Allow partial results by default in ES|QL

docs/changelog/125060.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+pr: 125060
+summary: Allow partial results by default in ES|QL
+area: ES|QL
+type: breaking
+issues: [122802]
+
+breaking:
+  title: Allow partial results by default in ES|QL
+  area: ES|QL
+  details: >-
+    In earlier versions of {es}, ES|QL would fail the entire query if it encountered any error. ES|QL now returns partial results instead of failing when encountering errors.
+
+  impact: >-
+    Callers should check the `is_partial` flag returned in the response to determine if the result is partial or complete. If returning partial results is not desired, this option can be overridden per request via an `allow_partial_results` parameter in the query URL or globally via the cluster setting `esql.query.allow_partial_results`.
+
+  notable: true

docs/release-notes/breaking-changes.md

@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ To learn how to upgrade, check out <uprade docs>.
 
 % ## Next version [elasticsearch-nextversion-breaking-changes]
 
+## 9.1.0 [elasticsearch-910-breaking-changes]
+
+ES|QL
+:   * Allow partial results by default in ES|QL [#125060](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/125060)
+
 ## 9.0.0 [elasticsearch-900-breaking-changes]
 
 Allocation

test/external-modules/esql-heap-attack/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/heap_attack/Clusters.java

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ static ElasticsearchCluster buildCluster() {
             .module("test-esql-heap-attack")
             .setting("xpack.security.enabled", "false")
             .setting("xpack.license.self_generated.type", "trial")
+            .setting("esql.query.allow_partial_results", "false")
             .jvmArg("-Xmx512m");
         String javaVersion = JvmInfo.jvmInfo().version();
         if (javaVersion.equals("20") || javaVersion.equals("21")) {

x-pack/plugin/build.gradle

@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ tasks.named("yamlRestCompatTestTransform").configure({ task ->
   task.skipTest("ml/post_data/Test POST data job api, flush, close and verify DataCounts doc", "Flush API is deprecated")
   task.replaceValueInMatch("Size", 49, "Test flamegraph from profiling-events")
   task.replaceValueInMatch("Size", 49, "Test flamegraph from test-events")
+  task.skipTest("esql/63_enrich_int_range/Invalid age as double", "TODO: require disable allow_partial_results")
 })
 
 tasks.named('yamlRestCompatTest').configure {

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/security/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/EsqlSecurityIT.java

@@ -312,7 +312,10 @@ public void testIndexPatternErrorMessageComparison_ESQL_SearchDSL() throws Excep
         searchRequest.setOptions(RequestOptions.DEFAULT.toBuilder().addHeader("es-security-runas-user", "metadata1_read2"));
 
         // ES|QL query on the same index pattern
-        var esqlResp = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2"));
+        var esqlResp = expectThrows(
+            ResponseException.class,
+            () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2", false)
+        );
         var srchResp = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> client().performRequest(searchRequest));
 
         for (ResponseException r : List.of(esqlResp, srchResp)) {
@@ -331,7 +334,8 @@ public void testLimitedPrivilege() throws Exception {
             ResponseException.class,
             () -> runESQLCommand(
                 "metadata1_read2",
-                "FROM index-user1,index-user2 METADATA _index | STATS sum=sum(value), index=VALUES(_index)"
+                "FROM index-user1,index-user2 METADATA _index | STATS sum=sum(value), index=VALUES(_index)",
+                false
             )
         );
         assertThat(
@@ -344,7 +348,7 @@ public void testLimitedPrivilege() throws Exception {
 
         resp = expectThrows(
             ResponseException.class,
-            () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2 METADATA _index | STATS index=VALUES(_index)")
+            () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2 METADATA _index | STATS index=VALUES(_index)", false)
         );
         assertThat(
             EntityUtils.toString(resp.getResponse().getEntity()),
@@ -356,7 +360,7 @@ public void testLimitedPrivilege() throws Exception {
 
         resp = expectThrows(
             ResponseException.class,
-            () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2 | STATS sum=sum(value)")
+            () -> runESQLCommand("metadata1_read2", "FROM index-user1,index-user2 | STATS sum=sum(value)", false)
         );
         assertThat(
             EntityUtils.toString(resp.getResponse().getEntity()),
@@ -368,7 +372,7 @@ public void testLimitedPrivilege() throws Exception {
 
