Query Workbench

You can use Query Workbench in OpenSearch Dashboards to run on-demand SQL and PPL queries, translate queries into their equivalent REST API calls, and view and save results in different response formats.

Query Workbench does not support delete or update operations through SQL or PPL. Access to data is read-only.

Prerequisites

Before getting started with this tutorial, index the sample documents by sending the following Bulk API request:

PUT accounts/_bulk?refresh
{"index":{"_id":"1"}}
{"account_number":1,"balance":39225,"firstname":"Amber","lastname":"Duke","age":32,"gender":"M","address":"880 Holmes Lane","employer":"Pyrami","email":"amberduke@pyrami.com","city":"Brogan","state":"IL"}
{"index":{"_id":"6"}}
{"account_number":6,"balance":5686,"firstname":"Hattie","lastname":"Bond","age":36,"gender":"M","address":"671 Bristol Street","employer":"Netagy","email":"hattiebond@netagy.com","city":"Dante","state":"TN"}
{"index":{"_id":"13"}}
{"account_number":13,"balance":32838,"firstname":"Nanette","lastname":"Bates","age":28,"gender":"F","address":"789 Madison Street","employer":"Quility","email":"nanettebates@quility.com","city":"Nogal","state":"VA"}
{"index":{"_id":"18"}}
{"account_number":18,"balance":4180,"firstname":"Dale","lastname":"Adams","age":33,"gender":"M","address":"467 Hutchinson Court","email":"daleadams@boink.com","city":"Orick","state":"MD"}

See Managing indexes to learn about indexing your own data.

Running SQL queries within Query Workbench

The following steps guide you through running SQL queries against OpenSearch data:

1. Access Query Workbench.
   • To access Query Workbench, go to OpenSearch Dashboards and choose OpenSearch Plugins > Query Workbench from the main menu.
2. Run a query.
   • Select the SQL button. In the query editor, type a SQL expression and then select the Run button to run the query.

   The following example query retrieves the first name, last name, and balance from the accounts index for accounts with a balance greater than 10,000 and sorts by balance in descending order:

    SELECT
      firstname,
      lastname,
      balance
    FROM
      accounts
    WHERE
      balance > 10000
    ORDER BY
      balance DESC;
   

3. View the results.
   • View the results in the Results pane, which presents the query output in tabular format. You can filter and download the results as needed.
4. Clear the query editor.
   • Select the Clear button to clear the query editor and run a new query.
5. Examine how the query is processed.
   • Select the Explain button to examine how OpenSearch processes the query, including the steps involved and order of operations.

Running PPL queries within Query Workbench

Follow these steps to learn how to run PPL queries against OpenSearch data:

1. Access Query Workbench.
   • To access Query Workbench, go to OpenSearch Dashboards and choose OpenSearch Plugins > Query Workbench from the main menu.
2. Run a query.
   • Select the PPL button. In the query editor, type a PPL query and then select the Run button to run the query.

   The following is an example query that retrieves the firstname and lastname fields for documents in the accounts index with age greater than 18:

    search source=accounts
    | where age > 18
    | fields firstname, lastname
   

3. View the results.
   • View the results in the Results pane, which presents the query output in tabular format.
4. Clear the query editor.
   • Select the Clear button to clear the query editor and run a new query.
5. Examine how the query is processed.
   • Select the Explain button to examine how OpenSearch processes the query, including the steps involved and order of operations.