Store and retrieve scripts

You can store and retrieve scripts from the cluster state using the stored script APIs. Stored scripts allow you to reference shared scripts for operations like scoring, aggregating, filtering, and reindexing. Instead of embedding scripts inline in each query, you can reference these shared operations.

Stored scripts can also reduce request payload size. Depending on script size and request frequency, this can help lower latency and data transfer costs.

Note

Unlike regular scripts, stored scripts require that you specify a script language using the lang parameter.

To create a script, use the create stored script API. For example, the following request creates a stored script named calculate-score.

POST _scripts/calculate-score
{
  "script": {
    "lang": "painless",
    "source": "Math.log(_score * 2) + params['my_modifier']"
  }
}

You can retrieve that script by using the get stored script API.

GET _scripts/calculate-score

To use the stored script in a query, include the script id in the script declaration:

GET my-index-000001/_search
{
  "query": {
    "script_score": {
      "query": {
        "match": {
            "message": "some message"
        }
      },
      "script": {
        "id": "calculate-score",
        "params": {
          "my_modifier": 2
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

id of the stored script

To delete a stored script, submit a delete stored script API request.

DELETE _scripts/calculate-score