Slow performance of Products page builder element in the frontend when filtering by category

[ioweb-gr]

Preconditions and environment

• 2.4.7-p2
• A very large catalog of configurable products (over 3 million skus and 50% at least configurable products)

Steps to reproduce

Add with the page builder a "Products" element to the homepage which filters products by category

Go to the frontend and with a profiler check the queries generated

For example in my case this one was generated

SELECT DISTINCT `e`.`entity_id`
                  FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e`
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index`
                                      ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND
                                         price_index.website_id = '1'
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website`
                                      ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1
                  WHERE (((IFNULL(`e`.`entity_id`, 0) IN (SELECT `catalog_category_product`.`product_id`
                                                          FROM `catalog_category_product`
                                                          WHERE (category_id IN ('794'))))))
[2025-01-28 16:35:57] 20 rows retrieved starting from 1 in 7 s 945 ms (execution: 7 s 787 ms, fetching: 158 ms)

This query takes about 9 seconds to run.

If rewritten in a different way like this it runs in 69ms

SELECT DISTINCT `e`.`entity_id`
                  FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e`
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index`
                                      ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND
                                         price_index.website_id = '1'
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website`
                                      ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1
                  WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1
                                FROM `catalog_category_product`
                                WHERE `catalog_category_product`.`product_id` = `e`.`entity_id`
                                  AND `catalog_category_product`.`category_id` IN ('794'))
[2025-01-28 16:36:20] 20 rows retrieved starting from 1 in 125 ms (execution: 69 ms, fetching: 56 ms)

So basically the way the category filter is used in the where condition is causing a huge delay.

With 2 instances of this type of widget the page takes over 20 seconds to load making it unusable.

Expected result

The products are loaded fast

Actual result

The page becomes unusable when using multiple widgets like this

Additional information

No response

Release note

No response

Triage and priority

• Severity: S0 - Affects critical data or functionality and leaves users without workaround.
• Severity: S1 - Affects critical data or functionality and forces users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S2 - Affects non-critical data or functionality and forces users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S3 - Affects non-critical data or functionality and does not force users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S4 - Affects aesthetics, professional look and feel, “quality” or “usability”.

[m2-assistant]

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[m2-assistant]

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[engcom-Hotel]

Hello @ioweb-gr,

Thanks for the report and collaboration!

We have tried to reproduce the issue with the mentioned steps in the latest development branch i.e. 2.4-develop and it seems the issue has been reproducible for us. We have tried to reproduce the issue with almost 10 lakhs product and the query for us us as follows:

SELECT DISTINCT  `e`.`entity_id` FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e` INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index` ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND price_index.website_id = '1' INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website` ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1 WHERE (((IFNULL(`e`.`entity_id`, 0) IN (SELECT `catalog_category_product`.`product_id` FROM
`catalog_category_product` WHERE (category_id IN ('3', '174', '175', '176', '177', '178', '179', '180', '181', '182', '183', '184', '185', '186', '187', '188', '189', '190', '191', '192', '193', '194', '195', '196', '197', '198', '199', '200', '201', '202', '203', '204', '205', '206', '207', '208', '209', '210', '211', '212', '213', '214', '215', '216', '217', '218', '219', '220', '221', '222', '223', '224', '225', '226', '227', '228', '229', '230', '231', '232', '233', '234', '235', '236', '237', '238', '239', '240', '241', '242', '243', '244', '245', '246', '247', '248', '249', '250', '251', '252', '253', '254', '255', '256', '257', '258', '259', '260', '261', '262', '263', '264', '265', '266', '267', '268', '269', '270', '271', '272', '273', '274', '275', '276', '277', '278',
'279', '280', '281', '282', '283', '284', '285', '286', '287', '288', '289', '290', '291', '292', '293', '294', '295', '296', '297', '298', '299', '300', '301', '302', '303', '304', '305', '306', '307', '308', '309', '310', '311', '312', '313', '314', '315', '316', '317', '318', '319', '320', '321', '322', '323', '324', '325', '326', '327', '328', '329', '330', '331', '332', '333', '334', '335', '336', '337', '338', '339', '340', '341', '342', '343', '4', '26', '27', '28', '29', '30', '31', '32', '33', '34', '35', '36', '37', '38', '39', '40', '41', '42', '43', '44', '45', '46', '47', '48', '49', '50', '51', '52', '53', '54', '55', '56', '57', '58', '59', '60', '61', '62', '63', '64', '65', '66', '67', '5', '11', '12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17', '18', '19', '20', '21', '22', '23', '24', '25', '6', '10', '7', '8', '9', '68', '69', '70', '71', '72', '73', '74', '75', '76', '77', '78', '79', '80', '81', '82', '83', '84', '85', '86', '87', '88', '89', '111', '112', '113', '114', '115', '116', '117', '118', '119', '120', '121', '122', '123', '124', '125', '126', '127', '128', '129', '130', '131', '132', '133', '134', '135', '136', '137', '138', '139', '140', '141', '142', '143', '144', '145', '146', '147', '148', '149', '150', '151', '152', '153', '154', '155', '156', '157', '158', '159', '160', '161', '162', '163', '164', '165', '166', '167', '168', '169', '170', '171', '172', '173', '90', '101', '102', '103', '104', '105', '106', '107', '108', '109', '110', '91', '92', '93', '94', '95', '96', '100', '97', '98', '99')))) ));

