# Define required fields in the mapping **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [August 6, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089 "2013-08-06T13:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kristi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kristi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Kristi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089/1 "2013-08-06T13:14:09Z")
Is it possible to define required fields in the mapping, so an attempt to index a document that's missing the fields would throw an error? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![brian\_yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@brian\_yoder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/brian_yoder)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089/2 "2013-08-06T14:11:12Z")
Elasticsearch can be prevented from automatically creating an index and automatically indexing unknown fields by updating the elasticsearch.ymlfile as follows: action.auto\_create\_index: false index.mapper.dynamic: false The ability to disable automatic index creation and dynamic mapping is in Elasticsearch versions 0.20.X and later. Brian On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 9:14:09 AM UTC-4, Kristi wrote: > Is it possible to define required fields in the mapping, so an attempt to > index a document that's missing the fields would throw an error? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![brian\_yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@brian\_yoder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/brian_yoder)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089/3 "2013-08-06T14:13:00Z")
Almost forget: With this, you'll need to explicitly create an index with the mappings you need, along with whatever filters those mappings require. Brian On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 10:11:12 AM UTC-4, InquiringMind wrote: > Elasticsearch can be prevented from automatically creating an index and > automatically indexing unknown fields by updating the elasticsearch.ymlfile as follows: > > action.auto\_create\_index: false > index.mapper.dynamic: false > > The ability to disable automatic index creation and dynamic mapping is in > Elasticsearch versions 0.20.X and later. > > Brian > > On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 9:14:09 AM UTC-4, Kristi wrote: > > > Is it possible to define required fields in the mapping, so an attempt to > > index a document that's missing the fields would throw an error? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Kristi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kristi](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Kristi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089/4 "2013-08-06T15:09:28Z")
Thank you for your response. However, I don't think this does what I want. It's fine if unknown fields are automatically indexed, I don't want to prevent that. I was wondering if it's possible to define in the mapping that some fields are required. For example, you define a field called "title", and you want all documents that are indexed to have the "title" field. Is it possible to configure Elasticsearch to validate that this field is in the document when you index it, and throw an error if it is missing? I think in Solr, you can just add required="true" to the schema.xml when you define the fields for a type. Is there a way to do this in Elasticsearch? On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 2:13:00 PM UTC, InquiringMind wrote: > Almost forget: With this, you'll need to explicitly create an index with > the mappings you need, along with whatever filters those mappings require. > > Brian > > On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 10:11:12 AM UTC-4, InquiringMind wrote: > > > Elasticsearch can be prevented from automatically creating an index and > > automatically indexing unknown fields by updating the elasticsearch.ymlfile as follows: > > > > action.auto\_create\_index: false > > index.mapper.dynamic: false > > > > The ability to disable automatic index creation and dynamic mapping is in > > Elasticsearch versions 0.20.X and later. > > > > Brian > > > > On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 9:14:09 AM UTC-4, Kristi wrote: > > > > > Is it possible to define required fields in the mapping, so an attempt > > > to index a document that's missing the fields would throw an error? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/define-required-fields-in-the-mapping/13089/5 "2017-07-06T02:22:39Z")