# Can ES support to add a new item into the nested objects of existing document?
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [August 19, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646 "2015-08-19T07:46:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gin)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/1 "2015-08-19T07:46:53Z")
Hi all,
I have a ES document like:
```
{
"title": "Nest eggs",
"comments": [
{
"name": "John Smith",
"comment": "Great article",
},
{
"name": "Alice White",
"comment": "More like this please",
}
]
}
```
and now I'd like to add a new "comments" in this document and finially the document will be:
```
{
"title": "Nest eggs",
"comments": [
{
"name": "John Smith",
"comment": "Great article",
},
{
"name": "Alice White",
"comment": "More like this please",
},
{
"name": "New guy",
"comment": "something here",
}
]
}
```
Does someone know how to do it?
Thanks a lot
---
### Author:  [@gin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gin)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 8:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/2 "2015-08-21T08:37:00Z")
Any one knows it?
---
### Author:  [@dantuff](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dantuff)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/3 "2015-08-21T08:58:39Z")
You can update the comments array, but you would have to send an array with the two comments that already exist plus the new comment.
[https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/partial-updates.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/partial-updates.html)
---
### Author:  [@gin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gin)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/4 "2015-08-24T01:43:44Z")
> [@dantuff](#):
>
> You can update the comments array, but you would have to send an array with the two comments that already exist plus the new comment.
>
> [Partial Updates to Documents | Elasticsearch: The Definitive Guide [2.x] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/partial-updates.html)
Thanks, Dan. It should have a more smart way 😄
---
### Author:  [@remram](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/remram)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/5 "2015-08-24T04:49:46Z")
I know probably this is not the solution you are looking for. But it might help you!
You can try parent child relationship instead of nested object: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/parent-child.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/parent-child.html)
It will allow you to add/update/delete child in each parent. But you have to put them all in the same shard!
Cheers, Ramy
---
### Author:  [@gin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gin)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/6 "2015-08-24T06:08:56Z")
> [@remram](#):
>
> I know probably this is not the solution you are looking for. But it might help you!
>
> You can try parent child relationship instead of nested object: [Parent-Child Relationship | Elasticsearch: The Definitive Guide [2.x] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/parent-child.html)
>
> It will allow you to add/update/delete child in each parent. But you have to put them all in the same shard!
>
> Cheers, Ramy
Thanks, Ramy! It looks quite nice for adding/updating/delete.
But seems it hard to got parent and child docment in same query.
Still, appreciate your suggestion.
Cheers, Gin
---
### Author:  [@remram](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/remram)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/7 "2015-08-24T06:26:09Z")
Hi Gin,
What do you mean with it?
> [@gin](#):
>
> But seems it hard to got parent and child docment in same query.
You are able to query parents by their children and on the opposite way as well!
- [Finding Parents by Their Children | Elasticsearch: The Definitive Guide [2.x] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/has-child.html)
- [Finding Children by Their Parents | Elasticsearch: The Definitive Guide [2.x] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/has-parent.html)
---
### Author:  [@dantuff](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dantuff)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/8 "2015-08-24T07:47:53Z")
> [@gin](#):
>
> But seems it hard to got parent and child docment in same query.
You can use the [inner hits](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/search-request-inner-hits.html) functionality to get the child documents in the same query when you use the has\_child query.
The parent/child approach will allow you to index a child document individually which is more efficient if you have large documents and a requirement to update frequently. However, parent/child queries are 5-10 times slower than nested queries. So it is worth keeping that in mind when deciding what is the best approach for your use case.
---
### Author:  [@gin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gin)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/9 "2015-08-25T01:11:22Z")
Ramy and Dan,
Thanks for your suggestion and those help a lot 😄
BR. Gin
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-es-support-to-add-a-new-item-into-the-nested-objects-of-existing-document/27646/10 "2017-07-05T23:54:06Z")