Run a search
Get search hits that match the query defined in the request.
You can provide search queries using the q query string parameter or the request body.
If both are specified, only the query parameter is used.
If the Elasticsearch security features are enabled, you must have the read index privilege for the target data stream, index, or alias. For cross-cluster search, refer to the documentation about configuring CCS privileges.
To search a point in time (PIT) for an alias, you must have the read index privilege for the alias's data streams or indices.
Search slicing
When paging through a large number of documents, it can be helpful to split the search into multiple slices to consume them independently with the slice and pit properties.
By default the splitting is done first on the shards, then locally on each shard.
The local splitting partitions the shard into contiguous ranges based on Lucene document IDs.
For instance if the number of shards is equal to 2 and you request 4 slices, the slices 0 and 2 are assigned to the first shard and the slices 1 and 3 are assigned to the second shard.
IMPORTANT: The same point-in-time ID should be used for all slices. If different PIT IDs are used, slices can overlap and miss documents. This situation can occur because the splitting criterion is based on Lucene document IDs, which are not stable across changes to the index.
Path parameters
-
index
string | array[string] Required A comma-separated list of data streams, indices, and aliases to search. It supports wildcards (
*). To search all data streams and indices, omit this parameter or use*or_all.
Query parameters
-
allow_no_indices
boolean If
false, the request returns an error if any wildcard expression, index alias, or_allvalue targets only missing or closed indices. This behavior applies even if the request targets other open indices. For example, a request targetingfoo*,bar*returns an error if an index starts withfoobut no index starts withbar. -
allow_partial_search_results
boolean If
trueand there are shard request timeouts or shard failures, the request returns partial results. Iffalse, it returns an error with no partial results.To override the default behavior, you can set the
search.default_allow_partial_resultscluster setting tofalse. -
analyzer
string The analyzer to use for the query string. This parameter can be used only when the
qquery string parameter is specified. -
analyze_wildcard
boolean If
true, wildcard and prefix queries are analyzed. This parameter can be used only when theqquery string parameter is specified. -
batched_reduce_size
number The number of shard results that should be reduced at once on the coordinating node. If the potential number of shards in the request can be large, this value should be used as a protection mechanism to reduce the memory overhead per search request.
-
ccs_minimize_roundtrips
boolean If
true, network round-trips between the coordinating node and the remote clusters are minimized when running cross-cluster search (CCS) requests. -
default_operator
string The default operator for the query string query:
ANDorOR. This parameter can be used only when theqquery string parameter is specified.Values are
and,AND,or, orOR. -
df
string The field to use as a default when no field prefix is given in the query string. This parameter can be used only when the
qquery string parameter is specified. -
docvalue_fields
string | array[string] A comma-separated list of fields to return as the docvalue representation of a field for each hit.
-
expand_wildcards
string | array[string] The type of index that wildcard patterns can match. If the request can target data streams, this argument determines whether wildcard expressions match hidden data streams. It supports comma-separated values such as
open,hidden. -
explain
boolean If
true, the request returns detailed information about score computation as part of a hit. -
ignore_throttled
boolean Deprecated If
true, concrete, expanded or aliased indices will be ignored when frozen. -
include_named_queries_score
boolean If
true, the response includes the score contribution from any named queries.This functionality reruns each named query on every hit in a search response. Typically, this adds a small overhead to a request. However, using computationally expensive named queries on a large number of hits may add significant overhead.
-
lenient
boolean If
true, format-based query failures (such as providing text to a numeric field) in the query string will be ignored. This parameter can be used only when theqquery string parameter is specified. -
The number of concurrent shard requests per node that the search runs concurrently. This value should be used to limit the impact of the search on the cluster in order to limit the number of concurrent shard requests.
-
preference
string The nodes and shards used for the search. By default, Elasticsearch selects from eligible nodes and shards using adaptive replica selection, accounting for allocation awareness. Valid values are:
_only_localto run the search only on shards on the local node._localto, if possible, run the search on shards on the local node, or if not, select shards using the default method._only_nodes:<node-id>,<node-id>to run the search on only the specified nodes IDs. If suitable shards exist on more than one selected node, use shards on those nodes using the default method. If none of the specified nodes are available, select shards from any available node using the default method._prefer_nodes:<node-id>,<node-id>to if possible, run the search on the specified nodes IDs. If not, select shards using the default method._shards:<shard>,<shard>to run the search only on the specified shards. You can combine this value with otherpreferencevalues. However, the_shardsvalue must come first. For example:_shards:2,3|_local.<custom-string>(any string that does not start with_) to route searches with the same<custom-string>to the same shards in the same order.
-
pre_filter_shard_size
number A threshold that enforces a pre-filter roundtrip to prefilter search shards based on query rewriting if the number of shards the search request expands to exceeds the threshold. This filter roundtrip can limit the number of shards significantly if for instance a shard can not match any documents based on its rewrite method (if date filters are mandatory to match but the shard bounds and the query are disjoint). When unspecified, the pre-filter phase is executed if any of these conditions is met:
- The request targets more than 128 shards.
