How to query Cosmosdb using FullTextContains with fuzzy search parameters

Question

How to query Cosmosdb using FullTextContains with fuzzy search parameters

Alberto Ramirez 0

In my full text search enabled resource container, I'm attempting to use the fuzzy search syntax to find close matches to a search term but receive and error when using the portal or python SDK (4.14.1)

SELECT TOP 10 *

FROM c

WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, {"term": "red", "distance":1})

The fulltextsearch works query correctly when using FullTextContains(c.text, 'red') but not the syntax above for fuzzy search.

Error seen in the portal query window:

{"code":"BadRequest","message":"One of the input values is invalid.\r\nActivityId: ..., Windows/10.0.20348 cosmos-netstandard-sdk/3.18.0"}

Python SDK:

azure.cosmos.exceptions.CosmosHttpResponseError: (BadRequest) One of the input values is invalid. ActivityId: ..., Windows/10.0.20348 cosmos-netstandard-sdk/3.18.0 Code: BadRequest Message: One of the input values is invalid.

The following query works just fine with full text indexing:

Select TOP 10 *

From c

WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, 'red')

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Mahesh Kurva 10,265 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Alberto Ramirez •,

Greetings!!

Fuzzy search in Cosmos DB is currently a preview feature, so it needs to be enabled before you can use the JSON syntax.

User's image

How to fix it:

In the Azure portal, go to your Cosmos DB account → Features → Preview Capabilities and enable Full-Text Search Preview.
Make sure your container has a full-text policy and index for the field you want to search.
After that, you can run queries like

SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM c
WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, {"term":"red","distance":1})

For more information, please refer the document: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/gen-ai/full-text-search#fuzzy-search

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you have any further queries.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Alberto Ramirez 0 Reputation points

2025-11-19T16:24:01.1166667+00:00
Thank you for your response, Mahesh Kurva!

I have confirmed that the preview capabilities are enabled and FullTextContains functionality is working. The Syntax you have shared for fuzzy search continues to not work despite the index being in place and working without the fuzzy search syntax. It results in an input error.

FullTextContains function works. ✅

Index enabled on /text. ✅

Preview feature enabled. ✅

Select TOP 10 * From c WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, 'red')

Fuzzy search on same container field. Fails ❌

SELECT TOP 10 * FROM c WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, {"term":"red","distance":1})
Mahesh Kurva 10,265 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-20T18:21:11.4+00:00
Hi Alberto Ramirez •,

Thanks for confirming the settings.

The issue is not with your configuration the fuzzy search JSON syntax is not yet supported directly inside SQL queries in the Azure Portal or SDK.

This is why the following query fails:

FullTextContains(c.text, {"term":"red","distance":1})

Even with fuzzy search enabled, the SQL engine does not currently accept inline JSON.

SELECT TOP 10 * FROM c WHERE FullTextContains(c.text, @fuzzy)

With a parameter such as:

{ "term": "red", "distance": 1 }

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Share via

How to query Cosmosdb using FullTextContains with fuzzy search parameters

1 answer

Your answer