[[dynamic-mapping]]
== Dynamic Mapping

One of the most important features of Elasticsearch is that it tries to get
out of your way and let you start exploring your data as quickly as possible.
To index a document, you don't have to first create an index, define a mapping
type, and define your fields -- you can just index a document and the index,
type, and fields will spring to life automatically:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT data/counters/1 <1>
{ "count": 5 }
--------------------------------------------------
// AUTOSENSE
<1> Creates the `data` index, the `counters` mapping type, and a field
    called `count` with datatype `long`.

The automatic detection and addition of new types and fields is called
_dynamic mapping_. The dynamic mapping rules can be customised to suit your
purposes with:

<<default-mapping,`_default_` mapping>>::

    Configure the base mapping to be used for new mapping types.

<<dynamic-field-mapping,Dynamic field mappings>>::

    The rules governing dynamic field detection.

<<dynamic-templates,Dynamic templates>>::

    Custom rules to configure the mapping for dynamically added fields.

TIP: <<indices-templates,Index templates>> allow you to configure the default
mappings, settings, aliases, and warmers for new indices, whether created
automatically or explicitly.


[float]
=== Disabling automatic type creation

Automatic type creation can be disabled by setting the `index.mapper.dynamic`
setting to `false`, either by setting the default value in the
`config/elasticsearch.yml` file, or per-index as an index setting:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT /_settings <1>
{
  "index.mapper.dynamic":false
}
--------------------------------------------------
// AUTOSENSE
<1> Disable automatic type creation for all indices.

Regardless of the value of this setting, types can still be added explicitly
when <<indices-create-index,creating an index>> or with the
<<indices-put-mapping,PUT mapping>> API.


include::dynamic/default-mapping.asciidoc[]

include::dynamic/field-mapping.asciidoc[]

include::dynamic/templates.asciidoc[]