typeahead
Description
Returns autosuggest information for a specified prefix that is used to autocomplete word candidates in searches. The maximum number of results returned is based on the value you specify for the count
argument.
Syntax
The required syntax is in bold.
- | typeahead
- prefix=<string>
- count=<int>
- [collapse=<bool>]
- [endtimeu=<int>]
- [index=<string>]
- [max_servers=<int>]
- [max_time=<int>]
- [starttimeu=<int>]
- [use_cache=<bool>]
Required arguments
- prefix
- Syntax: prefix=<string>
- Description: The full search string to return
typeahead
information.
- count
- Syntax: count=<int>
- Description: The maximum number of results to return.
Optional arguments
- banned_segments
- Syntax: banned_segments=<semicolon-separated-list>
- Description: Specifies a semicolon-separated list of segments. The
typeahead
search processor filters events with these segments out of the results it returns. A best practice is to bracket each listed segment with wildcard asterisks ('*'). For example, if you setbanned_segments = *password*;*SSN*
, Splunk software filters any event that contains the stringpassword
orSSN
from the search results. - Default: no default
- collapse
- Syntax: collapse=<bool>
- Description: Specify whether to collapse a term that is a prefix of another term when the event count is the same.
- Default: true
- endtimeu
- Syntax: endtimeu=<int>
- Description: Set the end time to N seconds, measured in UNIX time.
- Default: now
- index-specifier
- Syntax: index=<string>
- Description: Search the specified index instead of the default index.
- max_servers
- Syntax: max_servers=<int>
- Description: Specify the maximum number of indexers or remote search peers to be used in addition to the search head for
typeahead
searches. If themax_servers
argument is not specified, the default value is2
, which means Splunk software uses two search peers in addition to any search heads. - Default: 2
- max_time
- Syntax: max_time=<int>
- Description: The maximum time in seconds that the
typeahead
can run. Ifmax_time=0
, there is no limit. - Default: 1 second
- startimeu
- Syntax: starttimeu=<int>
- Description: Set the start time to N seconds, measured in UNIX time.
- Default: 0
- use_cache
- Syntax: use_cache = <boolean>
- Description: Specifies whether the
typeahead
cache will be used ifuse_cache
is not specified in the command line or endpoint. Whenuse_cache
is turned on, Splunk software uses cached search results when runningtypeahead
searches, which may have outdated results for a few minutes after you make changes to .conf files. For more information, see Typeahead and .conf file updates. - Default: true or 1
Usage
The typeahead
command is a generating command and should be the first command in the search. Generating commands use a leading pipe character.
The typeahead
command can be targeted to an index and restricted by time.
When you run the typeahead
command, Splunk software runs internal typeahead
searches and extracts data from indexes, configurations, and search histories. This information is used to autocomplete word candidates when users type commands in the Search bar in Splunk Web. The typeahead
command extracts data from these sources:
- Terms or tokens from the index lexicon.
- Settings in configuration files, such as props.conf and savedsearches.conf.
- The search history from previous searches in Splunk Web.
Protect sensitive information in typeahead searches
If you have sensitive information, such as Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) data that you don't want to be visible to users when they run typeahead
searches, you can use the banned_segments
argument to prevent sensitive data from displaying in typeahead
searches.
For example, to make sure that password or social security information is not visible to users, you can add a new line for the banned_segments
setting to the typeahead
stanza in the limits.conf file like this:
[typeahead] banned_segments = *password*;*SSN*;*ssn*
Then, when your users run typeahead
searches, any fields containing password
, SSN
, or ssn
are filtered from the search results.
Splunk Cloud Platform
- To add a
banned_segments
string that you want filtered out oftypeahead
searches, request help from Splunk Support. If you have a support contract, file a new case using the Splunk Support Portal at Support and Services. Otherwise, contact Splunk Customer Support.
Splunk Enterprise
- To add a string to the
banned_segments
argument in the limits.conf file, follow these steps.
- Prerequisites
- Only users with file system access, such as system administrators, can edit configuration files.
- Review the steps in How to edit a configuration file in the Splunk Enterprise Admin Manual.
Never change or copy the configuration files in the default directory. The files in the default directory must remain intact and in their original location. Make changes to the files in the local directory.
- Steps
- Open or create a local limits.conf file at $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local.
