--- title: Response data formats description: While the textual format is nice for humans, computers prefer something more structured. Elasticsearch SQL can return the data in the following formats... url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/query-languages/sql/sql-rest-format products: - Elasticsearch applies_to: - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available - Elastic Stack: Generally available --- # Response data formats While the textual format is nice for humans, computers prefer something more structured. Elasticsearch SQL can return the data in the following formats which can be set either through the `format` property in the URL or by setting the `Accept` HTTP header: The URL parameter takes precedence over the `Accept` HTTP header. If neither is specified then the response is returned in the same format as the request. | format | `Accept` HTTP header | Description | |----------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Human Readable | | | | `csv` | `text/csv` | [Comma-separated values](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values) | | `json` | `application/json` | [JSON](https://www.json.org/) (JavaScript Object Notation) human-readable format | | `tsv` | `text/tab-separated-values` | [Tab-separated values](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab-separated_values) | | `txt` | `text/plain` | CLI-like representation | | `yaml` | `application/yaml` | [YAML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML) (YAML Ain’t Markup Language) human-readable format | | Binary Formats | | | | `cbor` | `application/cbor` | [Concise Binary Object Representation](https://cbor.io/) | | `smile` | `application/smile` | [Smile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(data_interchange_format)) binary data format similar to CBOR | The `CSV` format accepts a formatting URL query attribute, `delimiter`, which indicates which character should be used to separate the CSV values. It defaults to comma (`,`) and cannot take any of the following values: double quote (`"`), carriage-return (`\r`) and new-line (`\n`). The tab (`\t`) can also not be used, the `tsv` format needs to be used instead. Here are some examples for the human readable formats: ## CSV ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` which returns: ```text author,name,page_count,release_date Peter F. Hamilton,Pandora's Star,768,2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z Vernor Vinge,A Fire Upon the Deep,613,1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Frank Herbert,Dune,604,1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Alastair Reynolds,Revelation Space,585,2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z James S.A. Corey,Leviathan Wakes,561,2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z ``` or: ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` which returns: ```text author;name;page_count;release_date Peter F. Hamilton;Pandora's Star;768;2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z Vernor Vinge;A Fire Upon the Deep;613;1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Frank Herbert;Dune;604;1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Alastair Reynolds;Revelation Space;585;2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z James S.A. Corey;Leviathan Wakes;561;2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z ``` ## JSON ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` Which returns: ```json { "columns": [ {"name": "author", "type": "text"}, {"name": "name", "type": "text"}, {"name": "page_count", "type": "short"}, {"name": "release_date", "type": "datetime"} ], "rows": [ ["Peter F. Hamilton", "Pandora's Star", 768, "2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z"], ["Vernor Vinge", "A Fire Upon the Deep", 613, "1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z"], ["Frank Herbert", "Dune", 604, "1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z"], ["Alastair Reynolds", "Revelation Space", 585, "2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z"], ["James S.A. Corey", "Leviathan Wakes", 561, "2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z"] ], "cursor": "sDXF1ZXJ5QW5kRmV0Y2gBAAAAAAAAAAEWWWdrRlVfSS1TbDYtcW9lc1FJNmlYdw==:BAFmBmF1dGhvcgFmBG5hbWUBZgpwYWdlX2NvdW50AWYMcmVsZWFzZV9kYXRl+v///w8=" } ``` ## TSV ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` Which returns: ```text author name page_count release_date Peter F. Hamilton Pandora's Star 768 2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z Vernor Vinge A Fire Upon the Deep 613 1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Frank Herbert Dune 604 1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space 585 2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z James S.A. Corey Leviathan Wakes 561 2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z ``` ## TXT ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` Which returns: ```text author | name | page_count | release_date -----------------+--------------------+---------------+------------------------ Peter F. Hamilton|Pandora's Star |768 |2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z Vernor Vinge |A Fire Upon the Deep|613 |1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Frank Herbert |Dune |604 |1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z Alastair Reynolds|Revelation Space |585 |2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z James S.A. Corey |Leviathan Wakes |561 |2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z ``` ## YAML ```json { "query": "SELECT * FROM library ORDER BY page_count DESC", "fetch_size": 5 } ``` Which returns: ```yaml columns: - name: "author" type: "text" - name: "name" type: "text" - name: "page_count" type: "short" - name: "release_date" type: "datetime" rows: - - "Peter F. Hamilton" - "Pandora's Star" - 768 - "2004-03-02T00:00:00.000Z" - - "Vernor Vinge" - "A Fire Upon the Deep" - 613 - "1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z" - - "Frank Herbert" - "Dune" - 604 - "1965-06-01T00:00:00.000Z" - - "Alastair Reynolds" - "Revelation Space" - 585 - "2000-03-15T00:00:00.000Z" - - "James S.A. Corey" - "Leviathan Wakes" - 561 - "2011-06-02T00:00:00.000Z" cursor: "sDXF1ZXJ5QW5kRmV0Y2gBAAAAAAAAAAEWWWdrRlVfSS1TbDYtcW9lc1FJNmlYdw==:BAFmBmF1dGhvcgFmBG5hbWUBZgpwYWdlX2NvdW50AWYMcmVsZWFzZV9kYXRl+v///w8=" ```