es-tui

Lightweight Elasticsearch / OpenSearch TUI Manager — browse indices, search documents, and monitor cluster health from the terminal. Built with Go and Bubble Tea.

The connection screen uses a multicolor palette inspired by the Elastic logo (pink, yellow, teal, blue, green).

Quick Install

# Native install — recommended (macOS and Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidbudnick/es-tui/main/install.sh | bash

# Homebrew (macOS and Linux)
brew tap davidbudnick/homebrew-tap
brew install --cask es-tui

# Go (requires Go 1.26+)
go install github.com/davidbudnick/es-tui@latest

Pre-built binaries — Download from GitHub Releases

Screenshots

Index browser

Documents · logs (smart columns + JSON preview)

Documents · products

Document detail

Nodes

Features

Browsing and Search

Index browser with pattern filtering and redis-style split list + preview
Document browser with query_string or full JSON Query DSL, source columns, and JSON preview
Document detail with syntax-highlighted JSON and scroll
Search console across one index or the whole cluster (pagination, history)
Favorites and recent indices for quick access
Saved queries persisted to disk
Explain API and count from the search / palette flows
Export matching documents as NDJSON

Cluster and Index Ops

Cluster health and node list (roles, heap, RAM, CPU, master)
Shards, aliases, and index templates
Live metrics — docs, store size, search latency, JVM heap, CPU, sparklines
Disk allocation, tasks (cancel), plugins, data streams
Cluster settings and snapshots (list by repository)
Create / delete / open / close / refresh / force-merge indices
Reindex (async task)
Index / update / delete documents, delete-by-query bulk delete
Cat API explorer for ad-hoc _cat/* calls
Command palette (:) for jumping to any screen

Connections

CLI quick connect — --host, --port, --user, --password, --api-key, --bearer, --flavor, --read-only
Connection manager with saved instances
TLS/SSL support (client certs, CA, skip-verify)
Auto-detect Elasticsearch vs OpenSearch (or force with --flavor)
Read-only mode blocks mutations
Secrets (password, API key, bearer) are never written to disk

Installation

Native Install (Recommended)

The install script auto-detects your OS and architecture, downloads the latest release, verifies the checksum, and installs the binary to ~/.local/bin (override with INSTALL_DIR):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidbudnick/es-tui/main/install.sh | bash

# Custom install directory
INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidbudnick/es-tui/main/install.sh | bash

Homebrew

See Quick Install above.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/davidbudnick/es-tui.git
cd es-tui
make build
make install

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release from the Releases page. Pre-built binaries are available for macOS, Linux, and Windows with no Go installation required.

Using Go Install

Note: Requires Go 1.26 or later.

go install github.com/davidbudnick/es-tui@latest

Usage

# Interactive connection manager
es-tui

# Quick connect to Elasticsearch (default port 9200)
es-tui --host localhost

# OpenSearch on 9201
es-tui --host localhost --port 9201 --flavor opensearch

# Basic auth + TLS
es-tui --host es.example.com --tls --user elastic --password secret

# API key
es-tui --host es.example.com --api-key "$ES_API_KEY" --tls

# Bearer token + read-only
es-tui --host es.example.com --bearer "$TOKEN" --read-only --tls

# Version / self-update
es-tui --version
es-tui --update

When --host is provided the TUI connects automatically on startup. Without flags the interactive connection manager is shown.

Press ? inside the app for the full help screen. Press : for the command palette.

