FQL v4 will be decommissioned on June 30, 2025. Ensure that you complete your migration from FQL v4 to FQL v10 by that date.

Fauna accounts created after August 21, 2024 must use FQL v10. These accounts will not be able to run FQL v4 queries or access the v4 Dashboard.

For more details, see the v4 EOL announcement and migration guide. Contact support@fauna.com with any questions.

`Min`

This reference topic applies to FQL v4. Go to this page for the latest FQL v10 reference topics.

Min( value_1, value_2, ... )

min( value_1, value_2, ... )

Min( value_1, value_2, ... )

Min( value_1, value_2, ... )

Min( value_1, value_2, ... )

Min( value_1, value_2, ... )

Description

The Min function returns the smallest value in a list of values.

Types have an order of precedence. When comparing values of different types, they are ranked in the following order, from least to greatest.

Number (integers and decimals: 0.5 < 1 < 1.5 < 2)
Byte
String
Array (ordered lexically, like strings)
Object (ordered lexically, like strings)
Reference
Timestamp
Date
Boolean (false < true)
Null

With this precedence, Numbers are always smaller than Strings.

The run time of Min is dependent on the number of elements in the underlying set or page — it’s linear, or O(n). For very large sets or pages, executing Min might result in a query timeout error, or "width" error.

For query "width" errors, the underlying set or page involves more than 100K items. This can happen when using a set function, such as Difference, where more than 100K items need to be considered to produce the set that Min evaluates. To resolve this, use Paginate to limit the set or page size.

For example, instead of:

Min(
  Difference(
    Match(Index("Index1"), "term1"),
    Match(Index("Index2"), "term2")
  )
)

use:

Min(
  Paginate(
    Difference(
      Match(Index("Index1"), "term1"),
      Match(Index("Index2"), "term2")
    ),
    { size: 10000 }
  )
)

This does mean that if the entire set must be evaluated to arrive at the correct result, you would have to page through the Paginate results.

For query timeout errors, you may specify a larger query timeout via the driver that you are using.

Parameters

Parameter Type Definition and Requirements

Parameter	Type	Definition and Requirements
`value`	List of Values	A single Value or a list of Values.

value

List of Values

A single Value or a list of Values.

Returns

A value which is the minimum value from the value list.

Examples

The following query executes an array of independent min operations and returns the results in an array. The result array position matches the execution array position. The top operation in the execution array, minimum of the values 1, 5, and 22, returns a long value of 1 in the top position of the result array.

client.query(
  [
    q.Min(1, 5, 22),
    q.Min(1, 0, 3, -1),
    q.Min(-1, 12, 3, -1),
    q.Min([10]),
  ]
)
.then((ret) => console.log(ret))
.catch((err) => console.error(
  'Error: [%s] %s: %s',
  err.name,
  err.message,
  err.errors()[0].description,
))

[ 1, -1, -1, 10 ]

result = client.query(
  [
    q.min(1, 5, 22),
    q.min(1, 0, 3, -1),
    q.min(-1, 12, 3, -1),
    q.min([10]),
  ]
)
print(result)

[1, -1, -1, 10]

result, err := client.Query(
	f.Arr{
		f.Min(1, 5, 22),
		f.Min(1, 0, 3, -1),
		f.Min(-1, 12, 3, -1),
		f.Min(f.Arr{10}),
	})

if err != nil {
	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
} else {
	fmt.Println(result)
}

[1 -1 -1 10]

try
{
    Value result = await client.Query(
        Arr(
            Min(1, 5, 22),
            Min(1, 0, 3, -1),
            Min(-1, 12, 3, -1),
            Min(Arr(10))
        )
    );

    Console.WriteLine(result);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"ERROR: {e.Message}");
}

Arr(LongV(1), LongV(-1), LongV(-1), LongV(10))

System.out.println(
    client.query(
        Arr(
            Min(Value(1), Value(5), Value(22)),
            Min(Value(1), Value(0), Value(3), Value(-1)),
            Min(Value(-1), Value(12), Value(3), Value(-1)),
            Min(Arr(Value(10)))
        )
    ).get());

[1, -1, -1, 10]

[
  Min(1, 5, 22),
  Min(1, 0, 3, -1),
  Min(-1, 12, 3, -1),
  Min([10]),
]

[ 1, -1, -1, 10 ]

Query metrics:

bytesIn: 71
bytesOut: 25
computeOps: 1
readOps: 0
writeOps: 0
readBytes: 0
writeBytes: 0
queryTime: 4ms
retries: 0

