Elasticsearch: remove/update field inside nested object

Question

{
  "_index" : "test",
  "_type" : "test",
  "_id" : "1212",
  "_version" : 5,
  "found" : true,
  "_source" : {
    "count" : 42,
    "list_data" : [ {
      "list_id" : 11,
      "timestamp" : 1469125397
    }, {
      "list_id" : 122,
      "timestamp" : 1469050965
    } ]
  }
}

This is my document schema.list_data is nested object. I have requirement to update/delete particular filed inside list_data. I am able to update count field using groovy script.

$ curl -XPOST 'localhost:9200/index/type/1212/_update?pretty' -d '
{
    "script" : "ctx._source.count = 41"
}'

But don't know how to update nested object.

For example i want to add this into list_data.

{
   "list_id" : 121,
   "timestamp" : 1469050965
}

and my document should change to:

{
  "_index" : "test",
  "_type" : "test",
  "_id" : "1212",
  "_version" : 6,
  "found" : true,
  "_source" : {
    "count" : 41,
    "list_data" : [ {
      "list_id" : 11,
      "timestamp" : 1469125397
    }, {
      "list_id" : 121,
      "timestamp" : 1469050965
    }, {
      "list_id" : 122,
      "timestamp" : 1469050965
    } ]
  }
}

and if i perform delete based on list_id = 122 my record should look like

{
  "_index" : "test",
  "_type" : "test",
  "_id" : "1212",
  "_version" : 7,
  "found" : true,
  "_source" : {
    "count" : 41,
    "list_data" : [ {
      "list_id" : 11,
      "timestamp" : 1469125397
    }, {
      "list_id" : 121,
      "timestamp" : 1469050965
    }]
  }
}

Answer 1

To add a new element to your nested field you can proceed like this:

$ curl -XPOST 'localhost:9200/index/type/1212/_update?pretty' -d '
{
    "script" : "ctx._source.list_data += newElement",
    "params": {
        "newElement": {
           "list_id" : 121,
           "timestamp" : 1469050965
        }
    }
}'

To remove an existing element from your nested field list, you can proceed like this:

$ curl -XPOST 'localhost:9200/index/type/1212/_update?pretty' -d '
{
    "script" : "ctx._source.list_data.removeAll{it.list_id == remove_id}",
    "params": {
        "remove_id" : 122
    }
}'

Answer 2

I was getting the error [UpdateRequest] unknown field [params] as I was using the latest version of ElasticSearch 7.9.0 (When wrote this answer 7.9.0 was the latest), seems like the syntax is changed a bit.

Following should work for newer versions of ElasticSearch:

$ curl -XPOST 'localhost:9200/<index-name>/_update/1212'
{
  "script": {
    "source": "ctx._source.list_data.removeIf(list_item -> list_item.list_id == params.remove_id);",
    "params": {
      "remove_id": 122
    }
  }
}