---
navigation_title: "KV"
mapped_pages:
  - https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/kv-processor.html
---

# KV processor [kv-processor]


This processor helps automatically parse messages (or specific event fields) which are of the `foo=bar` variety.

For example, if you have a log message which contains `ip=1.2.3.4 error=REFUSED`, you can parse those fields automatically by configuring:

```js
{
  "kv": {
    "field": "message",
    "field_split": " ",
    "value_split": "="
  }
}
```

::::{tip}
Using the KV Processor can result in field names that you cannot control. Consider using the [Flattened](/reference/elasticsearch/mapping-reference/flattened.md) data type instead, which maps an entire object as a single field and allows for simple searches over its contents.
::::


$$$kv-options$$$

| Name | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `field` | yes | - | The field to be parsed. Supports [template snippets](docs-content://manage-data/ingest/transform-enrich/ingest-pipelines.md#template-snippets). |
| `field_split` | yes | - | Regex pattern to use for splitting key-value pairs |
| `value_split` | yes | - | Regex pattern to use for splitting the key from the value within a key-value pair |
| `target_field` | no | `null` | The field to insert the extracted keys into. Defaults to the root of the document. Supports [template snippets](docs-content://manage-data/ingest/transform-enrich/ingest-pipelines.md#template-snippets). |
| `include_keys` | no | `null` | List of keys to filter and insert into document. Defaults to including all keys |
| `exclude_keys` | no | `null` | List of keys to exclude from document |
| `ignore_missing` | no | `false` | If `true` and `field` does not exist or is `null`, the processor quietly exits without modifying the document |
| `prefix` | no | `null` | Prefix to be added to extracted keys |
| `trim_key` | no | `null` | String of characters to trim from extracted keys |
| `trim_value` | no | `null` | String of characters to trim from extracted values |
| `strip_brackets` | no | `false` | If `true` strip brackets `()`, `<>`, `[]` as well as quotes `'` and `"` from extracted values |
| `description` | no | - | Description of the processor. Useful for describing the purpose of the processor or its configuration. |
| `if` | no | - | Conditionally execute the processor. See [Conditionally run a processor](docs-content://manage-data/ingest/transform-enrich/ingest-pipelines.md#conditionally-run-processor). |
| `ignore_failure` | no | `false` | Ignore failures for the processor. See [Handling pipeline failures](docs-content://manage-data/ingest/transform-enrich/ingest-pipelines.md#handling-pipeline-failures). |
| `on_failure` | no | - | Handle failures for the processor. See [Handling pipeline failures](docs-content://manage-data/ingest/transform-enrich/ingest-pipelines.md#handling-pipeline-failures). |
| `tag` | no | - | Identifier for the processor. Useful for debugging and metrics. |