CLI Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--host`	`-h`	Server hostname
`--port`	`-p`	Server port	9200
`--password`	`-a`	Basic auth password
`--user`		Basic auth username
`--api-key`		API key auth
`--bearer`		Bearer token auth
`--name`		Connection display name	`host:port`
`--flavor`		`auto`, `elasticsearch`, `opensearch`	auto
`--read-only`		Block mutations	false
`--tls`		Enable TLS	false
`--tls-cert`		Client certificate
`--tls-key`		Client key
`--tls-ca`		CA certificate
`--tls-skip-verify`		Skip TLS verify	false
`--version`		Print version
`--update`		Self-update

Uninstall

# Native install
rm -f ~/.local/bin/es-tui

# Homebrew
brew uninstall --cask es-tui

# Go
rm -f $(go env GOPATH)/bin/es-tui

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global

Key	Action	Key	Action
`q` / `esc`	Quit / go back	`r`	Refresh
`?`	Help	`:`	Command palette
`j` / `k`	Navigate	`Ctrl+C`	Force quit

Connections

Key	Action	Key	Action
`Enter`	Connect	`a`	Add connection
`e`	Edit	`d`	Delete
`t`	Test connection

Indices

Key	Action	Key	Action
`Enter`	Browse documents	`i`	Index detail
`f`	Filter pattern	`/`	Search
`O` / `X`	Open / close index	`u` / `M`	Refresh / force-merge
`I`	Reindex	`a`	Create index
`d`	Delete index	`c` / `n` / `m`	Health / nodes / metrics
`V` / `W`	Allocation / tasks	`E` / `U` / `Z`	Data streams / settings / snapshots
`Y` / `Q` / `#`	Saved queries / export / count	`A` / `T` / `C`	Aliases / templates / cat API
`F` / `R` / `L`	Favorites / recent / logs	`*`	Toggle favorite

Search

Key	Action	Key	Action
`Enter`	Run query / open hit	`j` / `k`	Navigate hits
`n` / `p`	Next / prev page	`y`	Copy JSON
`S`	Save query	`x` / `#`	Explain / count

Documents

Key	Action	Key	Action
`Enter`	Open document	`/` / `f`	Search / filter
`y`	Copy	`n` / `p`	Page
`e`	Edit	`d` / `D`	Delete / bulk delete

Docker Compose Examples

Need a cluster to try es-tui? Docker Compose files are included under examples/.

# Elasticsearch on :9200 + OpenSearch on :9201
make docker-up
make docker-seed

# Elasticsearch only
make docker-up-es
make docker-seed-es
./bin/es-tui --host localhost --port 9200

# OpenSearch only
make docker-up-os
make docker-seed-os
./bin/es-tui --host localhost --port 9201 --flavor opensearch

make docker-down

Seeded demo indices: products, customers, orders, logs-app, metrics-host, events (plus aliases shop / catalog → products).

Configuration

Configuration is stored in ~/.config/es-tui/config.json.

Example Configuration

{
  "connections": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Elasticsearch",
      "host": "localhost",
      "port": 9200,
      "flavor": "elasticsearch",
      "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "OpenSearch",
      "host": "localhost",
      "port": 9201,
      "flavor": "opensearch",
      "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "name": "Prod (TLS)",
      "host": "es.example.com",
      "port": 9200,
      "username": "elastic",
      "flavor": "auto",
      "use_tls": true,
      "tls_config": {
        "ca_file": "/path/to/ca.pem",
        "insecure_skip_verify": false
      },
      "read_only": true,
      "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "local",
      "color": "#00BFB3",
      "connections": [1, 2]
    }
  ],
  "favorites": [
    {
      "connection_id": 1,
      "connection": "Elasticsearch",
      "index": "products",
      "label": "Catalog",
      "added_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "recent_indices": [
    {
      "connection_id": 1,
      "index": "logs-app",
      "accessed_at": "2025-01-20T14:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "saved_queries": [
    {
      "name": "merch products",
      "index": "products",
      "query": "tags:merch"
    }
  ],
  "max_recent_indices": 20,
  "max_value_history": 50
}

Note: Passwords, API keys, and bearer tokens are never saved to the config file. They are stripped before serialization. The config directory is created with 0750 permissions.

