nestjs

NestJS ↔ Elasticsearch (localhost) example

A minimal, copy-pasteable integration for a host-local NestJS app talking to the Dockerized Elasticsearch from this repo at http://localhost:9200.

These files are a reference to drop into your existing NestJS project — this repo only ships the Elasticsearch infrastructure, not a full Nest app.

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1. Install dependencies

npm install @nestjs/elasticsearch @elastic/elasticsearch @nestjs/config

Use the @elastic/elasticsearch major that matches the server, e.g. ^8.12.0.

2. Environment

In your NestJS project's .env:

ELASTICSEARCH_NODE=http://localhost:9200

Why localhost? NestJS runs as a normal host process, outside Docker, so it reaches the published port 9200. The hostname elasticsearch only resolves inside the Docker network and must not be used here.

3. Files

File	Role
search.module.ts	Registers ElasticsearchModule from env config
search.service.ts	Thin wrapper: health, index, search, delete
search.controller.ts	Demo REST endpoints + health check

4. Wire it up

Import SearchModule in your AppModule:

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { ConfigModule } from '@nestjs/config';
import { SearchModule } from './search/search.module';

@Module({
  imports: [
    ConfigModule.forRoot({ isGlobal: true }),
    SearchModule,
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

5. Try it

# App health → also pings Elasticsearch
curl localhost:3000/search/health

# Index a document
curl -XPOST localhost:3000/search/articles \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"id":"1","title":"Hello ES","body":"first doc"}'

# Search
curl 'localhost:3000/search/articles?q=hello'