- The request targets one or more read-only index.
- The primary sort of the query targets an indexed field.
-
request_cache
boolean If
true, the caching of search results is enabled for requests wheresizeis0. It defaults to index level settings. -
routing
string A custom value that is used to route operations to a specific shard.
-
scroll
string The period to retain the search context for scrolling. By default, this value cannot exceed
1d(24 hours). You can change this limit by using thesearch.max_keep_alivecluster-level setting. -
search_type
string Indicates how distributed term frequencies are calculated for relevance scoring.
Values are
query_then_fetchordfs_query_then_fetch. -
stats
array[string] Specific
tagof the request for logging and statistical purposes. -
stored_fields
string | array[string] A comma-separated list of stored fields to return as part of a hit. If no fields are specified, no stored fields are included in the response. If this field is specified, the
_sourceparameter defaults tofalse. You can pass_source: trueto return both source fields and stored fields in the search response. -
suggest_field
string The field to use for suggestions.
-
suggest_mode
string The suggest mode. This parameter can be used only when the
suggest_fieldandsuggest_textquery string parameters are specified.Values are
missing,popular, oralways. -
suggest_size
number The number of suggestions to return. This parameter can be used only when the
suggest_fieldandsuggest_textquery string parameters are specified. -
suggest_text
string The source text for which the suggestions should be returned. This parameter can be used only when the
suggest_fieldandsuggest_textquery string parameters are specified. -
terminate_after
number The maximum number of documents to collect for each shard. If a query reaches this limit, Elasticsearch terminates the query early. Elasticsearch collects documents before sorting.
IMPORTANT: Use with caution. Elasticsearch applies this parameter to each shard handling the request. When possible, let Elasticsearch perform early termination automatically. Avoid specifying this parameter for requests that target data streams with backing indices across multiple data tiers. If set to
0(default), the query does not terminate early. -
timeout
string The period of time to wait for a response from each shard. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error. It defaults to no timeout.
-
track_total_hits
boolean | number The number of hits matching the query to count accurately. If
true, the exact number of hits is returned at the cost of some performance. Iffalse, the response does not include the total number of hits matching the query. -
track_scores
boolean If
true, the request calculates and returns document scores, even if the scores are not used for sorting. -
typed_keys
boolean If
true, aggregation and suggester names are be prefixed by their respective types in the response. -
rest_total_hits_as_int
boolean Indicates whether
hits.totalshould be rendered as an integer or an object in the rest search response. -
version
boolean If
true, the request returns the document version as part of a hit. -
_source
boolean | string | array[string] The source fields that are returned for matching documents. These fields are returned in the
hits._sourceproperty of the search response. Valid values are:trueto return the entire document source.falseto not return the document source.<string>to return the source fields that are specified as a comma-separated list that supports wildcard (*) patterns.
-
_source_excludes
string | array[string] A comma-separated list of source fields to exclude from the response. You can also use this parameter to exclude fields from the subset specified in
_source_includesquery parameter. If the_sourceparameter isfalse, this parameter is ignored. -
_source_includes
string | array[string] A comma-separated list of source fields to include in the response. If this parameter is specified, only these source fields are returned. You can exclude fields from this subset using the
_source_excludesquery parameter. If the_sourceparameter isfalse, this parameter is ignored. -
seq_no_primary_term
boolean If
true, the request returns the sequence number and primary term of the last modification of each hit. -
q
string A query in the Lucene query string syntax. Query parameter searches do not support the full Elasticsearch Query DSL but are handy for testing.
IMPORTANT: This parameter overrides the query parameter in the request body. If both parameters are specified, documents matching the query request body parameter are not returned.
-
size
number The number of hits to return. By default, you cannot page through more than 10,000 hits using the
fromandsizeparameters. To page through more hits, use thesearch_afterparameter. -
from
number The starting document offset, which must be non-negative. By default, you cannot page through more than 10,000 hits using the
fromandsizeparameters. To page through more hits, use thesearch_afterparameter. -
sort
string | array[string] A comma-separated list of
<field>:<direction>pairs. -
force_synthetic_source
boolean Should this request force synthetic _source? Use this to test if the mapping supports synthetic _source and to get a sense of the worst case performance. Fetches with this enabled will be slower the enabling synthetic source natively in the index.
Body
-
aggregations
object Defines the aggregations that are run as part of the search request.
External documentation -
collapse
object -
explain
boolean If
true, the request returns detailed information about score computation as part of a hit. -
ext
object Configuration of search extensions defined by Elasticsearch plugins.
-
from
number The starting document offset, which must be non-negative. By default, you cannot page through more than 10,000 hits using the
fromandsizeparameters. To page through more hits, use thesearch_afterparameter. -
highlight
object -
track_total_hits
boolean | number Number of hits matching the query to count accurately. If true, the exact number of hits is returned at the cost of some performance. If false, the response does not include the total number of hits matching the query. Defaults to 10,000 hits.
