Command types

There are four broad types for all of the search commands: distributable streaming, centralized streaming, transforming, generating. These types are not mutually exclusive. A command might be streaming or transforming, and also a generating command.

The following tables list the commands that fit into each of these types. For detailed explanations about each of the types, see Types of commands in the Search Manual.

Streaming commands

A streaming command operates on each event as the event is returned by a search.

• A distributable streaming command runs on the indexer or the search head, depending on where in the search the command is invoked. Distributable streaming commands can be applied to subsets of indexed data in a parallel manner.
• A centralized streaming command applies a transformation to each event returned by a search. Unlike distributable streaming commands, a centralized streaming command only works on the search head.

Command	Notes
addinfo	Distributable streaming
anomalydetection
append
arules
autoregress	Centralized streaming.
bin	Streaming if specified with the span argument.
bucketdir
cluster	Streaming in some modes.
convert	Distributable streaming.
dedup	Streaming in some modes.
eval	Distributable streaming.
extract	Distributable streaming.
fieldformat	Distributable streaming.
fields	Distributable streaming.
fillnull	Distributable streaming when no field-list is specified. When field-list is specified, the fillnull command fits into the Other type.
head	Centralized streaming.
highlight	Distributable streaming.
iconify	Distributable streaming.
iplocation	Distributable streaming.
join	Centralized streaming, as long as there is a defined set of fields to join to.
lookup	Distributable streaming when specified with local=false
makemv	Distributable streaming.
multikv	Distributable streaming.
mvexpand	Distributable streaming.
nomv	Distributable streaming.
rangemap	Distributable streaming.
regex	Distributable streaming.
reltime	Distributable streaming.
rename	Distributable streaming.
replace	Distributed streaming.
rex	Distributable streaming.
search	Distributable streaming if used further down the search pipeline. Generating when the first command in the search.
spath	Distributable streaming.
strcat	Distributable streaming.
streamstats	Centralized streaming.
tags	Distributable streaming.
transaction	Centralized streaming.
typer	Distributable streaming.
where	Distributable streaming.
untable	Distributable streaming.
xmlkv	Distributable streaming.
xmlunescape
xpath	Distributable streaming.
xyseries	Distributable streaming if the argument grouped=false in specified. Otherwise Transforming.

Generating commands

A generating command generates events or reports from one or more indexes without transforming the events.

Command	Notes
datamodel	Report-generating
dbinspect	Report-generating.
eventcount	Report-generating.
from	Can be either report-generating or event-generating depending on the search or knowledge object that is referenced by the command.
gentimes
inputcsv	Event-generating (centralized).
Inputlookup	Event-generating (centralized) when append=false, which is the default.
loadjob	Event-generating (centralized).
makeresults	Report-generating.
metadata	Report-generating. Although metadata fetches data from all peers, any command run after it runs only on the search head.
mstats	Report-generating.
multisearch	Event-generating.
pivot	Report-generating.
search	Event-generating (distributable) when the first command in the search, which is the default. Distributable streaming if used as a subsearch.
searchtxn	Event-generating.
set	Event-generating.
tstats	Report-generating (distributable) when prestats=true. When prestats=false, tstats is event-generating.

Transforming commands

A transforming command orders the results into a data table. The command "transforms" the specified cell values for each event into numerical values for statistical purposes.

In earlier versions of Splunk software, transforming commands were referred to as reporting commands.

Command	Notes
addtotals	Transforming when used to calculate column totals (not row totals).
chart
cofilter
contingency
history
makecontinuous
mvcombine
rare
stats
table
timechart
top
xyseries	Transforming if grouped=true, otherwise distributable streaming.

Other commands

There are a handful of commands that do not fit into these types. Some commands fit into the types only in specific situations.

The following commands are not transforming, not distributable, not streaming, and not orchestrating: sort, eventstats, and some modes of cluster, dedup, and fillnull.