---
layout: default
title: Index document
parent: Document APIs
grand_parent: REST API reference
nav_order: 1
---

# Index document
Introduced 1.0
{: .label .label-purple}

Before you can search for data, you must first add documents. This operation adds a single document to your index.

## Example

```json
PUT sample-index/_doc/1
{
  "Description": "To be or not to be, that is the question."
}
```

## Path and HTTP methods

```
PUT <index>/_doc/<_id>
POST <index>/_doc

PUT <index>/_create/<_id>
POST <index>/_create/<_id>
```

## URL parameters

In your request, you must specify the index you want to add your document to. If the index doesn't already exist, OpenSearch automatically creates the index and adds in your document. All other URL parameters are optional.

Parameter | Type | Description | Required
:--- | :--- | :--- | :---
&lt;index&gt; | String | Name of the index. | Yes
&lt;_id&gt; | String | A unique identifier to attach to the document. To automatically generate an ID, use `POST <target>/doc` in your request instead of PUT. | No
if_seq_no | Integer | Only perform the operation if the document has the specified sequence number. | No
if_primary_term | Integer | Only perform the operation if the document has the specified primary term. | No
op_type | Enum | Specifies the type of operation to complete with the document. Valid values are `create` (create the index if it doesn't exist) and `index`. If a document ID is included in the request, then the default is `index`. Otherwise, the default is `create`. | No
pipeline | String | ID used to route the indexing operation to a certain pipeline. | No
routing | String | Value used to assign operations to specific shards. | No
timeout | Time | How long to wait for a response from the cluster. Default is `1m`. | No
version | Integer | The document's version number. | No
version_type | Enum | Assigns a specific type to the document. Valid options are `external` (retrieve the document if the specified version number is greater than the document's current version) and `external_gte` (retrieve the document if the specified version number is greater than or equal to the document's current version). For example, to index version 3 of a document, use `/_doc/1?version=3&version_type=external`. | No
wait_for_active_shards | String | The number of active shards that must be available before OpenSearch processes the request. Default is 1 (only the primary shard). Set to `all` or a positive integer. Values greater than 1 require replicas. For example, if you specify a value of 3, the index must have two replicas distributed across two additional nodes for the operation to succeed. | No
require_alias | Boolean | Specifies whether the target index must be an index alias. Default is false. | No

## Request body

Your request body must contain the information you want to index.

```json
{
  "Description": "This is just a sample document"
}
```

## Response
```json
{
  "_index": "sample-index",
  "_type": "_doc",
  "_id": "1",
  "_version": 1,
  "result": "created",
  "_shards": {
    "total": 2,
    "successful": 1,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "_seq_no": 0,
  "_primary_term": 1
}
```

## Response body fields

Field | Description
:--- | :---
_index | The name of the index.
_type | The document's type. OpenSearch supports only one type, which is `_doc`.
_id | The document's ID.
_version | The document's version.
_result | The result of the index operation.
_shards | Detailed information about the cluster's shards.
total | The total number of shards.
successful | The number of shards OpenSearch succssfully added the document to.
failed | The number of shards OpenSearch failed to added the document to.
_seq_no | The sequence number assigned when the document was indexed.
_primary_term | The primary term assigned when the document was indexed.