tallakh
September 15, 2026, 7:12am
1
Hi!
We have started to use ES|QL a lot in our Kibana dashboards, and I love the flexibility it brings! One of the few missing features compared to Lens table panels is to set formatting on a text/keyword field. F ex a link or even an image. I found this related issue:
opened 07:34AM - 03 Mar 25 UTC
closed 08:22PM - 06 Aug 26 UTC
discuss
blocked
Feature:ES|QL
Team:ESQL
## **Describe the feature:**
Users adopting ES|QL in Discover want the same fie… ld formatting experience they currently have with DSL/KQL. Being able to preserve existing formatters—like converting bytes to MB. This improves readability and consistency, while minimizing manual effort.
By adding field formatters support for ES|QL and storing them in Discover Session objects, we align with existing Kibana workflows, improve data clarity, and preserve the time and effort users already invested in custom formatting. This creates a smoother transition to ES|QL and enhances the overall Discover experience.
## **Proposed Enhancement**
- **Honor Existing Formatters:** Keep formatters users have spent time configuring in Data Views or in Discover’s presentation layer.
- **Store Formatters in Discover Session:** Extend the Discover Session Saved Object to capture and persist custom field formatting alongside the ES|QL query and table layout.
- **Retain Separation of Concerns:** Ensure these formatters remain purely in the presentation layer, without modifying the underlying data or index mappings.
## **User Stories**
1. **Retaining Existing Formatting** : As a user transitioning from DSL/KQL to ES|QL, I want my existing field formatters automatically applied, so I don’t lose the custom formatting I’ve already configured.
2. **Simplifying Large Dataset Analysis**: As a data analyst working with massive datasets, I want to easily convert numeric fields (e.g., bytes to MB) in ES|QL, so I can understand my data without manual conversions.
3. **Facilitating Admin Workflows**: As a Kibana admin, I want to define and maintain field formatters for ES|QL queries in one place, so that various teams see consistent and clear data in Discover.**
4. **Preserving Configuration in Discover**: As a user saving my ES|QL session, I want my query, table layout, and field formatters stored together in Discover, so that reopening or sharing my session automatically reuses the same presentation-layer formatting.
## **User Value**
- **Consistency & Clarity:** Aligns ES|QL with DSL/KQL, preventing confusion when users switch query languages.
- **Saves Time & Effort:** No need for users to reconfigure formatters or manually perform data conversions.
- **Flexible Presentation:** Keeps the logic in Kibana’s presentation layer instead of tying it to index mappings or runtime fields.
- **Reusable Sessions:** Storing formatters in Discover Sessions makes them portable across teams and dashboards.
##Relevant user insights:
- https://github.com/elastic/kibana-team/issues/1250
That issue discusses enabling field formatters for ES|QL, but it is closed and does not appear to have a linked implementation.