         resp = expectThrows(
             ResponseException.class,
-            () -> runESQLCommand("alias_user1", "FROM first-alias,index-user1 METADATA _index | KEEP _index, org, value | LIMIT 10")
+            () -> runESQLCommand("alias_user1", "FROM first-alias,index-user1 METADATA _index | KEEP _index, org, value | LIMIT 10", false)
         );
         assertThat(
             EntityUtils.toString(resp.getResponse().getEntity()),
@@ -382,7 +386,8 @@ public void testLimitedPrivilege() throws Exception {
             ResponseException.class,
             () -> runESQLCommand(
                 "alias_user2",
-                "from second-alias,index-user2 METADATA _index | stats sum=sum(value), index=VALUES(_index)"
+                "from second-alias,index-user2 METADATA _index | stats sum=sum(value), index=VALUES(_index)",
+                false
             )
         );
         assertThat(
@@ -826,6 +831,10 @@ public void testDataStream() throws IOException {
     }
 
     protected Response runESQLCommand(String user, String command) throws IOException {
+        return runESQLCommand(user, command, null);
+    }
+
+    protected Response runESQLCommand(String user, String command, Boolean allowPartialResults) throws IOException {
         if (command.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).contains("limit") == false) {
             // add a (high) limit to avoid warnings on default limit
             command += " | limit 10000000";
@@ -839,6 +848,9 @@ protected Response runESQLCommand(String user, String command) throws IOExceptio
         request.setJsonEntity(Strings.toString(json));
         request.setOptions(RequestOptions.DEFAULT.toBuilder().addHeader("es-security-runas-user", user));
         request.addParameter("error_trace", "true");
+        if (allowPartialResults != null) {
+            request.addParameter("allow_partial_results", Boolean.toString(allowPartialResults));
+        }
         return client().performRequest(request);
     }
 

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/multi-clusters/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/ccq/EsqlRestValidationIT.java

@@ -83,6 +83,6 @@ private RestClient remoteClusterClient() throws IOException {
 
     @Before
     public void skipTestOnOldVersions() {
-        assumeTrue("skip on old versions", Clusters.localClusterVersion().equals(Version.V_8_16_0));
+        assumeTrue("skip on old versions", Clusters.localClusterVersion().equals(Version.V_8_19_0));
     }
 }

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/multi-clusters/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/ccq/RequestIndexFilteringIT.java

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import org.junit.rules.TestRule;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.MapMatcher.assertMap;
@@ -87,6 +88,12 @@ protected String from(String... indexName) {
 
     @Override
     public Map<String, Object> runEsql(RestEsqlTestCase.RequestObjectBuilder requestObject) throws IOException {
+        if (requestObject.allowPartialResults() != null) {
+            assumeTrue(
+                "require allow_partial_results on local cluster",
+                clusterHasCapability("POST", "/_query", List.of(), List.of("support_partial_results")).orElse(false)
+            );
+        }
         requestObject.includeCCSMetadata(true);
         return super.runEsql(requestObject);
     }

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/single-node/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/qa/single_node/RestEsqlIT.java

@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public void testInvalidPragma() throws IOException {
             request.setJsonEntity("{\"f\":" + i + "}");
             assertOK(client().performRequest(request));
         }
-        RequestObjectBuilder builder = requestObjectBuilder().query("from test-index | limit 1 | keep f");
+        RequestObjectBuilder builder = requestObjectBuilder().query("from test-index | limit 1 | keep f").allowPartialResults(false);
         builder.pragmas(Settings.builder().put("data_partitioning", "invalid-option").build());
         ResponseException re = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> runEsqlSync(builder));
         assertThat(EntityUtils.toString(re.getResponse().getEntity()), containsString("No enum constant"));

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/qa/rest/EsqlRestValidationTestCase.java

@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ private Request createRequest(String indexName) throws IOException {
         final var request = new Request("POST", "/_query");
         request.addParameter("error_trace", "true");
         request.addParameter("pretty", "true");
+        request.addParameter("allow_partial_results", Boolean.toString(false));
         request.setJsonEntity(
             Strings.toString(JsonXContent.contentBuilder().startObject().field("query", "from " + indexName).endObject())
         );

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/qa/rest/RequestIndexFilteringTestCase.java

@@ -198,17 +198,26 @@ public void testIndicesDontExist() throws IOException {
         int docsTest1 = 0; // we are interested only in the created index, not necessarily that it has data
         indexTimestampData(docsTest1, "test1", "2024-11-26", "id1");
 