- In the
typeahead
stanza, setbanned_segments
to the string that you want filtered out as the prefix intypeahead
searches.
The impact of typeahead on search results
The typeahead
command returns the most common terms found in indexed data with the given prefix. If you use the typeahead
command with the default settings, the command may not return all search results or the correct search results in the following cases:
- The time to complete the search takes longer than the value specified by the
max_time
argument, which is 1 second, by default. - Data is indexed on a server that is not randomly chosen, resulting in the exclusion of its data from the search results. This can happen when the value of
max_server
is less than the number of indexers, for example, ifmax_server
is set to the default, which is2
, but there are actually 3 indexers.
In addition, the typeahead
command may not return all of the search results if the count
argument is set lower than the actual number of results. For example, if the count
argument is set to 10
, the typeahead
command returns only the top 10 results, even though more results could actually be returned.
Set the number of additional search peers used in a typeahead job
The max_servers
argument is designed to minimize the workload impact of running typeahead
search jobs in an indexer clustering environment. For load balancing, the selection of additional search peers for typeahead is random.
A setting of 0
removes all limits, causing all available search peers to be used for typeahead search jobs.
The default for the max_servers
argument is controlled by the max_servers
setting in limits.conf
.
Typeahead and .conf file updates
The typeahead
command uses a cache to run fast searches at the expense of accurate results. As a result, sometimes what is in the cache and shows up in typeahead
search results may not reflect recent changes to .conf files. This is because it takes 5 or 10 minutes for the cached data to clear, depending on the performance of the server. For example, if you rename a sourcetype
in the props.conf
file, it may take a few minutes for that change to display in typeahead
search results. A typeahead
search that is run while the cache is being cleared returns the cached data, which is expected behavior.
If you make a change to a .conf file, you can wait a few minutes for the cache to clear to get the most accurate and up-to-date results from your typeahead
search. Alternatively, you can turn off the use_cache
argument to clear the cache immediately, which fetches more accurate results, but is a little slower. After you manually clear the cache, you should see the changes to your .conf file reflected in your results when you rerun the typeahead
search.
For more information, see Rename source types in the Splunk Cloud Platform Getting Data In manual.
Typeahead and tsidx bucket reduction
typeahead
searches over indexes that have undergone tsidx bucket reduction will return incorrect results.
For more information see Reduce tsidx disk usage in Managing indexers and clusters of indexers.
Examples
Example 1: Return typeahead information for source
When you run a typeahead
search, Splunk software extracts information about field definitions from indexes, configurations, and search histories, and displays the relevant information for the specified prefix. For example, say you run the following search for the source
prefix against the main index:
| typeahead index=main prefix="source" count=3
The typeahead
command searches the index and shows you what is visible to your users as autocomplete suggestions when they start to type source
in their searches in Splunk Web. The results look something like this:
content | count | operator |
---|---|---|
source="access_30DAY.log" | 131645 | false |
source="data.csv" | 4 | false |
source="db_audit_30DAY.csv" | 44096 | false |
Example 2: Return typeahead information for saved searches
You can also run typeahead
on saved searches. For example, say you run this search:
|typeahead prefix="savedsearch=" count=3
The results look something like this, which tells you what your users see as autocomplete suggestions when they start to type savedsearch
in the Search bar in Splunk Web.
content | count | operator |
---|---|---|
savedsearch="403_by_clientip" | 26 | true |
savedsearch="Errors in the last 24 hours" | 5 | true |
savedsearch="Errors in the last hour" | 2 | true |
Example 3: Return typeahead information for sourcetypes in the _internal index
When you run the following typeahead
search, Splunk software returns typeahead information for sourcetypes in the _internal index.
| typeahead prefix=sourcetype count=5 index=_internal
The results look something like this.
content | count | operator |
---|---|---|
sourcetype | 373993 | false |
sourcetype="mongod" | 711 | false |
sourcetype="scheduler" | 2508 | false |
sourcetype="splunk_btool" | 3 | false |
sourcetype="splunk_intro_disk_objects" | 5 | false |
tstats | typelearner |
This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk Cloud Platform™: 9.1.2308, 8.2.2202, 8.2.2203, 9.0.2205, 9.0.2208, 9.0.2209, 9.0.2303, 9.0.2305
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