---
title: Count
description: Count the number of values in a field
canonical: https://docs.paradedb.com/documentation/aggregates/metrics/count
---

The following query counts the number of values in a field:

```sql
SELECT pdb.agg('{"value_count": {"field": "rating"}}') FROM mock_items
WHERE id @@@ pdb.all();
```

```ini Expected Response
       agg
-----------------
 {"value": 41.0}
(1 row)
```

See the [Tantivy documentation](https://docs.rs/tantivy/latest/tantivy/aggregation/metric/struct.CountAggregation.html) for all available options.

## SQL Count Syntax

SQL's `COUNT` syntax is supported in beta. To enable it, first run

```sql
SET paradedb.enable_aggregate_custom_scan TO on;
```

With this feature enabled, the following query is equivalent to the above and is executed in the same way.

```sql
SELECT COUNT(rating) FROM mock_items
WHERE id @@@ pdb.all();
```

To count all rows, including rows with null values, use `COUNT(*)`:

```sql
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM mock_items
WHERE id @@@ pdb.all();
```
