Briefly, this error occurs when a terms query is executed without specifying any value for the terms. The terms query is used to match multiple values, and it requires at least one term to function correctly. To resolve this issue, ensure that you provide at least one value for the terms query. If the terms are dynamically generated, add a check to ensure that the list of terms is not empty before executing the query. Also, validate your query structure to ensure it adheres to the correct syntax.
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This guide will help you understand common problems and related issues that cause the log “No value specified for terms query” to appear. To get started, read the general overview on the Elasticsearch concepts: query and index.
Background
A terms query returns documents that contain one or more exact terms in a provided field. The above exception arises when you try to find a document where the field contains null.
If you need to get the field that has only a null value using a query, then you can use the must_not exists filter.
How to reproduce this exception
Create Index
PUT /my-index
{
"mappings": {
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "keyword"
}
}
}
}
Index Data
PUT /my-index/_doc/1?pretty
{
"name": "john"
}}Search Query
POST /my-index/_search
{
"query": {
"terms": {
"name": [
"john",
"jack",
null
]
}
}
}
Search Response
{
"error": {
"root_cause": [
{
"type": "parsing_exception",
"reason": "No value specified for terms query",
"line": 7,
"col": 9
}
],
"type": "parsing_exception",
"reason": "No value specified for terms query",
"line": 7,
"col": 9
},
"status": 400
}
How to fix this exception
Elasticsearch reported this error because querying an array with null value doesn’t work in terms query.
To correct the issue, you need to modify the search query as shown below:
POST /my-index/_search
{
"query": {
"terms": {
"name": [
"john",
"jack"
]
}
}
}
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 “No value specified for terms query” class name is TermsQueryBuilder.java. We extracted the following from Elasticsearch source code for those seeking an in-depth context :
static List
