# Query targeting
Symptom: the Query Targeting alert fires, or the Real-Time Performance Panel shows a high scanned-to-returned ratio.
## Diagnose
Open the Real-Time Performance Panel during the slow period. It shows current operations with the documents-scanned vs documents-returned ratio per operation. Sort by scanned. The offenders are usually a `$match` on an unindexed field or a sort with no supporting index.
## Confirm
`explain("executionStats")` on the offending shape. Confirm COLLSCAN or an in-memory SORT, and note the exact filter and sort fields.
## Fix
Create a compound index covering the equality filters first, then the sort fields, then range filters (the ESR rule: equality, sort, range). One good compound index beats three single-field indexes.
## Verify
Re-run the workload: the scanned-to-returned ratio in the RTPP drops toward 1:1, and the Query Targeting alert clears. If the alert persists, another shape is still scanning; repeat.