Create or update a legacy index template | Elasticsearch API documentation

Create or update a legacy index template Deprecated

POST /_template/{name}

Index templates define settings, mappings, and aliases that can be applied automatically to new indices. Elasticsearch applies templates to new indices based on an index pattern that matches the index name.

IMPORTANT: This documentation is about legacy index templates, which are deprecated and will be replaced by the composable templates introduced in Elasticsearch 7.8.

Composable templates always take precedence over legacy templates. If no composable template matches a new index, matching legacy templates are applied according to their order.

Index templates are only applied during index creation. Changes to index templates do not affect existing indices. Settings and mappings specified in create index API requests override any settings or mappings specified in an index template.

You can use C-style /* *\/ block comments in index templates. You can include comments anywhere in the request body, except before the opening curly bracket.

Indices matching multiple templates

Multiple index templates can potentially match an index, in this case, both the settings and mappings are merged into the final configuration of the index. The order of the merging can be controlled using the order parameter, with lower order being applied first, and higher orders overriding them. NOTE: Multiple matching templates with the same order value will result in a non-deterministic merging order.

External documentation

Path parameters

name string Required

The name of the template

Query parameters

create boolean

If true, this request cannot replace or update existing index templates.
master_timeout string

Period to wait for a connection to the master node. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error.

Values are -1 or 0.
order number

Order in which Elasticsearch applies this template if index matches multiple templates.

Templates with lower 'order' values are merged first. Templates with higher 'order' values are merged later, overriding templates with lower values.
cause string

User defined reason for creating/updating the index template

application/json

Body Required

aliases object

Aliases for the index.
Hide aliases attribute Show aliases attribute object
- * object Additional properties
  Hide * attributes Show * attributes object
  
  filter object
  
  An Elasticsearch Query DSL (Domain Specific Language) object that defines a query.
  
  External documentation
  
  index_routing string
  
  is_hidden boolean
  
  If true, the alias is hidden. All indices for the alias must have the same is_hidden value.
  
  is_write_index boolean
  
  If true, the index is the write index for the alias.
  
  routing string
  
  search_routing string
index_patterns string | array[string]

Array of wildcard expressions used to match the names of indices during creation.

One of:
string-1 string array-2 array[string]
mappings object
Hide mappings attributes Show mappings attributes object
- all_field object
  Hide all_field attributes Show all_field attributes object
  
  analyzer string Required
  
  enabled boolean Required
  
  omit_norms boolean Required
  
  search_analyzer string Required
  
  similarity string Required
  
  store boolean Required
  
  store_term_vector_offsets boolean Required
  
  store_term_vector_payloads boolean Required
  
  store_term_vector_positions boolean Required
  
  store_term_vectors boolean Required
- date_detection boolean
- dynamic string
  
  Values are strict, runtime, true, or false.
- dynamic_date_formats array[string]
- dynamic_templates array[object]
- _field_names object
  Hide _field_names attribute Show _field_names attribute object
  
  enabled boolean Required
- index_field object
  Hide index_field attribute Show index_field attribute object
  
  enabled boolean Required
- _meta object
  Hide _meta attribute Show _meta attribute object
  
  * object Additional properties
- numeric_detection boolean
- properties object
- _routing object
  Hide _routing attribute Show _routing attribute object
  
  required boolean Required
- _size object
  Hide _size attribute Show _size attribute object
  
  enabled boolean Required
- _source object
  Hide _source attributes Show _source attributes object
  
  compress boolean
  
  compress_threshold string
  
  enabled boolean
  
  excludes array[string]
  
  includes array[string]
  
  mode string
  
  Values are disabled, stored, or synthetic.
- runtime object
  Hide runtime attribute Show runtime attribute object
  
  * object Additional properties
  
  Hide * attributes Show * attributes object
  
  fields object
  
  For type composite
  
  Hide fields attribute Show fields attribute object
  
  * object Additional properties
  
  Hide * attribute Show * attribute object
  
  type string Required
  
  Values are boolean, composite, date, double, geo_point, geo_shape, ip, keyword, long, or lookup.
  
  fetch_fields array[object]
  
  For type lookup
  
  Hide fetch_fields attributes Show fetch_fields attributes object
  
  field string Required
  
  Path to field or array of paths. Some API's support wildcards in the path to select multiple fields.
  
  format string
  
  format string
  
  A custom format for date type runtime fields.
  
  input_field string
  
  Path to field or array of paths. Some API's support wildcards in the path to select multiple fields.
  
  target_field string
  
  Path to field or array of paths. Some API's support wildcards in the path to select multiple fields.
  
  target_index string
  
  script object
  
  Hide script attributes Show script attributes object
  
  source string | object
  
  One of:
  ScriptSource string SearchRequestBody object
  
  Hide attributes Show attributes
  
  aggregations object
  
  Defines the aggregations that are run as part of the search request.
  
