add-new-api.md

How to add a new API

It might happen that a new API in Elasticsearch is not yet defined in this repository, or we do have an endpoint definition in /specification/_json_spec but we don't have a type definition for it. In this document you will see how to add a new endpopint and how to add a new endpoint definition.

NOTE: Currenlty we are following the work on the 7.x release line.

How to add a new endpoint

Add a new endpoint is straightforward, you only need to copy-paste the json rest-api-spec defintion from the Elasticsearch repository inside /specification/_json_spec and you are good to go.

You can find the rest-api-spec definitions here or here.

How to add the definition of an endpoint

Once you have added a new endpoint definition, the next step is to add its type definition. First of all, you should find the most approariate place inside /specification where to put the new definition. The content of /specification tryied to mimic the Elasticsearch online documentation, so you can use it as inspiration. For example, the index document defintion can be found in /specification/__global/index.

Once you have found the best place for the new definition, you should create a new file for it. The filename should be the same of the type definition you are writing, for example:

// IndexRequest.ts
interface Request {}

// IndexResponse.ts
class Response {}

Try to use less files as possible, for example there is no need to create a custom file for an enum, you can define it in the same file where it's used, unless is a commonly used type.

Add the endpoint request definition

Request definitions are slighly different from other definitions. It is required that the request definition is named Request. A request definition is an interface and should contains three top level keys:

• path_parts: the path parameters (eg: indices, id...)
• query_parameters: the query parameters (eg: timeout, pipeline...)
• body: the body parameters (eg: query or user defined entities)

Furthermore, every request definition must contain three JS Doc tags:

• @rest_spec_name: the API name (eg: search, indices.create...).
• @since: the version of Elasticsearch when the API has been introduced (eg: 7.7.0)
• @stability: the API stability, one of experimental, beta, stable

Following you can find a template valid for any request definition.

 /*
 * @rest_spec_name endpoint.name
 * @since 1.2.3
 * @stability TODO
 */
interface Request extends RequestBase {
  path_parts?: {

  };
  query_parameters?: {

  };
  body?: {

  };
}

In some cases, the request could take one or more generics, in such case the definition will be:

 /*
 * @rest_spec_name endpoint.name
 * @since 1.2.3
 * @stability TODO
 */
interface Request<Generic> extends RequestBase {
  path_parts?: {

  };
  query_parameters?: {

  };
  body?: {

  };
}

And the generic will be used somewhere inside the definition. There are cases where the generic might be the entire body, see IndexRequest.

Add the endpoint response definition

Responses definitions should always be defined after a request definition, otherwise the compiler will not pick them up. It is required that the response definition is named Response.

Following you can find a template valid for any response definition.

class Response {
  body: {

  }
}

As you can see, for responses there are no custom top level keys, as the response definition represents the body of a succesful response.

In some cases, the response could take one or more generics, in such case the definition will be:

class Response<Generic> {
  body: {

  }
}

And the generic will be used somewhere inside the definition.