# elasticsearch-best-practices

Provides rules and code patterns for Elasticsearch index mappings, shard planning, and search query optimization directly to your agent.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 999 installs · ★ 286
- Author: Mindrally
- License: Apache-2.0 · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/Mindrally/skills/tree/HEAD/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-08
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices

## What it does

This skill supplies your coding agent with concrete Elasticsearch patterns. It includes ready-to-use templates for explicit mappings, distinguishing full-text `text` fields from exact-match `keyword` types. It also shows how to turn off indexing on raw payload objects with `enabled: false`.

Cluster planning guidelines set clear boundaries. Shards should stay between 20GB and 40GB, with roughly 20 shards per gigabyte of heap. The reference ILM policy demonstrates hot, warm, and delete transitions. Ingesting large datasets without setting `refresh_interval` to `-1` will bottleneck your cluster on indexing overhead.

Query design guidance focuses on search latency. The skill instructs the agent to route non-scoring terms into cached `filter` blocks rather than `must` clauses. For bulk operations, it recommends batch sizes between 5MB and 15MB.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Mindrally/skills --skill elasticsearch-best-practices -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Mindrally/skills --skill elasticsearch-best-practices -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Mindrally/skills --skill elasticsearch-best-practices -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install Mindrally/skills elasticsearch-best-practices
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Mindrally/skills --skill elasticsearch-best-practices -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/Mindrally/skills --path elasticsearch-best-practices
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Mindrally/skills --skill elasticsearch-best-practices -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/Mindrally/skills/tree/HEAD/elasticsearch-best-practices/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- write explicit index mappings separating searchable text from keyword filters
- build an index lifecycle management policy with hot, warm, and delete phases
- convert non-scoring query constraints into cacheable `filter` contexts
- tune batch indexing throughput via the Bulk API with requests sized 5–15MB

## Example prompts
- Generate an explicit Elasticsearch mapping for a product catalog with analyzers and keyword fields
- Refactor this bool query to move exact status and date filters into a filter context
- Write an ILM policy that rolls over at 50GB and deletes indices older than 90 days

## Source text · SKILL.md · Apache-2.0

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: e91b43c7c385cc2e.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE e91b43c7c385cc2e
````text
---
name: elasticsearch-best-practices
description: Elasticsearch development best practices for indexing, querying, and search optimization
metadata:
  maintainer: Mindrally
  source: https://github.com/Mindrally/skills
---

# Elasticsearch Best Practices

## Core Principles

- Design indices and mappings based on query patterns
- Optimize for search performance with proper analysis and indexing
- Use appropriate shard sizing and cluster configuration
- Implement proper security and access control
- Monitor cluster health and optimize queries

## Index Design

### Mapping Best Practices

- Define explicit mappings instead of relying on dynamic mapping
- Use appropriate data types for each field
- Disable indexing for fields you do not search on
- Use keyword type for exact matches, text for full-text search

```json
{
  "mappings": {
    "properties": {
      "product_id": {
        "type": "keyword"
      },
      "name": {
        "type": "text",
        "analyzer": "standard",
        "fields": {
          "keyword": {
            "type": "keyword",
            "ignore_above": 256
          }
        }
      },
      "description": {
        "type": "text",
        "analyzer": "english"
      },
      "price": {
        "type": "scaled_float",
        "scaling_factor": 100
      },
      "category": {
        "type": "keyword"
      },
      "tags": {
        "type": "keyword"
      },
      "created_at": {
        "type": "date"
      },
      "metadata": {
        "type": "object",
        "enabled": false
      },
      "location": {
        "type": "geo_point"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Field Types

- `keyword`: Exact values, filtering, aggregations, sorting
- `text`: Full-text search with analysis
- `date`: Date/time values with format specification
- `numeric types`: long, integer, short, byte, double, float, scaled_float
- `boolean`: True/false values
- `geo_point`: Latitude/longitude pairs
- `nested`: Arrays of objects that need independent querying

### Index Settings

```json
{
  "settings": {
    "number_of_shards": 3,
    "number_of_replicas": 1,
    "refresh_interval": "30s",
    "analysis": {
      "analyzer": {
        "custom_analyzer": {
          "type": "custom",
          "tokenizer": "standard",
          "filter": ["lowercase", "asciifolding", "synonym_filter"]
        }
      },
      "filter": {
        "synonym_filter": {
          "type": "synonym",
          "synonyms": ["laptop, notebook", "phone, mobile, smartphone"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Shard Sizing

### Guidelines

- Target 20-40GB per shard
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE e91b43c7c385cc2e

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