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You're viewing version 3.2 of the OpenSearch documentation. This version is no longer maintained. For the latest version, see the current documentation. For information about OpenSearch version maintenance, see Release Schedule and Maintenance Policy.

Copy to

The copy_to parameter allows you to copy the values of multiple fields into a group field, which can then be queried as a single field. This is useful when you frequently search across multiple fields and want to simplify your queries.

Note the following important considerations:

  • During copying, the raw field value (not the tokens produced during analysis) is copied.

  • The original _source field is not modified to reflect the copied values.

  • The same value can be copied to multiple fields using "copy_to": ["field_1", "field_2"] syntax.

  • You cannot copy recursively through intermediary fields. For example, if field_1 is copied to field_2 and field_2 is copied to field_3, indexing into field_1 does not result in values appearing in field_3. Instead, use copy_to directly from the originating field to multiple target fields.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate using the copy_to parameter.

Basic copy_to usage

Create an index that copies first and last names into a full_name field:

PUT /user_profiles
{
  "mappings": {
    "properties": {
      "first_name": {
        "type": "text",
        "copy_to": "full_name"
      },
      "last_name": {
        "type": "text",
        "copy_to": "full_name"
      },
      "full_name": {
        "type": "text"
      }
    }
  }
}

Index a document with separate name fields:

PUT /user_profiles/_doc/1
{
  "first_name": "Jane",
  "last_name": "Doe"
}

The first_name and last_name fields can still be queried individually, but the full_name field allows you to search for both names together. To search using the combined field, send the following request. The and operator requires both terms to match:

GET /user_profiles/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "full_name": {
        "query": "Jane Doe",
        "operator": "and"
      }
    }
  }
}

The response contains the matching document:

{
  "took": 7,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 1,
    "successful": 1,
    "skipped": 0,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 1,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "max_score": 0.26152915,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "user_profiles",
        "_id": "1",
        "_score": 0.26152915,
        "_source": {
          "first_name": "Jane",
          "last_name": "Doe"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Copying to multiple target fields

To copy the field contents to multiple target fields, create an index that copies the title field into both the searchable_content and display_text fields. The body field is copied only to searchable_content:

PUT /content_library
{
  "mappings": {
    "properties": {
      "title": {
        "type": "text",
        "copy_to": ["searchable_content", "display_text"]
      },
      "body": {
        "type": "text",
        "copy_to": "searchable_content"
      },
      "searchable_content": {
        "type": "text"
      },
      "display_text": {
        "type": "text"
      }
    }
  }
}

Index a document containing the title and body fields:

PUT /content_library/_doc/1
{
  "title": "OpenSearch Documentation Guide",
  "body": "This comprehensive guide covers mapping parameters and their usage in OpenSearch."
}

You can search both title and body content using the searchable_content field:

GET /content_library/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "searchable_content": "OpenSearch mapping parameters"
    }
  }
}

The response contains the matching document. The document’s original _source field still contains only the title and body fields:

{
  "took": 21,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 1,
    "successful": 1,
    "skipped": 0,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 1,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "max_score": 0.44133043,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "content_library",
        "_id": "1",
        "_score": 0.44133043,
        "_source": {
          "title": "OpenSearch Documentation Guide",
          "body": "This comprehensive guide covers mapping parameters and their usage in OpenSearch."
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
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