# Beats setup.template date format only accepts string, url, or date
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-setup-template-date-format-only-accepts-string-url-or-date/304636
**Category:** Beats
**Tags:** filebeat
**Created:** [May 13, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-setup-template-date-format-only-accepts-string-url-or-date/304636 "2022-05-13T05:46:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@eddyariki](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/eddyariki)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-setup-template-date-format-only-accepts-string-url-or-date/304636/1 "2022-05-13T05:46:12Z")
In my filebeat configuration, I am trying to append a field of type date with a format specified.
```auto
setup.template:
overwrite: false
append_fields:
- name: testfield
type: date
format: "dd/MMM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss Z"
```
However, I get the following error:
```auto
Exiting: unpacking template config fails: incorrect type configuration for field 'testfield': unexpected format 'dd/MMM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss Z' for field 'testfield', expected one of: string, url, date accessing 'setup.template.append_fields.0' (source:'filebeat.yml')
```
I am using Elasticsearch:8.2.0 and Filebeats:8.2.0.
According to the sourcecode, the [accepted formatters](https://github.com/elastic/beats/blob/main/libbeat/mapping/field.go#L181) only include string, url, and date, and doesn't allow for custom formatters. Why is this the specification?
In order to apply custom formatters, I will have to use component templates, but it would be ideal if it can be set in the filebeats config.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 7:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-setup-template-date-format-only-accepts-string-url-or-date/304636/2 "2022-06-10T07:47:12Z")
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