The above query took 0.77 sec:

Then we have tried with your suggested query as follows:

SELECT DISTINCT  `e`.`entity_id` FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e` INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index` ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND price_index.website_id = '1' INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website` ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1 WHERE EXISTS (((SELECT 1 FROM `catalog_category_product` WHERE `catalog_category_product`.`product_id` = `e`.`entity_id` AND `catalog_category_product`.`category_id` IN ('3', '174', '175', '176', '177', '178', '179', '180', '181', '182', '183', '184', '185', '186', '187', '188', '189', '190', '191', '192', '193', '194', '195', '196', '197', '198', '199', '200', '201', '202', '203', '204', '205', '206', '207', '208', '209', '210', '211', '212', '213', '214', '215', '216', '217', '218', '219', '220', '221', '222', '223', '224', '225', '226', '227', '228', '229', '230', '231', '232', '233', '234', '235', '236', '237', '238', '239', '240', '241', '242', '243', '244', '245', '246', '247', '248', '249', '250', '251', '252', '253', '254', '255', '256', '257', '258', '259', '260', '261', '262', '263', '264', '265', '266', '267', '268', '269', '270', '271', '272', '273', '274', '275', '276', '277', '278', '279', '280', '281', '282', '283', '284', '285', '286', '287', '288', '289', '290', '291', '292', '293', '294', '295', '296', '297', '298', '299', '300', '301', '302', '303', '304', '305', '306', '307', '308', '309', '310', '311', '312', '313', '314', '315', '316', '317', '318', '319', '320', '321', '322', '323', '324', '325', '326', '327', '328', '329', '330', '331', '332', '333', '334', '335', '336', '337', '338', '339', '340', '341', '342', '343', '4', '26', '27', '28', '29', '30', '31', '32', '33', '34', '35', '36', '37', '38', '39', '40', '41', '42', '43', '44', '45', '46', '47', '48', '49', '50', '51', '52', '53', '54', '55', '56', '57', '58', '59', '60', '61', '62', '63', '64', '65', '66', '67', '5', '11', '12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17', '18', '19', '20', '21', '22', '23', '24', '25', '6', '10', '7', '8', '9', '68', '69', '70', '71', '72', '73', '74', '75', '76', '77', '78', '79', '80', '81', '82', '83', '84', '85', '86', '87', '88', '89', '111', '112', '113', '114', '115', '116', '117', '118', '119', '120', '121', '122', '123', '124', '125', '126', '127', '128', '129', '130', '131', '132', '133', '134', '135', '136', '137', '138', '139', '140', '141', '142', '143', '144', '145', '146', '147', '148', '149', '150', '151', '152', '153', '154', '155', '156', '157', '158', '159', '160', '161', '162', '163', '164', '165', '166', '167', '168', '169', '170', '171', '172', '173', '90', '101', '102', '103', '104', '105', '106', '107', '108', '109', '110', '91', '92', '93', '94', '95', '96', '100', '97', '98', '99'))));

which took 0.47 sec to complete:

It clearly shows that there is room for query optimization. Hence confirming the issue.

Thanks

[github-jira-sync-bot]

✅ Jira issue https://jira.corp.adobe.com/browse/AC-13843 is successfully created for this GitHub issue.

[m2-assistant]

✅ Confirmed by @engcom-Hotel. Thank you for verifying the issue.
Issue Available: @engcom-Hotel, You will be automatically unassigned. Contributors/Maintainers can claim this issue to continue. To reclaim and continue work, reassign the ticket to yourself.

[ioweb-gr]

The query difference compared to what I see is drastic. In your case it's half the time but in my case it was multiple times slower @engcom-Hotel

Could you share the DB configuration you used to see if there's some optimization factor producing this difference?

[ioweb-gr]

