navigation_title: "Join data with LOOKUP JOIN" mapped_pages:
LOOKUP JOIN
[esql-lookup-join-reference]The {{esql}} LOOKUP JOIN
processing command combines data from your {{esql}} query results table with matching records from a specified lookup index. It adds fields from the lookup index as new columns to your results table based on matching values in the join field.
Teams often have data scattered across multiple indices – like logs, IPs, user IDs, hosts, employees etc. Without a direct way to enrich or correlate each event with reference data, root-cause analysis, security checks, and operational insights become time-consuming.
For example, you can use LOOKUP JOIN
to:
ENRICH
LOOKUP JOIN
is similar to ENRICH
in the fact that they both help you join data together. You should use LOOKUP JOIN
when:
The LOOKUP JOIN
command adds fields from the lookup index as new columns to your results table based on matching values in the join field.
The command requires two parameters:
lookup
index.mode setting
)The name of the field to join on
LOOKUP JOIN <lookup_index> ON <field_name>
:::{image} ../images/esql-lookup-join.png
:alt: Illustration of the LOOKUP JOIN
command, where the input table is joined with a lookup index to create an enriched output table.
:::
If you're familiar with SQL, LOOKUP JOIN
has left-join behavior. This means that if no rows match in the lookup index, the incoming row is retained and null
s are added. If many rows in the lookup index match, LOOKUP JOIN
adds one row per match.
You can run this example for yourself if you'd like to see how it works, by setting up the indices and adding sample data.
:::{dropdown} Expand for setup instructions
Set up indices
First let's create two indices with mappings: threat_list
and firewall_logs
.
PUT threat_list
{
"settings": {
"index.mode": "lookup" # The lookup index must use this mode
},
"mappings": {
"properties": {
"source.ip": { "type": "ip" },
"threat_level": { "type": "keyword" },
"threat_type": { "type": "keyword" },
"last_updated": { "type": "date" }
}
}
}
PUT firewall_logs
{
"mappings": {
"properties": {
"timestamp": { "type": "date" },
"source.ip": { "type": "ip" },
"destination.ip": { "type": "ip" },
"action": { "type": "keyword" },
"bytes_transferred": { "type": "long" }
}
}
}
Add sample data
Next, let's add some sample data to both indices. The threat_list
index contains known malicious IPs, while the firewall_logs
index contains logs of network traffic.
POST threat_list/_bulk
{"index":{}}
{"source.ip":"203.0.113.5","threat_level":"high","threat_type":"C2_SERVER","last_updated":"2025-04-22"}
{"index":{}}
{"source.ip":"198.51.100.2","threat_level":"medium","threat_type":"SCANNER","last_updated":"2025-04-23"}
POST firewall_logs/_bulk
{"index":{}}
{"timestamp":"2025-04-23T10:00:01Z","source.ip":"192.0.2.1","destination.ip":"10.0.0.100","action":"allow","bytes_transferred":1024}
{"index":{}}
{"timestamp":"2025-04-23T10:00:05Z","source.ip":"203.0.113.5","destination.ip":"10.0.0.55","action":"allow","bytes_transferred":2048}
{"index":{}}
{"timestamp":"2025-04-23T10:00:08Z","source.ip":"198.51.100.2","destination.ip":"10.0.0.200","action":"block","bytes_transferred":0}
{"index":{}}
{"timestamp":"2025-04-23T10:00:15Z","source.ip":"203.0.113.5","destination.ip":"10.0.0.44","action":"allow","bytes_transferred":4096}
{"index":{}}
{"timestamp":"2025-04-23T10:00:30Z","source.ip":"192.0.2.1","destination.ip":"10.0.0.100","action":"allow","bytes_transferred":512}
:::
FROM firewall_logs # The source index
| LOOKUP JOIN threat_list ON source.ip # The lookup index and join field
| WHERE threat_level IS NOT NULL # Filter for rows non-null threat levels
| SORT timestamp # LOOKUP JOIN does not guarantee output order, so you must explicitly sort the results if needed
| KEEP source.ip, action, threat_type, threat_level # Keep only relevant fields
| LIMIT 10 # Limit the output to 10 rows
A successful query will output a table. In this example, you can see that the source.ip
field from the firewall_logs
index is matched with the source.ip
field in the threat_list
index, and the corresponding threat_level
and threat_type
fields are added to the output.
source.ip | action | threat_type | threat_level |
---|---|---|---|
203.0.113.5 | allow | C2_SERVER | high |
198.51.100.2 | block | SCANNER | medium |
203.0.113.5 | allow | C2_SERVER | high |
Refer to the examples section of the LOOKUP JOIN
command reference for more examples.
To use LOOKUP JOIN
, the following requirements must be met:
lookup
index modeshort
and byte
are compatible with integer
(all represented as int
)float
, half_float
, and scaled_float
are compatible with double
(all represented as double
).keyword
subfieldTo obtain a join key with a compatible type, use a conversion function if needed.
For a complete list of supported data types and their internal representations, see the Supported Field Types documentation.
This section covers important details about LOOKUP JOIN
that impact query behavior and results. Review these details to ensure your queries work as expected and to troubleshoot unexpected results.
When fields from the lookup index match existing column names, the new columns override the existing ones.
Before the LOOKUP JOIN
command, preserve columns by either:
RENAME
to assign non-conflicting namesEVAL
to create new columns with different namesThe output rows produced by LOOKUP JOIN
can be in any order and may not
respect preceding SORT
s. To guarantee a certain ordering, place a SORT
after
any LOOKUP JOIN
s.
The following are the current limitations with LOOKUP JOIN
:
lookup
mode are always single-sharded.LOOKUP JOIN
can only use a single match field and a single index. Wildcards, aliases, datemath, and datastreams are not supported.LOOKUP JOIN lu_idx ON match_field
must match an existing field in the query. This may require RENAME
s or EVAL
s to achieve.LOOKUP JOIN
works in batches of, normally, about 10,000 rows; a large amount of heap space is needed if the matching documents from the lookup index for a batch are multiple megabytes or larger. This is roughly the same as for ENRICH
.