Connection Options

Option	Description
`name`	Display name
`host`	Hostname or IP
`port`	Port (default 9200)
`username`	Basic auth username
`password`	Basic auth password (never saved)
`api_key`	API key (never saved)
`bearer_token`	Bearer token (never saved)
`flavor`	`auto`, `elasticsearch`, or `opensearch`
`group`	Optional group name
`color`	Optional display color
`use_tls`	Enable TLS
`read_only`	Block mutations
`tls_config.cert_file`	Client certificate
`tls_config.key_file`	Client key
`tls_config.ca_file`	CA certificate
`tls_config.insecure_skip_verify`	Skip verify
`tls_config.server_name`	SNI / server name

Updates

Released builds self-update:

es-tui --update

The TUI also checks GitHub on startup and shows a status-bar hint when a newer version is available (update vX.Y.Z · es-tui --update). Homebrew installs suggest brew upgrade es-tui instead.

Requirements

Go 1.26 or later (for building from source or go install)
A terminal that supports 256 colors
Elasticsearch 7+ or OpenSearch 1+ (HTTP _cat / REST APIs)

Supported Platforms

macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)
Linux (amd64, arm64)
Windows (amd64)

Development

# Install development dependencies (goreleaser)
make dev-deps

# Run the application
make run

# Run tests
make test

# Run tests with coverage
make test-cover

# Coverage floor (≥80% overall; 100% on cmd/types/service)
make test-cover-check

# Lint / format
make lint
make fmt

# Build
make build
make build-all

# Docker demo clusters
make docker-up
make docker-seed
make docker-down

# Render the README demo GIF (requires vhs + Docker demo clusters)
make demo

# Release
make release
make snapshot

CI / Release

Workflow	Trigger	What it does
CI	push/PR to `main`	lint, tests + coverage, cross-compile, GoReleaser check + snapshot
Release	tag `v*`	GoReleaser publishes GitHub Release
Security	push/PR + weekly	gosec, govulncheck, dependency review
Dependabot	weekly	Go modules + GitHub Actions

Cut a release:

git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

Optional secret HOMEBREW_TAP_GITHUB_TOKEN publishes a cask to davidbudnick/homebrew-tap.

See FEATURES.md for the feature matrix and roadmap.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Run tests before committing: go test -v -race ./...
Commit your changes using conventional commits (feat:, fix:, docs:, etc.)
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Before submitting

All tests must pass with the race detector: go test -v -race ./...
Run make lint and make fmt
Never suppress errors in tests — every error return must be checked
Config changes must include persistence round-trip tests
See CLAUDE.md for code conventions, architecture, and guardrails

Acknowledgments

Bubble Tea — TUI framework
Lip Gloss — Styling library
Bubbles — TUI components
redis-tui — sister project and UX reference
Elasticsearch and OpenSearch REST / _cat APIs

Keywords

elasticsearch, opensearch, es-tui, elastic, kibana-alternative, terminal, tui, cli, go, golang, search, devops, sysadmin, cluster-admin

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 23 Commits
.github		.github
docs		docs
examples		examples
internal		internal
scripts		scripts
.gitignore		.gitignore
.goreleaser.yml		.goreleaser.yml
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
FEATURES.md		FEATURES.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
coverage_extra_test.go		coverage_extra_test.go
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
install.sh		install.sh
main.go		main.go
main_coverage_test.go		main_coverage_test.go
main_test.go		main_test.go
update.go		update.go
update_coverage_test.go		update_coverage_test.go
update_test.go		update_test.go

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es-tui

Quick Install

Screenshots

Index browser

Documents · logs (smart columns + JSON preview)

Documents · products

Document detail

Nodes

Features

Browsing and Search

Cluster and Index Ops

Connections

Installation

Native Install (Recommended)

Homebrew

From Source

Pre-built Binaries

Using Go Install

Usage

CLI Flags

Uninstall

Global

Connections

Indices

Search

Documents

Docker Compose Examples

Configuration

Example Configuration

Connection Options

Updates

Requirements

Supported Platforms

Development

CI / Release

License

Contributing

Before submitting

Acknowledgments

Keywords

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