> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide/6.2-user-guide/using/using-sql-to-query-kafka/filter-by-timestamp-or-offset.md).

# Filter by timestamp or offset

Understand using Kafka topics by timestamp or offset in Lenses SQL Snapshot concepts engine for Apache Kafka

A popular question is "how do I see the most recent messages?" or "how do i filter for a specific date"

{% hint style="success" %}
Lenses query editor shows you the oldest events (the earliest) because this is how Kafka is designed.
{% endhint %}

To skip the old events and see the most recent very fast, you need to either filter on time or offset with these filters. A list of functions is available here [SQL reference](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide/sql-reference)

### View the most recent messages <a href="#view-the-most-recent-messages" id="view-the-most-recent-messages"></a>

#### Filter by timestamp <a href="#filter-by-timestamp" id="filter-by-timestamp"></a>

Use the now() function to view events from the last 5 minutes:

```sql
SELECT * FROM mytopic WHERE _meta.timestamp > now() - "5m" LIMIT 100;
```

#### Filter by offset <a href="#filter-by-offset" id="filter-by-offset"></a>

View the most recent 100 events :

```sql
SELECT * FROM mytopic WHERE _meta.offset >= LAST_OFFSET() - 10 LIMIT 100;
```

### Slice from the past <a href="#slice-from-the-past" id="slice-from-the-past"></a>

#### Filter by timestamp <a href="#filter-by-timestamp-1" id="filter-by-timestamp-1"></a>

```sql
SELECT *
FROM position_reports
WHERE
   _meta.timestamp > "2020-04-01" AND
   _meta.timestamp < "2020-04-02";
```

Same example with time filter :

```sql
SELECT * from mytopic
WHERE 
    _meta.timestamp > '2024-10-16 14:30:00' AND 
    _meta.timestamp < "2025-04-02 14:30:00"
;
```

#### Filter by Offset <a href="#filter-by-offset-1" id="filter-by-offset-1"></a>

the same logic can be applied for filtering by offset :

```sql
SELECT * FROM mytopic 
WHERE 
    _meta.offset >= 100 and
    _meta.offset < 1000;
```


---

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