Last Reviewed: 2026-06-11

Elasticsearch Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions

Instructions for troubleshooting Elasticsearch issues with the ElasticPress plugin on your Pantheon WordPress site.

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Information:

Beta support for Elasticsearch

This documentation describes support for Elasticsearch that is under active development and is available to customers who are participating in our Beta program.

Troubleshooting

ElasticPress cannot connect to the host

• Verify that Elasticsearch has been activated in the Pantheon Dashboard or via Terminus.
• Check the ElasticPress Status Report for connection errors and details.
• Use the ElasticPress WP-CLI command wp elasticpress status to check connectivity from the command line (terminus wp <site>.<env> -- elasticpress status).

Search results are outdated or missing content

• Run a full index sync from the ElasticPress dashboard or via WP-CLI (terminus wp <site>.<env> -- elasticpress sync).
• If you recently published or updated content, allow a moment for the sync to complete before testing.

Site performance has not improved after enabling Elasticsearch

• Ensure ElasticPress features are actually enabled under ElasticPress > Features in WordPress admin.
• Check that ep_integrate is not set to false on your critical queries.
• Use the ElasticPress Status Report (under ElasticPress > Status Report) to verify that queries are being routed to Elasticsearch.

Instant Results returns "Search template not found"

The Instant Results feature requires a stored search template on ElasticPress.io. This template is separate from your index mappings and synced content.

• Verify the template exists: Run terminus wp <site>.<env> -- elasticpress get-search-template. If it returns null, the template is missing.
• Push the template: Run terminus wp <site>.<env> -- elasticpress put-search-template, then verify again with get-search-template.
• If put-search-template reports success but get-search-template still returns null: The Search feature ("Post Search & Filter") is likely not active. Instant Results depends on it to generate the template. Enable it first: terminus wp <site>.<env> -- elasticpress activate-feature search, then retry put-search-template.
• The template is automatically pushed at the end of sync and sync --setup, but only if both the Instant Results and Search features are active. If the Search feature is inactive, the template body will be empty and the push will silently fail.

Plugin activation errors

• Ensure you are running a supported version of WordPress and PHP.
• Deactivate other search plugins that may conflict with ElasticPress.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay extra for Elasticsearch?

Access to Elasticsearch is included for sites on Performance plans and above.

During the Beta phase, the Elasticsearch add-on is able to be activated via Site Settings in the Pantheon Dashboard. There is no need to submit a form to participate in the Beta.

Feature	Elasticsearch	Apache Solr
CMS Support	WordPress	WordPress, Drupal
Plan Availability	Performance, Elite (not Sandbox)	Sandbox (dev only), Performance, Elite
Plugin	ElasticPress	Solr Power (WordPress), Search API Solr (Drupal)
Fuzzy Search	Yes	Limited
Instant Search	Yes	No
Autosuggest	Yes	No
Faceted Search	Yes	Yes
WooCommerce Support	Yes	No
WP_Query Offloading	Yes	Yes
Related Content	Yes	Manual
Status	Beta	Generally Available

What plugin do I use?

Use the open-source ElasticPress plugin from WordPress.org. Pantheon does not require a custom plugin — ElasticPress is the standard WordPress integration for Elasticsearch.

Can I use Solr and Elasticsearch at the same time?

Yes. Solr can be enabled at the same time as Elasticsearch to support migration. However, it is not recommended to actively use both in production simultaneously.

Do I get a dedicated Elasticsearch instance?

Pantheon uses shared Elasticsearch clusters.

Do I get all the features of ElasticPress?

Yes. All features available in the ElasticPress plugin are supported on Pantheon's Elasticsearch integration, including features that are specific to ElasticPress.io.

Can I use ElasticPress AI features?

Yes, you can use ElasticPress AI features with your own API keys. Pantheon does not provide API keys or built-in AI integration at this time.

Does each environment get its own Elasticsearch endpoint?

Yes. Every environment on your site — Dev, Test, Live, and Multidevs — receives its own Elasticsearch endpoint. This ensures that indexing and searching in one environment does not affect another.