How to query span text within block types using GROQ?

To extract the text from each span within block types using GROQ, you can use array traversal and projection. Here's how:

Basic Text Extraction

To get all the text from spans in a single block content field:

*[_type == "yourDocumentType"] {
  "plainText": description[].children[].text
}

This flattens all the text values from all spans across all blocks into a single array.

Joining Text into a String

If you want to join the text together (similar to the example in the Presenting Portable Text guide):

*[_type == "yourDocumentType"] {
  "plainText": array::join(description[].children[].text, " ")
}

This uses the array::join() function to concatenate all text with spaces between them.

Preserving Block Structure

To maintain the block structure while extracting text from each block separately:

*[_type == "yourDocumentType"] {
  description[] {
    _key,
    _type,
    "text": array::join(children[].text, "")
  }
}

This gives you an array where each block has its combined text.

Filtering by Block Type

To only get text from specific block types (like paragraphs):

*[_type == "yourDocumentType"] {
  "paragraphText": description[_type == "block"].children[].text
}

Complete Example

Based on your example structure, here's a complete query:

*[_type == "product"] {
  _id,
  "descriptionText": array::join(description[].children[].text, " "),
  "descriptionBlocks": description[] {
    _key,
    style,
    "blockText": array::join(children[].text, "")
  }
}

This gives you both a flattened version of all text and a structured version with text per block.

The key pattern is using description[].children[].text to traverse from the block array → into each block's children array → and extract each span's text property. You can then use array::join() to concatenate the strings as needed.