ES|QL REST API
editES|QL REST API
editOverview
editThe ES|QL query API accepts an ES|QL query string in the
query
parameter, runs it, and returns the results. For example:
POST /_query?format=txt { "query": "FROM library | KEEP author, name, page_count, release_date | SORT page_count DESC | LIMIT 5" }
Which returns:
author | name | page_count | release_date -----------------+--------------------+---------------+------------------------ Peter F. Hamilton|Pandora's Star |768 |2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z Vernor Vinge |A Fire Upon the Deep|613 |1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Frank Herbert |Dune |604 |1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Alastair Reynolds|Revelation Space |585 |2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z James S.A. Corey |Leviathan Wakes |561 |2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
Kibana Console
editIf you are using Kibana Console (which is
highly recommended), take advantage of the triple quotes """
when creating the
query. This not only automatically escapes double quotes ("
) inside the query
string but also supports multi-line requests:
POST /_query?format=txt { "query": """ FROM library | KEEP author, name, page_count, release_date | SORT page_count DESC | LIMIT 5 """ }
Response formats
editES|QL can return the data in the following human readable and binary formats.
You can set the format by specifying the format
parameter in the URL or by
setting the Accept
or Content-Type
HTTP header.
The URL parameter takes precedence over the HTTP headers. If neither is specified then the response is returned in the same format as the request.
|
HTTP header |
Description |
Human readable |
||
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|
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) human-readable format |
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|
|
CLI-like representation |
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YAML (YAML Ain’t Markup Language) human-readable format |
Binary |
||
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Smile binary data format similar to CBOR |
The csv
format accepts a formatting URL query attribute, delimiter
, which
indicates which character should be used to separate the CSV values. It defaults
to comma (,
) and cannot take any of the following values: double quote ("
),
carriage-return (\r
) and new-line (\n
). The tab (\t
) can also not be used.
Use the tsv
format instead.
Filtering using Elasticsearch Query DSL
editSpecify a Query DSL query in the filter
parameter to filter the set of
documents that an ES|QL query runs on.
POST /_query?format=txt { "query": """ FROM library | KEEP author, name, page_count, release_date | SORT page_count DESC | LIMIT 5 """, "filter": { "range": { "page_count": { "gte": 100, "lte": 200 } } } }
Which returns:
author | name | page_count | release_date ---------------+------------------------------------+---------------+------------------------ Douglas Adams |The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|180 |1979-10-12T00:00:00.000Z
Columnar results
editBy default, ES|QL returns results as rows. For example, FROM
returns each
individual document as one row. For the json
, yaml
, cbor
and smile
formats, ES|QL can return the results in a columnar
fashion where one row represents all the values of a certain column in the
results.
POST /_query?format=json { "query": """ FROM library | KEEP author, name, page_count, release_date | SORT page_count DESC | LIMIT 5 """, "columnar": true }
Which returns:
{ "columns": [ {"name": "author", "type": "text"}, {"name": "name", "type": "text"}, {"name": "page_count", "type": "integer"}, {"name": "release_date", "type": "date"} ], "values": [ ["Peter F. Hamilton", "Vernor Vinge", "Frank Herbert", "Alastair Reynolds", "James S.A. Corey"], ["Pandora's Star", "A Fire Upon the Deep", "Dune", "Revelation Space", "Leviathan Wakes"], [768, 613, 604, 585, 561], ["2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z", "1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z", "1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z", "2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z", "2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z"] ] }
Returning localized results
editUse the locale
parameter in the request body to return results (especially dates) formatted per the conventions of the locale.
If locale
is not specified, defaults to en-US
(English).
Refer to JDK Supported Locales.
Syntax: the locale
parameter accepts language tags in the (case-insensitive) format xy
and xy-XY
.
For example, to return a month name in French:
POST /_query { "locale": "fr-FR", "query": """ ROW birth_date_string = "2023-01-15T00:00:00.000Z" | EVAL birth_date = date_parse(birth_date_string) | EVAL month_of_birth = DATE_FORMAT("MMMM",birth_date) | LIMIT 5 """ }
Passing parameters to a query
editValues, for example for a condition, can be passed to a query "inline", by integrating the value in the query string itself:
POST /_query { "query": """ FROM library | EVAL year = DATE_EXTRACT("year", release_date) | WHERE page_count > 300 AND author == "Frank Herbert" | STATS count = COUNT(*) by year | WHERE count > 0 | LIMIT 5 """ }
To avoid any attempts of hacking or code injection, extract the values in a
separate list of parameters. Use question mark placeholders (?
) in the query
string for each of the parameters:
POST /_query { "query": """ FROM library | EVAL year = DATE_EXTRACT("year", release_date) | WHERE page_count > ? AND author == ? | STATS count = COUNT(*) by year | WHERE count > ? | LIMIT 5 """, "params": [300, "Frank Herbert", 0] }
Running an async ES|QL query
editThe ES|QL async query API lets you asynchronously execute a query request, monitor its progress, and retrieve results when they become available.
Executing an ES|QL query is commonly quite fast, however queries across large data sets or frozen data can take some time. To avoid long waits, run an async ES|QL query.
Queries initiated by the async query API may return results or not. The
wait_for_completion_timeout
property determines how long to wait for
the results. If the results are not available by this time, a
query id is returned which
can be later used to retrieve the results. For example:
POST /_query/async { "query": """ FROM library | EVAL year = DATE_TRUNC(1 YEARS, release_date) | STATS MAX(page_count) BY year | SORT year | LIMIT 5 """, "wait_for_completion_timeout": "2s" }
If the results are not available within the given timeout period, 2 seconds in this case, no results are returned but rather a response that includes:
- A query ID
-
An
is_running
value of true, indicating the query is ongoing
The query continues to run in the background without blocking other requests.
{ "id": "FmNJRUZ1YWZCU3dHY1BIOUhaenVSRkEaaXFlZ3h4c1RTWFNocDdnY2FSaERnUTozNDE=", "is_running": true }
To check the progress of an async query, use the ES|QL async query get API with the query ID. Specify how long you’d like
to wait for complete results in the wait_for_completion_timeout
parameter.
GET /_query/async/FmNJRUZ1YWZCU3dHY1BIOUhaenVSRkEaaXFlZ3h4c1RTWFNocDdnY2FSaERnUTozNDE=?wait_for_completion_timeout=30s
If the response’s is_running
value is false
, the query has finished
and the results are returned.
{ "is_running": false, "columns": ... }
Use the ES|QL async query delete API to
delete an async query before the keep_alive
period ends. If the query
is still running, Elasticsearch cancels it.
DELETE /_query/async/FmdMX2pIang3UWhLRU5QS0lqdlppYncaMUpYQ05oSkpTc3kwZ21EdC1tbFJXQToxOTI=