-        ResponseException e = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo"))));
+        ResponseException e = expectThrows(
+            ResponseException.class,
+            () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo")).allowPartialResults(false))
+        );
         assertEquals(400, e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode());
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("verification_exception"));
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), anyOf(containsString("Unknown index [foo]"), containsString("Unknown index [remote_cluster:foo]")));
 
-        e = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo*"))));
+        e = expectThrows(
+            ResponseException.class,
+            () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo*")).allowPartialResults(false))
+        );
         assertEquals(400, e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode());
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("verification_exception"));
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), anyOf(containsString("Unknown index [foo*]"), containsString("Unknown index [remote_cluster:foo*]")));
 
-        e = expectThrows(ResponseException.class, () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo", "test1"))));
+        e = expectThrows(
+            ResponseException.class,
+            () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(from("foo", "test1")).allowPartialResults(false))
+        );
         assertEquals(404, e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode());
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("index_not_found_exception"));
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), anyOf(containsString("no such index [foo]"), containsString("no such index [remote_cluster:foo]")));
@@ -217,7 +226,7 @@ public void testIndicesDontExist() throws IOException {
             var pattern = from("test1");
             e = expectThrows(
                 ResponseException.class,
-                () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(pattern + " | LOOKUP JOIN foo ON id1"))
+                () -> runEsql(timestampFilter("gte", "2020-01-01").query(pattern + " | LOOKUP JOIN foo ON id1").allowPartialResults(false))
             );
             assertEquals(400, e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode());
             assertThat(

x-pack/plugin/esql/qa/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/qa/rest/RestEsqlTestCase.java

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ public static class RequestObjectBuilder {
         private Boolean includeCCSMetadata = null;
 
         private CheckedConsumer<XContentBuilder, IOException> filter;
-        private Boolean allPartialResults = null;
+        private Boolean allowPartialResults = null;
 
         public RequestObjectBuilder() throws IOException {
             this(randomFrom(XContentType.values()));
@@ -210,11 +210,15 @@ public RequestObjectBuilder filter(CheckedConsumer<XContentBuilder, IOException>
             return this;
         }
 
-        public RequestObjectBuilder allPartialResults(boolean allPartialResults) {
-            this.allPartialResults = allPartialResults;
+        public RequestObjectBuilder allowPartialResults(boolean allowPartialResults) {
+            this.allowPartialResults = allowPartialResults;
             return this;
         }
 
+        public Boolean allowPartialResults() {
+            return allowPartialResults;
+        }
+
         public RequestObjectBuilder build() throws IOException {
             if (isBuilt == false) {
                 if (tables != null) {
@@ -1369,8 +1373,8 @@ protected static Request prepareRequestWithOptions(RequestObjectBuilder requestO
         requestObject.build();
         Request request = prepareRequest(mode);
         String mediaType = attachBody(requestObject, request);
-        if (requestObject.allPartialResults != null) {
-            request.addParameter("allow_partial_results", String.valueOf(requestObject.allPartialResults));
+        if (requestObject.allowPartialResults != null) {
+            request.addParameter("allow_partial_results", String.valueOf(requestObject.allowPartialResults));
         }
 
         RequestOptions.Builder options = request.getOptions().toBuilder();

x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/AbstractCrossClusterTestCase.java

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.RemoteClusterAware;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.plugin.EsqlPlugin;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
@@ -76,6 +77,11 @@ protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins(String clusterAlias) {
         return plugins;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected Settings nodeSettings() {
+        return Settings.builder().put(super.nodeSettings()).put(EsqlPlugin.QUERY_ALLOW_PARTIAL_RESULTS.getKey(), false).build();
+    }
+
     public static class InternalExchangePlugin extends Plugin {
         @Override
         public List<Setting<?>> getSettings() {

x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/AbstractEsqlIntegTestCase.java

@@ -139,6 +139,14 @@ protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
         return CollectionUtils.appendToCopy(super.nodePlugins(), EsqlPlugin.class);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected Settings nodeSettings(int nodeOrdinal, Settings otherSettings) {
+        return Settings.builder()
+            .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal, otherSettings))
+            .put(EsqlPlugin.QUERY_ALLOW_PARTIAL_RESULTS.getKey(), false)
+            .build();
+    }
+
     protected void setRequestCircuitBreakerLimit(ByteSizeValue limit) {
         if (limit != null) {
             assertAcked(

x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/CrossClusterCancellationIT.java

