Paths

Array Item Field Paths

Combining Multiple Filters

Filter Validation

Quantifiers

`whereSome` - Any Item Matches

`whereEvery` - All Items Match

`whereNone` - No Item Matches

With Query Params

Real-World Examples

User Search

Product Catalog

Date Range Queries

Filter Interface

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Validation

Criteria

Repository

Integrations

​Overview

​Filter Methods

​Generic where()

​Shorthand Methods

​Operators by Type

​String Operators

​Number Operators

​Date Operators

​Boolean Operators

​Array Operators

​Nested Field Paths

​Array Item Field Paths

​Combining Multiple Filters

​Filter Validation

​Quantifiers

​whereSome - Any Item Matches

​whereEvery - All Items Match

​whereNone - No Item Matches

​With Query Params

​Real-World Examples

​User Search

​Product Catalog

​Date Range Queries

​Filter Interface

Overview

Filter Methods

Generic `where()`

Shorthand Methods

Operators by Type

String Operators

Number Operators

Date Operators

Boolean Operators

Array Operators

Nested Field Paths

Array Item Field Paths

Combining Multiple Filters

Filter Validation

Quantifiers

`whereSome` - Any Item Matches

`whereEvery` - All Items Match

`whereNone` - No Item Matches

With Query Params

Real-World Examples

User Search

Product Catalog

Date Range Queries

Filter Interface