Get a document's source

GET /{index}/_source/{id}

Get the source of a document. For example:

GET my-index-000001/_source/1

You can use the source filtering parameters to control which parts of the _source are returned:

GET my-index-000001/_source/1/?_source_includes=*.id&_source_excludes=entities
External documentation

Path parameters

  • index string Required

    The name of the index that contains the document.

  • id string Required

    A unique document identifier.

Query parameters

  • The node or shard the operation should be performed on. By default, the operation is randomized between the shard replicas.

  • realtime boolean

    If true, the request is real-time as opposed to near-real-time.

  • refresh boolean

    If true, the request refreshes the relevant shards before retrieving the document. Setting it to true should be done after careful thought and verification that this does not cause a heavy load on the system (and slow down indexing).

  • routing string

    A custom value used to route operations to a specific shard.

  • _source boolean | string | array[string]

    Indicates whether to return the _source field (true or false) or lists the fields to return.

  • _source_excludes string | array[string]

    A comma-separated list of source fields to exclude in the response.

  • _source_includes string | array[string]

    A comma-separated list of source fields to include in the response.

  • stored_fields string | array[string]

    A comma-separated list of stored fields to return as part of a hit.

  • version number

    The version number for concurrency control. It must match the current version of the document for the request to succeed.

  • The version type.

    Supported values include:

    • internal: Use internal versioning that starts at 1 and increments with each update or delete.
    • external: Only index the document if the specified version is strictly higher than the version of the stored document or if there is no existing document.
    • external_gte: Only index the document if the specified version is equal or higher than the version of the stored document or if there is no existing document. NOTE: The external_gte version type is meant for special use cases and should be used with care. If used incorrectly, it can result in loss of data.
    • force: This option is deprecated because it can cause primary and replica shards to diverge.

    Values are internal, external, external_gte, or force.

Responses

GET /{index}/_source/{id}
curl \
 --request GET 'http://api.example.com/{index}/_source/{id}' \
 --header "Authorization: $API_KEY"