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Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is unable to parse a specific action due to an unexpected string field. This could be due to incorrect data types, syntax errors, or incorrect field names in the request body. To resolve this issue, you should first verify the syntax and structure of your request. Ensure that the field names and data types match what is expected. If the error persists, check your Elasticsearch mappings to ensure they align with the data you’re trying to index. Lastly, consider using a tool to validate your JSON before sending it to Elasticsearch.
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This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” could not parse [{}] action [{}/{}]. unexpected string field [{}] ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: plugin, index.
Overview
In Elasticsearch, an index (plural: indices) contains a schema and can have one or more shards and replicas. An Elasticsearch index is divided into shards and each shard is an instance of a Lucene index.
Indices are used to store the documents in dedicated data structures corresponding to the data type of fields. For example, text fields are stored inside an inverted index whereas numeric and geo fields are stored inside BKD trees.
Examples
Create index
The following example is based on Elasticsearch version 5.x onwards. An index with two shards, each having one replica will be created with the name test_index1
PUT /test_index1?pretty
{
"settings" : {
"number_of_shards" : 2,
"number_of_replicas" : 1
},
"mappings" : {
"properties" : {
"tags" : { "type" : "keyword" },
"updated_at" : { "type" : "date" }
}
}
}List indices
All the index names and their basic information can be retrieved using the following command:
GET _cat/indices?v
Index a document
Let’s add a document in the index with the command below:
PUT test_index1/_doc/1
{
"tags": [
"opster",
"elasticsearch"
],
"date": "01-01-2020"
}Query an index
GET test_index1/_search
{
"query": {
"match_all": {}
}
}Query multiple indices
It is possible to search multiple indices with a single request. If it is a raw HTTP request, index names should be sent in comma-separated format, as shown in the example below, and in the case of a query via a programming language client such as python or Java, index names are to be sent in a list format.
GET test_index1,test_index2/_search
Delete indices
DELETE test_index1
Common problems
- It is good practice to define the settings and mapping of an Index wherever possible because if this is not done, Elasticsearch tries to automatically guess the data type of fields at the time of indexing. This automatic process may have disadvantages, such as mapping conflicts, duplicate data and incorrect data types being set in the index. If the fields are not known in advance, it’s better to use dynamic index templates.
- Elasticsearch supports wildcard patterns in Index names, which sometimes aids with querying multiple indices, but can also be very destructive too. For example, It is possible to delete all the indices in a single command using the following commands:
DELETE /*
To disable this, you can add the following lines in the elasticsearch.yml:
action.destructive_requires_name: true
Log Context
Log “could not parse [{}] action [{}/{}]. unexpected string field [{}]” class name is IndexAction.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
"a string value (e.g. 'UTC' or '+01:00')."; TYPE; watchId; currentFieldName);
}
} else if (Field.REFRESH.match(currentFieldName; parser.getDeprecationHandler())) {
refreshPolicy = RefreshPolicy.parse(parser.text());
} else {
throw new ElasticsearchParseException("could not parse [{}] action [{}/{}]. unexpected string field [{}]"; TYPE;
watchId; actionId; currentFieldName);
}
} else {
throw new ElasticsearchParseException("could not parse [{}] action [{}/{}]. unexpected token [{}]"; TYPE; watchId;
actionId; token);
