# Reading records

[Open in the interactive reference](https://docs.api.lensing.ai/?op=guide%3Areading)

A resource has up to three endpoints for reading, each for a different job:

- **`GET` the collection** to list records. Its records are often lighter than the full record. It is the only one that takes filters, sorting, field selection and paging in the query string; see [Pagination and querying](https://docs.api.lensing.ai/api/app/uiengine/static/content-isolation-assets/guides/pagination.html).
- **`GET` a record by `id`** for one full record.
- **`POST` to `search`** for many full records, with the filters in the request body. A search usually returns the same fields as `GET` by `id`; its endpoint shows exactly what it returns.

Not every resource has all three, and their filters differ: some text filters, such as a customer's name, exist only on search, and some structured filters only on the collection. Check the resource's endpoints for the filter you need.

A collection returns its records as the `data` array, with `pagination` beside it. A search returns them in `data.items`.

Only a collection refuses query parameters it does not declare. `GET` by `id` and search ignore them, so `fields=` on `GET` by `id` still returns the whole record.

You cannot ask an endpoint to include related records. A field such as `customerId` holds an id, and reading that customer is a second request, unless the record already embeds the details you need.

A collection query that matches nothing returns `200` with an empty `data` array, not `404`.

## Examples

**Three ways to read**

```
GET  /accounting/customers
GET  /accounting/customers/{id}
POST /accounting/customers/search
```