The disclosed embodiments include a method performed by a data intake and query system. The method includes receiving a search query by a search head, defining a search process for applying the search query to indexers, delegating a first portion of the search process to indexers and a second portion of the search process to intermediary node(s) communicatively coupled to the search head and the indexers. The first portion can define a search scope for obtaining partial search results of the indexers and the second portion can define operations for combining the partial search results by the intermediary node(s) to produce a combination of the partial search results. The search head then receives the combination of the partial search results, and outputs final search results for the search query, where the final search results are based on the combination of the partial search results.