[[indices-get-field-mapping]]
=== Get field mapping API
++++
<titleabbrev>Get field mapping</titleabbrev>
++++

Retrieves <<mapping,mapping definitions>> for one or more fields. This is useful
if you don't need the <<indices-get-mapping,complete mapping>> of an index or
your index contains a large number of fields.

[source,console]
----
GET /twitter/_mapping/field/user
----
// TEST[setup:twitter]


[[get-field-mapping-api-request]]
==== {api-request-title}

`GET /_mapping/field/<field>`

`GET /<index>/_mapping/field/<field>`


[[get-field-mapping-api-path-params]]
==== {api-path-parms-title}

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=index]

`<field>`::
(Optional, string) Comma-separated list or wildcard expression of fields used to
limit returned information.


[[get-field-mapping-api-query-params]]
==== {api-query-parms-title}

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=allow-no-indices]
+
Defaults to `true`.

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=expand-wildcards]

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=include-type-name]

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=index-ignore-unavailable]

`include_defaults`::
(Optional, boolean) If `true`, the response includes default mapping values.
Defaults to `false`.

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=local]


[[get-field-mapping-api-example]]
==== {api-examples-title}

[[get-field-mapping-api-basic-ex]]
===== Example with index setup

You can provide field mappings when creating a new index. The following
<<indices-create-index, create index>> API request creates the `publications`
index with several field mappings.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /publications
{
    "mappings": {
        "properties": {
            "id": { "type": "text" },
            "title":  { "type": "text"},
            "abstract": { "type": "text"},
            "author": {
                "properties": {
                    "id": { "type": "text" },
                    "name": { "type": "text" }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
--------------------------------------------------

The following returns the mapping of the field `title` only:

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET publications/_mapping/field/title
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

The API returns the following response:

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
   "publications": {
      "mappings": {
          "title": {
             "full_name": "title",
             "mapping": {
                "title": {
                   "type": "text"
                }
             }
          }
       }
   }
}
--------------------------------------------------

[[get-field-mapping-api-specific-fields-ex]]
===== Specifying fields

The get mapping api allows you to specify a comma-separated list of fields.

For instance to select the `id` of the `author` field, you must use its full name `author.id`.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET publications/_mapping/field/author.id,abstract,name
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

returns:

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
   "publications": {
      "mappings": {
        "author.id": {
           "full_name": "author.id",
           "mapping": {
              "id": {
                 "type": "text"
              }
           }
        },
        "abstract": {
           "full_name": "abstract",
           "mapping": {
              "abstract": {
                 "type": "text"
              }
           }
        }
     }
   }
}
--------------------------------------------------

The get field mapping API also supports wildcard notation.

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET publications/_mapping/field/a*
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

returns:

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
   "publications": {
      "mappings": {
         "author.name": {
            "full_name": "author.name",
            "mapping": {
               "name": {
                 "type": "text"
               }
            }
         },
         "abstract": {
            "full_name": "abstract",
            "mapping": {
               "abstract": {
                  "type": "text"
               }
            }
         },
         "author.id": {
            "full_name": "author.id",
            "mapping": {
               "id": {
                  "type": "text"
               }
            }
         }
      }
   }
}
--------------------------------------------------

[[get-field-mapping-api-multi-index-ex]]
===== Multiple indices and fields

The get field mapping API can be used to get the mapping of multiple fields from more than one index
with a single call. General usage of the API follows the
following syntax: `host:port/<index>/_mapping/field/<field>` where
`<index>` and `<field>` can stand for comma-separated list of names or wild cards. To
get mappings for all indices you can use `_all` for `<index>`. The
following are some examples:

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
GET /twitter,kimchy/_mapping/field/message

GET /_all/_mapping/field/message,user.id

GET /_all/_mapping/field/*.id
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[setup:twitter]
// TEST[s/^/PUT kimchy\nPUT book\n/]