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OpenSearch:Forward index

Last Updated:Jun 17, 2026

What is a forward index?

A forward index, also known as an attribute index or profile index, is an index that stores the value of a specific field for each document. It is used for filtering, aggregations, sorting, and scoring. The term "forward" refers to the direct mapping from a document to its field value (doc --> field value).

Supported data types

The engine supports the following basic data types for fields in a forward index:

Type

Description

Single value

Multi-value

INT8

An 8-bit signed integer.

id=-27

id=-27^]26^]33

UINT8

An 8-bit unsigned integer.

id=56

id=27^]222^]32

INT16

A 16-bit signed integer.

id=-2724

id=-1217^]236

UINT16

A 16-bit unsigned integer.

id=65531

id=65531^]22236^]0^]1

INTEGER

A 32-bit signed integer.

id=-655312

id=-2714442^]2344126^]33441

UINT32

A 32-bit unsigned integer.

id=65537

id=4011341512^]26^]33

INT64

A 64-bit signed integer.

id=-551533527

id=-2416664447^]236^]133

UINT64

A 64-bit unsigned integer.

id=23545114533527

id=12416664447^]121436^]2

FLOAT

A 32-bit single-precision floating-point number.

id=3.14

id=3.25^]3.50^]3.75

DOUBLE

A 64-bit double-precision floating-point number.

id=3.1415926

id=-3.1415926^]26.1444^]55.1441

STRING

A sequence of characters.

id=abc

id=abc^]def^]dgg^]dd