The following query uses the same approach as the previous query to demonstrate using Min with various types of values:

client.query(
  [
    q.Min('A', 'B', 'C', 'D'),
    q.Min(10, 11, 'A'),
    q.Min(q.Time('1970-01-01T00:00:00Z'), q.Time('1980-01-01T00:00:00Z')),
    q.Min(q.Date('1970-01-01'), q.Date('1930-01-01')),
    q.Min('A', 1),
    q.Min(true, false),
    q.Min({ x: 10 }, { x: 11 }),
    q.Min(['A'], ['B'], ['C']),
    q.Min(['X'], ['A', 'B']),
  ]
)
.then((ret) => console.log(ret))
.catch((err) => console.error(
  'Error: [%s] %s: %s',
  err.name,
  err.message,
  err.errors()[0].description,
))

[
  'A',
  10,
  Time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
  Date("1930-01-01"),
  1,
  false,
  { x: 10 },
  [ 'A' ],
  [ 'A', 'B' ]
]

result = client.query(
  [
    q.min("A", "B", "C", "D"),
    q.min(10, 11, "A"),
    q.min(q.time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"), q.time("1980-01-01T00:00:00Z")),
    q.min(q.date("1970-01-01"), q.date("1930-01-01")),
    q.min("A", 1),
    q.min(True, False),
    q.min({"x": 10}, {"x": 11}),
    q.min(["A"], ["B"], ["C"]),
    q.min(["X"], ["A", "B"]),
  ]
)
print(result)

['A', 10, FaunaTime('1970-01-01T00:00:00Z'), datetime.date(1930, 1, 1), 1, False, {'x': 10}, ['A'], ['A', 'B']]

result, err := client.Query(
	f.Arr{
		f.Min("A", "B", "C", "D"),
		f.Min(10, 11, "A"),
		f.Min(f.Time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"), f.Time("1980-01-01T00:00:00Z")),
		f.Min(f.Date("1970-01-01"), f.Date("1930-01-01")),
		f.Min("A", 1),
		f.Min(true, false),
		f.Min(f.Obj{"x": 10}, f.Obj{"x": 11}),
		f.Min(f.Arr{"A"}, f.Arr{"B"}, f.Arr{"C"}),
		f.Min(f.Arr{"X"}, f.Arr{"A", "B"}),
	})

if err != nil {
	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
} else {
	fmt.Println(result)
}

[A 10 {0 62135596800 <nil>} {0 60873292800 <nil>} 1 false map[x:10] [A] [A B]]

try
{
    Value result = await client.Query(
        Arr(
            Min("A", "B", "C", "D"),
            Min(10, 11, "A"),
            Min(Time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"), Time("1980-01-01T00:00:00Z")),
            Min(Date("1970-01-01"), Date("1930-01-01")),
            Min("A", 1),
            Min(true, false),
            Min(Obj("x", 10), Obj("x", 11)),
            Min(Arr("A"), Arr("B"), Arr("C")),
            Min(Arr("X"), Arr("A", "B"))
        )
    );

    Console.WriteLine(result);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"ERROR: {e.Message}");
}

Arr(StringV(A), LongV(10), FaunaTime(1970-01-01T00:00:00Z), FaunaDate(1930-01-01 12:00:00 AM), LongV(1), BooleanV(False), ObjectV(x: LongV(10)), Arr(StringV(A)), Arr(StringV(A), StringV(B)))

System.out.println(
    client.query(
        Arr(
            Min(Value("A"), Value("B"), Value("C"), Value("D")),
            Min(Value(10), Value(11), Value("A")),
            Min(Time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"), Time("1980-01-01T00:00:00Z")),
            Min(Date("1970-01-01"), Date("1930-01-01")),
            Min(Value("A"), Value(1)),
            Min(Value(true), Value(false)),
            Min(Obj("x", Value(10)), Obj("x", Value(11))),
            Min(Arr(Value("A")), Arr(Value("B")), Arr(Value("C"))),
            Min(Arr(Value("X")), Arr(Value("A"), Value("B")))
        )
    ).get()
);

["A", 10, 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z, 1930-01-01, 1, false, {x: 10}, ["A"], ["A", "B"]]

[
  Min('A', 'B', 'C', 'D'),
  Min(10, 11, 'A'),
  Min(Time('1970-01-01T00:00:00Z'), Time('1980-01-01T00:00:00Z')),
  Min(Date('1970-01-01'), Date('1930-01-01')),
  Min('A', 1),
  Min(true, false),
  Min({ x: 10 }, { x: 11 }),
  Min(['A'], ['B'], ['C']),
  Min(['X'], ['A', 'B']),
]

[
  'A',
  10,
  Time("1970-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
  Date("1930-01-01"),
  1,
  false,
  { x: 10 },
  [ 'A' ],
  [ 'A', 'B' ]
]

Query metrics:

bytesIn: 316
bytesOut: 108
computeOps: 1
readOps: 0
writeOps: 0
readBytes: 0
writeBytes: 0
queryTime: 6ms
retries: 0

Is this article helpful?

Tell Fauna how the article can be improved:
Visit Fauna's forums or email docs@fauna.com

Thank you for your feedback!