How to Use Wildcard Query in Elasticsearch: Syntax and Examples

Use the wildcard query in Elasticsearch to search text fields with patterns using * for multiple characters and ? for a single character. This query matches documents where the field contains values fitting the wildcard pattern.

Syntax

The wildcard query uses a field name and a pattern with wildcards to find matching documents.

• field: The name of the field to search.
• value: The wildcard pattern using * (any characters) and ? (single character).
• case_insensitive (optional): Set to true to ignore case.

json

{
  "query": {
    "wildcard": {
      "field_name": {
        "value": "pattern*?",
        "case_insensitive": true
      }
    }
  }
}

Example

This example searches the name field for values starting with "jo" and ending with any characters, ignoring case.

json

{
  "query": {
    "wildcard": {
      "name": {
        "value": "jo*",
        "case_insensitive": true
      }
    }
  }
}

Output

{
  "hits": {
    "total": {
      "value": 2,
      "relation": "eq"
    },
    "hits": [
      {"_source": {"name": "John"}},
      {"_source": {"name": "Joanna"}}
    ]
  }
}

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes when using wildcard queries include:

• Using wildcards at the beginning of the pattern (e.g., *term) can be slow because it scans many terms.
• Not setting case_insensitive when needed, causing missed matches.
• Using wildcard queries on analyzed fields can give unexpected results; use keyword fields instead.

json

{
  "query": {
    "wildcard": {
      "name": {
        "value": "*doe"
      }
    }
  }
}

// Better approach:
{
  "query": {
    "wildcard": {
      "name.keyword": {
        "value": "*doe"
      }
    }
  }
}

Quick Reference

Feature	Description	Example
Wildcard characters	* matches zero or more characters, ? matches exactly one character	jo*, te?t
Case insensitive	Set case_insensitive to true to ignore case	"case_insensitive": true
Field type	Use keyword or non-analyzed fields for accurate matching	name.keyword
Performance	Avoid leading wildcards to keep queries fast	"value": "*term" is slow

Key Takeaways

Use wildcard query with * and ? to match patterns in text fields.

Set case_insensitive to true to ignore letter case in matches.

Apply wildcard queries on keyword or non-analyzed fields for correct results.

Avoid leading wildcards to prevent slow searches.

Test queries to ensure they return expected documents.