@@ -14,25 +14,20 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.action.index.IndexRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.PlainActionFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.WriteRequest;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.transport.TransportAddress;
 import org.elasticsearch.compute.operator.DriverTaskRunner;
 import org.elasticsearch.compute.operator.exchange.ExchangeService;
 import org.elasticsearch.core.TimeValue;
-import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskCancelledException;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.TaskInfo;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractMultiClustersTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.EsqlTestUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.plugin.ComputeService;
-import org.junit.After;
-import org.junit.Before;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
@@ -44,7 +39,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
 
-public class CrossClusterCancellationIT extends AbstractMultiClustersTestCase {
+public class CrossClusterCancellationIT extends AbstractCrossClusterTestCase {
     private static final String REMOTE_CLUSTER = "cluster-a";
 
     @Override
@@ -53,35 +48,11 @@ protected List<String> remoteClusterAlias() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins(String clusterAlias) {
-        List<Class<? extends Plugin>> plugins = new ArrayList<>(super.nodePlugins(clusterAlias));
-        plugins.add(EsqlPluginWithEnterpriseOrTrialLicense.class);
-        plugins.add(InternalExchangePlugin.class);
-        plugins.add(SimplePauseFieldPlugin.class);
-        return plugins;
-    }
-
-    public static class InternalExchangePlugin extends Plugin {
-        @Override
-        public List<Setting<?>> getSettings() {
-            return List.of(
-                Setting.timeSetting(
-                    ExchangeService.INACTIVE_SINKS_INTERVAL_SETTING,
-                    TimeValue.timeValueMillis(between(3000, 4000)),
-                    Setting.Property.NodeScope
-                )
-            );
-        }
-    }
-
-    @Before
-    public void resetPlugin() {
-        SimplePauseFieldPlugin.resetPlugin();
-    }
-
-    @After
-    public void releasePlugin() {
-        SimplePauseFieldPlugin.release();
+    protected Settings nodeSettings() {
+        return Settings.builder()
+            .put(super.nodeSettings())
+            .put(ExchangeService.INACTIVE_SINKS_INTERVAL_SETTING, TimeValue.timeValueMillis(between(3000, 4000)))
+            .build();
     }
 
     @Override

x-pack/plugin/esql/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/action/ManyShardsIT.java

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
     @Override
     protected Settings nodeSettings(int nodeOrdinal, Settings otherSettings) {
         return Settings.builder()
+            .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal, otherSettings))
             .put(ExchangeService.INACTIVE_SINKS_INTERVAL_SETTING, TimeValue.timeValueMillis(between(3000, 5000)))
             .build();
     }

x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/plugin/EsqlPlugin.java

@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class EsqlPlugin extends Plugin implements ActionPlugin {
 
     public static final Setting<Boolean> QUERY_ALLOW_PARTIAL_RESULTS = Setting.boolSetting(
         "esql.query.allow_partial_results",
-        false,
+        true,
         Setting.Property.NodeScope,
         Setting.Property.Dynamic
     );

x-pack/plugin/security/qa/multi-cluster/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/remotecluster/CrossClusterEsqlRCS1MissingIndicesIT.java

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ public class CrossClusterEsqlRCS1MissingIndicesIT extends AbstractRemoteClusterS
             .apply(commonClusterConfig)
             .setting("remote_cluster.port", "0")
             .setting("xpack.ml.enabled", "false")
+            .setting("esql.query.allow_partial_results", "false")
             .setting("xpack.security.remote_cluster_server.ssl.enabled", () -> String.valueOf(SSL_ENABLED_REF.get()))
             .setting("xpack.security.remote_cluster_server.ssl.key", "remote-cluster.key")
             .setting("xpack.security.remote_cluster_server.ssl.certificate", "remote-cluster.crt")
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ public class CrossClusterEsqlRCS1MissingIndicesIT extends AbstractRemoteClusterS
             .module("x-pack-enrich")
             .apply(commonClusterConfig)
             .setting("xpack.ml.enabled", "false")
+            .setting("esql.query.allow_partial_results", "false")
             .setting("xpack.security.remote_cluster_client.ssl.enabled", () -> String.valueOf(SSL_ENABLED_REF.get()))
             .build();
     }