-
indices_boost
array[object] Boost the
_scoreof documents from specified indices. The boost value is the factor by which scores are multiplied. A boost value greater than1.0increases the score. A boost value between0and1.0decreases the score.External documentation -
docvalue_fields
array[object] An array of wildcard (
*) field patterns. The request returns doc values for field names matching these patterns in thehits.fieldsproperty of the response.External documentation knn
object | array[object] The approximate kNN search to run.
-
rank
object -
min_score
number The minimum
_scorefor matching documents. Documents with a lower_scoreare not included in search results and results collected by aggregations. -
post_filter
object An Elasticsearch Query DSL (Domain Specific Language) object that defines a query.
External documentation -
profile
boolean Set to
trueto return detailed timing information about the execution of individual components in a search request. NOTE: This is a debugging tool and adds significant overhead to search execution. -
query
object An Elasticsearch Query DSL (Domain Specific Language) object that defines a query.
External documentation rescore
object | array[object] Can be used to improve precision by reordering just the top (for example 100 - 500) documents returned by the
queryandpost_filterphases.-
retriever
object -
script_fields
object Retrieve a script evaluation (based on different fields) for each hit.
-
search_after
array[number | string | boolean | null] A field value.
-
size
number The number of hits to return, which must not be negative. By default, you cannot page through more than 10,000 hits using the
fromandsizeparameters. To page through more hits, use thesearch_afterproperty. -
slice
object _source
boolean | object Defines how to fetch a source. Fetching can be disabled entirely, or the source can be filtered.
-
fields
array[object] An array of wildcard (
*) field patterns. The request returns values for field names matching these patterns in thehits.fieldsproperty of the response. -
suggest
object -
terminate_after
number The maximum number of documents to collect for each shard. If a query reaches this limit, Elasticsearch terminates the query early. Elasticsearch collects documents before sorting.
IMPORTANT: Use with caution. Elasticsearch applies this property to each shard handling the request. When possible, let Elasticsearch perform early termination automatically. Avoid specifying this property for requests that target data streams with backing indices across multiple data tiers.
If set to
0(default), the query does not terminate early. -
timeout
string The period of time to wait for a response from each shard. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error. Defaults to no timeout.
-
track_scores
boolean If
true, calculate and return document scores, even if the scores are not used for sorting. -
version
boolean If
true, the request returns the document version as part of a hit. -
seq_no_primary_term
boolean If
true, the request returns sequence number and primary term of the last modification of each hit.External documentation -
stored_fields
string | array[string] -
pit
object -
runtime_mappings
object -
stats
array[string] The stats groups to associate with the search. Each group maintains a statistics aggregation for its associated searches. You can retrieve these stats using the indices stats API.
curl \
--request GET 'http://api.example.com/{index}/_search' \
--header "Authorization: $API_KEY" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data '"{\n \"query\": {\n \"term\": {\n \"user.id\": \"kimchy\"\n }\n }\n}"'{
"query": {
"term": {
"user.id": "kimchy"
}
}
}{
"size": 100,
"query": {
"match" : {
"title" : "elasticsearch"
}
},
"pit": {
"id": "46ToAwMDaWR5BXV1aWQyKwZub2RlXzMAAAAAAAAAACoBYwADaWR4BXV1aWQxAgZub2RlXzEAAAAAAAAAAAEBYQADaWR5BXV1aWQyKgZub2RlXzIAAAAAAAAAAAwBYgACBXV1aWQyAAAFdXVpZDEAAQltYXRjaF9hbGw_gAAAAA==",
"keep_alive": "1m"
}
}{
"slice": {
"id": 0,
"max": 2
},
"query": {
"match": {
"message": "foo"
}
},
"pit": {
"id": "46ToAwMDaWR5BXV1aWQyKwZub2RlXzMAAAAAAAAAACoBYwADaWR4BXV1aWQxAgZub2RlXzEAAAAAAAAAAAEBYQADaWR5BXV1aWQyKgZub2RlXzIAAAAAAAAAAAwBYgACBXV1aWQyAAAFdXVpZDEAAQltYXRjaF9hbGw_gAAAAA=="
}
}{
"took": 5,
"timed_out": false,
"_shards": {
"total": 1,
"successful": 1,
"skipped": 0,
"failed": 0
},
"hits": {
"total": {
"value": 20,
"relation": "eq"
},
"max_score": 1.3862942,
"hits": [
{
"_index": "my-index-000001",
"_id": "0",
"_score": 1.3862942,
"_source": {
"@timestamp": "2099-11-15T14:12:12",
"http": {
"request": {
"method": "get"
},
"response": {
"status_code": 200,
"bytes": 1070000
},
"version": "1.1"
},
"source": {
"ip": "127.0.0.1"
},
"message": "GET /search HTTP/1.1 200 1070000",
"user": {
"id": "kimchy"
}
}
}
]
}
}