To retrieve the results and the total, using GROQ for Sanity.IO, you need to start by casting to your model like this (this is passed in query)

query = `{
    "items": *[_type == "post"] | order(publishedAt desc)[1...5],
     "total": count(*[_type == "post"]) 

}`

The result looks like this

{
    "ms": 65,
    "query": "...",
    "result": {
        "items": [
            {...}
        ],
        "total": 34
    }
}

It looks obvious, but I had to read How Queries Work all the way to the end to figure out I can project my own outside model. Hope this helps someone.

RESOURCES

• Sanity Functions
• Learn GROQ
• Queries that don't start with an *