Elasticsearch

Connect to Elasticsearch with a Query DSL console, index browsing, and document editing

Two things share this connection. A grid browses and edits documents by _id, and a console that takes a method, a path and an optional JSON body the way Kibana Dev Tools does. There is no SQL behind either. Elasticsearch 7.x and 8.x are supported, over the REST API.

The driver is not in the app. Picking in the Choose a Database sheet offers the download before the form opens, and opening a saved connection installs it without asking. Settings > Plugins > Browse > installs it up front. See Plugins.

Quick setup

Click Create Connection…, select Elasticsearch, enter host and port, pick an Auth Method, then click Save & Connect.

The form shows no Database field: a connection reaches one cluster, and its indices are the objects.

Connection settings

Field	Description
Host	Cluster host, localhost for a local node
Port	REST port, 9200 by default
Auth Method	Username & Password, API Key, or None
API Key	Base64-encoded key. Shown when Auth Method is API Key
Skip TLS Verification	Advanced section. Trusts any certificate, even under Verify CA or Verify Identity

Authentication

Auth Method	What is sent
Username & Password	HTTP Basic, from the standard credential fields
API Key	An Authorization: ApiKey header carrying the field verbatim. Paste the encoded value the create API key request returns, or your own base64 of id:api_key
None	Nothing. For a cluster with security off

8.x ships with security and TLS on, so None is a 7.x or dev-cluster setting.

Browsing indices

The sidebar lists indices as tables, hiding names that begin with ..

Columns come from the index mapping. object and nested fields flatten to dotted paths such as address.city, and array and object values render as JSON in the cell. Every document also carries _id, _index and _score; _id is the primary key and all three are read-only.

Column filters translate to term, range, wildcard, terms and exists. The Raw SQL filter column is the exception: its text goes over as a query_string, so write Lucene there, name:Widget or price:>10, matched across all fields. Sorting a text field targets its .keyword subfield when the mapping has one.

Grid edits become REST calls keyed by _id: POST /index/_update/{id}, PUT /index/_doc/{id} and DELETE /index/_doc/{id}.

Query DSL console

Query DSL console with a search result grid

GET /my-index/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": { "title": "search term" }
  }
}

Search responses render as a grid, GET /_cat/indices?format=json and other array responses tabularize, and anything else is shown as formatted JSON.

SSL/TLS

New connections start on Disabled, plain HTTP with no fallback to anything else. Every other mode goes over HTTPS: Preferred and Required (skip verify) accept a self-signed certificate, Verify CA and Verify Identity check it. See SSL/TLS.

Limitations

• The SQL endpoint (_sql) is not reachable. Use the console.
• The sidebar lists concrete indices only, and hides every name beginning with .. Aliases and data streams do not appear; address them by name in the console.
• Sorting on _id, or on a text field with no .keyword subfield, does nothing: the column is dropped from the sort and the rows keep the order they had. Add the subfield, or sort a keyword field.
• Paging past 10,000 documents switches to search_after over a point-in-time. That threshold is fixed, so an index with a lowered max_result_window errors before the switch; raise the index setting back to 10,000.
• An array or object cell is cut at 10,000 characters and ends in .... Saving an edit to a cut cell stores the fragment; change long values in the console.
• No mapping or schema editing, no transactions, no import, no SSH tunnel.
• OpenSearch is not supported.

Troubleshooting

Authentication failed: …

The username and password, or the API key, were rejected. On 8.x check the connection is on HTTPS at all: security is on by default there.

Connection failed: …

A TLS or network failure. For a self-signed certificate set SSL Mode to Required (skip verify), or turn on Skip TLS Verification.

Related

• Import & Export
• Filtering