query
A query is a question you ask to get information. You might query a librarian about a book, or query a friend about their weekend. It is simply the act of asking.
What a model may hear
- database query SQL and database systems
- generate or execute a structured command to retrieve, insert, update, or delete data from tables
- search query information retrieval and web search
- parse the input as keywords or parameters to match against an index and rank results
- API query web services and REST APIs
- construct a URL with parameters or a JSON payload to fetch specific resources from a server
- graph query knowledge bases and graph databases
- traverse nodes and edges to find relationships and paths between entities
Where people and models part ways
“I have a query about my account”
Meant: the person wants to ask a general question about their account status
May be taken as: the model may generate a database query to access account tables, or ask for schema details
Say instead: “I want to ask a question about my account”
“query the results”
Meant: the person wants to look at or ask about the results
May be taken as: the model may write a SQL SELECT statement or filter syntax instead of summarizing
Say instead: “look at the results and tell me what you find”
“my query is not working”
Meant: the person's question is not getting answered well
May be taken as: the model may debug SQL syntax or suggest index optimizations
Say instead: “my question is not getting the answer I need”
“run this query for me”
Meant: the person wants the model to ask something on their behalf
May be taken as: the model may execute code against a database or API endpoint
Say instead: “ask this question for me or find this information”
Tips
- Say 'question' instead of 'query' when you just want to ask something
- If you want database help, say 'write a SQL query' to be clear
- Say 'search for' rather than 'query' when looking things up online
- Specify the system if you mean a technical query: 'a query for Google' or 'a query in PostgreSQL'
- Avoid 'query' in prompts if you do not want structured data retrieval
Often confused with
- question
- purely human speech act, no technical execution
- prompt
- input to a language model, not a data system
- command
- directive to act, not necessarily to retrieve
- request
- general ask, less bound to formal syntax
- inquiry
- formal investigation, rarely technical
- search
- information lookup without structured syntax