Run API requests with Console

Console is an interactive UI for sending requests to Elasticsearch APIs and Kibana APIs and viewing their responses.

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To go to Console, find Dev Tools in the navigation menu or use the global search bar.

You can also find Console directly on certain Search solution and Elasticsearch serverless project pages, where you can expand it from the footer. This Console, called Persistent Console, has the same capabilities and shares the same history as the Console in Dev Tools.

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Console accepts commands in a simplified HTTP request syntax. For example, the following GET request calls the Elasticsearch _search API:

GET /_search
{
  "query": {
    "match_all": {}
  }
}
		

Here is the equivalent command in cURL:

curl -XGET "http://localhost:9200/_search" -d'
{
  "query": {
    "match_all": {}
  }
}'
		

Prepend requests to a Kibana API endpoint with kbn:

GET kbn:/api/index_management/indices
		

When you’re typing a command, Console makes context-sensitive suggestions. These suggestions show you the parameters for each API and speed up your typing.

You can configure your preferences for autocomplete in the Console settings.

You can write comments or temporarily disable parts of a request by using double forward slashes or pound signs to create single-line comments.

# This request searches all of your indices.
GET /_search
{
  // The query parameter indicates query context.
  "query": {
    "match_all": {}
  }
}
		

1. Matches all documents.

You can also use a forward slash followed by an asterisk to mark the beginning of multi-line comments. An asterisk followed by a forward slash marks the end.

GET /_search
{
  "query": {
    /*"match_all": {
      "boost": 1.2
    }*/
    "match_none": {}
  }
}
		

Click Variables to create, edit, and delete variables.

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You can refer to these variables in the paths and bodies of your requests. Each variable can be referenced multiple times.

GET ${pathVariable}
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "${bodyNameVariable}": "${bodyValueVariable}"
    }
  }
}
		

By default, variables in the body may be substituted as a boolean, number, array, or object by removing nearby quotes instead of a string with surrounding quotes. Triple quotes overwrite this default behavior and enforce simple replacement as a string.

GET /locations/_search
{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": {
        "match": {
          // ${shopName} shall be replaced as a string if the variable exists.
          "shop.name": """${shopName}"""
        }
      },
      "filter": {
        "geo_distance": {
          "distance": "12km",
          // "${pinLocation}" may be substituted with an array such as [-70, 40].
          "pin.location": "${pinLocation}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
		

You can also embed ${variableName} inside a longer string value in the request body. The token is substituted in place, so "frozen_${indexName}" becomes "frozen_logs" when indexName is set to logs. Variables with an empty string value are substituted as "".

				PUT _index_template/${indexName}-template
					{
  "index_patterns": ["${indexName}-*"],
  "template": {
    "aliases": {
      "frozen_${indexName}": {}
    }
  }
}
		

The auto-formatting capability can help you format requests to be more readable. Select one or more requests that you want to format, open the contextual menu, and then select Auto indent.

Go to line number

Ctrl/Cmd + L

Auto-indent current request

Ctrl/Cmd + I

Jump to next request end

Ctrl/Cmd + ↓

Jump to previous request end

Ctrl/Cmd + ↑

Open documentation for current request

Ctrl/Cmd + /

Run current request

Ctrl/Cmd + Enter

Apply current or topmost term in autocomplete menu

Enter or Tab

Close autocomplete menu

Esc

Navigate items in autocomplete menu

↓ + ↑

To view the documentation for an API endpoint, select the request, then open the contextual menu and select Open API reference.

When you’re ready to run a request, select the request, and click the play button.

The result of the request execution is displayed in the response panel, where you can see:

• the JSON response
• the HTTP status code corresponding to the request
• The execution time, in ms.

A single successful response is required to use response filtering. To filter or transform a response:

1. Run one request, then select Filter response in the response panel.
2. Select a filter mode:
   • JQ expression: Extract or transform values in a JSON response.
   • Regular expression: Match the response line by line. Select Include to keep matching lines or Exclude to remove them.
3. Enter an expression, then select Apply.

The response panel shows the filtered output. Clear the expression to restore the complete response.

JQ expressions work only with JSON responses. Console supports these JQ operations:

• Field and array access: .field, .["field-name"], .items[0], .items[-1], and .items[1:3]
• Iteration and traversal: .items[] for array elements, .[] for array elements or object values, optional access such as .field?, and recursive descent with ..
• Pipelines and filtering: | and select(...)
• Comparisons and logic: ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=, and, or, and not
• Value inspection and reshaping: keys, to_entries, from_entries, [expression], and {key: expression}
• String operations: trim, ltrim, rtrim, startswith("..."), endswith("..."), ltrimstr("..."), rtrimstr("..."), and split("...")
• Array joining: join("...")

For example:

• Return the first search result: .hits.hits[0]
• Return the _source object from every search result: .hits.hits[] | ._source
• Return the _source objects for search results whose status field is active: .hits.hits[] | select(._source.status == "active") | ._source
• Return the mappings for every index in a get mapping response: .[].mappings
• List the top-level response fields: keys

Select Filter expression help for more examples in Console.

Console treats the expression as a JavaScript regular expression pattern and applies it to each response line independently. Enter the pattern without / delimiters or flags. For example:

• Match lines that contain green or yellow: green|yellow
• Match lines where count is the first JSON field after indentation: ^\s*"count"

Because regular expressions filter the rendered response line by line, the filtered output might be a fragment rather than valid JSON.

You can export requests:

• to a TXT file, by using the Export requests button. When using this method, all content of the input panel is copied, including comments, requests, and payloads. All of the formatting is preserved and allows you to re-import the file later, or to a different environment, using the Import requests button.

  Tip

  When importing a TXT file containing Console requests, the current content of the input panel is replaced. Export it first if you don’t want to lose it, or find it in the History tab if you already ran the requests.

• by copying them individually as curl, JavaScript, or Python. To do this, select a request, then open the contextual menu and select Copy as. When using this action, requests are copied individually to your clipboard. You can save your favorite language to make the copy action faster the next time you use it.

  When running copied requests from an external environment, you’ll need to add authentication information to the request.

Console maintains a list of the last 500 requests that you tried to execute. To view them, open the History tab.

You can run a request from your history again by selecting the request and clicking Add and run. If you want to add it back to the Console input panel without running it yet, click Add instead. It is added to the editor at the current cursor position.

Go to the Config tab of Console to customize its display, autocomplete, and accessibility settings.

If you don’t want to use Console, you can disable it by setting console.ui.enabled to false in your kibana.yml configuration file. Changing this setting causes the server to regenerate assets on the next startup, which might cause a delay before pages start being served.

You can also choose to only disable the persistent console that shows in the footer of several Kibana pages. To do that, go to Stack Management > Advanced Settings, and turn off the devTools:enablePersistentConsole setting.