  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 from and size parameters. To page through more hits, use the search_after parameter.
  
  highlight
  
  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 _score of documents from specified indices. The boost value is the factor by which scores are multiplied. A boost value greater than 1.0 increases the score. A boost value between 0 and 1.0 decreases the score.
  
  docvalue_fields array[object]
  
  An array of wildcard (*) field patterns. The request returns doc values for field names matching these patterns in the hits.fields property of the response.
  
  knn
  
  rank object
  
  min_score number
  
  The minimum _score for matching documents. Documents with a lower _score are not included in search results or results collected by aggregations.
  
  post_filter object
  
  An Elasticsearch Query DSL (Domain Specific Language) object that defines a query.
  
  profile boolean
  
  Set to true to 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.
  
  rescore
  
  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 from and size parameters. To page through more hits, use the search_after property.
  
  slice object
  
  sort
  
  _source
  
  fields array[object]
  
  An array of wildcard (*) field patterns. The request returns values for field names matching these patterns in the hits.fields property 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.
  
  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.
  
  id string
  
  params object
  
  Specifies any named parameters that are passed into the script as variables. Use parameters instead of hard-coded values to decrease compile time.
  
  Hide params attribute Show params attribute object
  
  * object Additional properties
  
  lang string
  
  Any of:
  ScriptLanguage string ScriptLanguage string
  
  Values are painless, expression, mustache, or java.
  
  options object
  
  Hide options attribute Show options attribute object
  
  * string Additional properties
  
  type string Required
  
  Values are boolean, composite, date, double, geo_point, geo_shape, ip, keyword, long, or lookup.
- enabled boolean
- subobjects string
  
  Values are true or false.
- _data_stream_timestamp object
  Hide _data_stream_timestamp attribute Show _data_stream_timestamp attribute object
  
  enabled boolean Required
order number

Order in which Elasticsearch applies this template if index matches multiple templates.

Templates with lower 'order' values are merged first. Templates with higher 'order' values are merged later, overriding templates with lower values.
settings object
Index settings
version number

Responses

200 application/json
Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
- acknowledged boolean Required
  
  For a successful response, this value is always true. On failure, an exception is returned instead.

POST /_template/{name}

curl \
 --request POST 'http://api.example.com/_template/{name}' \
 --header "Authorization: $API_KEY" \
 --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
 --data '"{\n  \"index_patterns\": [\n    \"te*\",\n    \"bar*\"\n  ],\n  \"settings\": {\n    \"number_of_shards\": 1\n  },\n  \"mappings\": {\n    \"_source\": {\n      \"enabled\": false\n    }\n  },\n  \"properties\": {\n    \"host_name\": {\n      \"type\": \"keyword\"\n    },\n    \"created_at\": {\n      \"type\": \"date\",\n      \"format\": \"EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy\"\n    }\n  }\n}"'

Request examples

{
  "index_patterns": [
    "te*",
    "bar*"
  ],
  "settings": {
    "number_of_shards": 1
  },
  "mappings": {
    "_source": {
      "enabled": false
    }
  },
  "properties": {
    "host_name": {
      "type": "keyword"
    },
    "created_at": {
      "type": "date",
      "format": "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy"
    }
  }
}

You can include index aliases in an index template. During index creation, the `{index}` placeholder in the alias name will be replaced with the actual index name that the template gets applied to.

{
  "index_patterns": [
    "te*"
  ],
  "settings": {
    "number_of_shards": 1
  },
  "aliases": {
    "alias1": {},
    "alias2": {
      "filter": {
        "term": {
          "user.id": "kimchy"
        }
      },
      "routing": "shard-1"
    },
    "{index}-alias": {}
  }
}

Create or update a legacy index template Deprecated

Path parameters

Query parameters

Body Required

index_patterns string | array[string]

source string | object

lang string

Responses