Briefly, this error occurs when Elasticsearch is unable to parse the condition for a watch due to an invalid definition. It’s expecting a field that is missing or incorrectly defined in the watch condition. To resolve this issue, you should review the watch definition and ensure that all required fields are present and correctly defined. Also, check the syntax and structure of your watch definition, as a misplaced comma or bracket can cause parsing errors. If the error persists, consider simplifying your watch condition to isolate the problematic part.
This guide will help you check for common problems that cause the log ” could not parse condition for watch [{}]. invalid definition. expected a field ” to appear. To understand the issues related to this log, read the explanation below about the following Elasticsearch concepts: plugin.
Log Context
Log “could not parse condition for watch [{}]. invalid definition. expected a field” class name is ConditionRegistry.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
XContentParser.Token token;
while ((token = parser.nextToken()) != XContentParser.Token.END_OBJECT) {
if (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME) {
type = parser.currentName();
} else if (type == null) {
throw new ElasticsearchParseException("could not parse condition for watch [{}]. invalid definition. expected a field " +
"indicating the condition type; but found"; watchId; token);
} else {
factory = factories.get(type);
if (factory == null) {
throw new ElasticsearchParseException("could not parse condition for watch [{}]. unknown condition type [{}]";
