diff --git a/docs/reference/cat/alias.asciidoc b/docs/reference/cat/alias.asciidoc
index 4fef1a85f96..d22004153e4 100644
--- a/docs/reference/cat/alias.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/cat/alias.asciidoc
@@ -1,8 +1,41 @@
 [[cat-alias]]
 === cat aliases
 
-`aliases` shows information about currently configured aliases to indices
-including filter and routing infos.
+Returns information about currently configured aliases to indices, including
+filter and routing information.
+
+
+[[cat-alias-api-request]]
+==== {api-request-title}
+
+`GET /_cat/aliases/{name}`
+
+[[cat-alias-api-path-params]]
+==== {api-path-parms-title}
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=name]
+
+
+[[cat-alias-api-query-params]]
+==== {api-query-parms-title}
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=http-format]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=cat-h]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=help]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=local]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=master-timeout]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=cat-s]
+
+include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=cat-v]
+
+
+[[cat-alias-api-example]]
+==== {api-examples-title}
 
 ////
 Hidden setup for example:
@@ -39,7 +72,7 @@ GET /_cat/aliases?v
 // CONSOLE
 // TEST[continued]
 
-Might respond with:
+The API returns the following response:
 
 [source,txt]
 --------------------------------------------------
@@ -51,7 +84,7 @@ alias4 test1 -      2            1,2
 --------------------------------------------------
 // TESTRESPONSE[s/[*]/[*]/ non_json]
 
-The output shows that `alias2` has configured a filter, and specific routing
+This response shows that `alias2` has configured a filter, and specific routing
 configurations in `alias3` and `alias4`.
 
 If you only want to get information about specific aliases, you can specify 
diff --git a/docs/reference/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc b/docs/reference/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc
index 7dd5426899f..708bc375627 100644
--- a/docs/reference/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc
@@ -1,12 +1,58 @@
 
+tag::cat-h[]
+`h` (headings)::
+(Optional, string) Comma-separated list of column names to display.
+end::cat-h[]
+
+tag::help[]
+`help`::
+(Optional, boolean) If `true`, the response returns help information. Defaults
+to `false`.
+end::help[]
+
+tag::http-format[]
+`format`::
+(Optional, string) Short version of the
+https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html[HTTP accept header].
+Valid values include JSON, YAML, etc.
+end::http-format[]
+
+tag::local[]
+`local`::
+(Optional, boolean) If `true`, the request retrieves information from the local
+node only. Defaults to `false`, which means information is retrieved from
+the master node.
+end::local[]
+
+tag::name[]
+`{name}`::
+(Optional, string) Comma-separated list of alias names to return.
+end::name[]
+
+tag::cat-s[]
+`s` (sort)::
+(Optional, string) Comma-separated list of column names or column aliases used
+to sort the response.
+end::cat-s[]
+
+tag::cat-v[]
+`v` (verbose)::
+(Optional, boolean) If `true`, the response includes column headings. Defaults
+to `false`.
+end::cat-v[]
+
 tag::timeoutparms[]
+
 `timeout`::
 (Optional, <<time-units, time units>>) Specifies the period of time to wait for
 a response. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request
 fails and returns an error. Defaults to `30s`.
 
+tag::master-timeout[]
 `master_timeout`::
 (Optional, <<time-units, time units>>) Specifies the period of time to wait for
 a connection to the master node. If no response is received before the timeout
 expires, the request fails and returns an error. Defaults to `30s`.
+end::master-timeout[]
+
 end::timeoutparms[]
\ No newline at end of file