And actually using your own query it took for me 100ms

SELECT DISTINCT `e`.`entity_id`
                  FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e`
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index`
                                      ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND
                                         price_index.website_id = '1'
                           INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website`
                                      ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1
                  WHERE (((IFNULL(`e`.`entity_id`, 0) IN (SELECT `catalog_category_product`.`product_id`
                                                          FROM `catalog_category_product`
                                                          WHERE (category_id IN
                                                                 ('3', '174', '175', '176', '177', '178', '179', '180', '181', '182',
                                                                  '183', '184', '185', '186', '187', '188', '189', '190', '191', '192',
                                                                  '193', '194', '195', '196', '197', '198', '199', '200', '201', '202',
                                                                  '203', '204', '205', '206', '207', '208', '209', '210', '211', '212',
                                                                  '213', '214', '215', '216', '217', '218', '219', '220', '221', '222',
                                                                  '223', '224', '225', '226', '227', '228', '229', '230', '231', '232',
                                                                  '233', '234', '235', '236', '237', '238', '239', '240', '241', '242',
                                                                  '243', '244', '245', '246', '247', '248', '249', '250', '251', '252',
                                                                  '253', '254', '255', '256', '257', '258', '259', '260', '261', '262',
                                                                  '263', '264', '265', '266', '267', '268', '269', '270', '271', '272',
                                                                  '273', '274', '275', '276', '277', '278',
                                                                  '279', '280', '281', '282', '283', '284', '285', '286', '287', '288',
                                                                  '289', '290', '291', '292', '293', '294', '295', '296', '297', '298',
                                                                  '299', '300', '301', '302', '303', '304', '305', '306', '307', '308',
                                                                  '309', '310', '311', '312', '313', '314', '315', '316', '317', '318',
                                                                  '319', '320', '321', '322', '323', '324', '325', '326', '327', '328',
                                                                  '329', '330', '331', '332', '333', '334', '335', '336', '337', '338',
                                                                  '339', '340', '341', '342', '343', '4', '26', '27', '28', '29', '30',
                                                                  '31', '32', '33', '34', '35', '36', '37', '38', '39', '40', '41', '42',
                                                                  '43', '44', '45', '46', '47', '48', '49', '50', '51', '52', '53', '54',
                                                                  '55', '56', '57', '58', '59', '60', '61', '62', '63', '64', '65', '66',
                                                                  '67', '5', '11', '12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17', '18', '19', '20',
                                                                  '21', '22', '23', '24', '25', '6', '10', '7', '8', '9', '68', '69',
                                                                  '70', '71', '72', '73', '74', '75', '76', '77', '78', '79', '80', '81',
                                                                  '82', '83', '84', '85', '86', '87', '88', '89', '111', '112', '113',
                                                                  '114', '115', '116', '117', '118', '119', '120', '121', '122', '123',
                                                                  '124', '125', '126', '127', '128', '129', '130', '131', '132', '133',
                                                                  '134', '135', '136', '137', '138', '139', '140', '141', '142', '143',
                                                                  '144', '145', '146', '147', '148', '149', '150', '151', '152', '153',
                                                                  '154', '155', '156', '157', '158', '159', '160', '161', '162', '163',
                                                                  '164', '165', '166', '167', '168', '169', '170', '171', '172', '173',
                                                                  '90', '101', '102', '103', '104', '105', '106', '107', '108', '109',
                                                                  '110', '91', '92', '93', '94', '95', '96', '100', '97', '98',
                                                                  '99'))))))
[2025-01-29 15:15:24] 500 rows retrieved starting from 1 in 676 ms (execution: 101 ms, fetching: 575 ms)

[ioweb-gr]

I did some playing around and it seems that the more category ids we put in the IN clause, the faster the query becomes even if each category has tons of products. Most likely the optimizer is choosing a different path

For example

SELECT DISTINCT `e`.`entity_id`
FROM `catalog_product_entity` AS `e`
         INNER JOIN `catalog_product_index_price` AS `price_index`
                    ON price_index.entity_id = e.entity_id AND price_index.customer_group_id = 0 AND
                       price_index.website_id = '1'
         INNER JOIN `catalog_product_website` AS `product_website`
                    ON product_website.product_id = e.entity_id AND product_website.website_id = 1
WHERE (((IFNULL(`e`.`entity_id`, 0) IN (SELECT `catalog_category_product`.`product_id`
                                        FROM `catalog_category_product`
                                        WHERE (category_id IN (3,174,175,176,177))))));

This one took 100ms for me

Whilst if I remove any of the category_ids from those , it takes 7 seconds.

@engcom-Hotel would you mind giving it another shot by selecting only 2-3 categories in the PRODUCTS widget for the page builder?

[engcom-Hotel]

Hello @ioweb-gr,

I have tried it with 3 category IDs and the query took 0.42 sec:

And then tried with 1 category ID and this time query took 1.94 sec:

[ioweb-gr]

Thank you for confirming performance degradation @engcom-Hotel

Let me tell you what I found from my investigation.

It seems the amount of products in the categories plays a role but the inverse of what seems logical.

Assuming the query only has one category I get different results if that category has less or more products. In particular, the more products it has, the faster the query becomes.

I'm experimenting with filtering just on category_id = 794 which I can control the count of products.
As I increase the amount of products in 794, the speed improves.

With 10 products it takes 15 seconds
With 1000 products it takes 4.3 seconds
With 3000 products it takes 3.8 seconds.
With 6000 products it takes 1.2 seconds

It's definitely the IFNULL condition that's causing this performance degradation but I can't understand why the number of products plays a role.

In your case since you had added dozens of categories, the query became fast, even if it was 50% slower than the sample I gave.
But in my case where the category had 10 products, the query was magnitudes slower

I tested in both MariaDB 10.6 and MySQL 8 to see if there's a difference in the optimizers.

The execution plans appear identical though so it's really vexing.

I also have one more observation that I noticed and it's that the query created by the PageBuilder Products element is ignoring the products_count in the widget.

If you check the QUERY it has no "LIMIT" clause.

In my widget I always limit the products to a sane number like 2 or 5 or 10

But the query is running for all. This could also play a part but a very small one.