{"action":"created","issue":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156","labels_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156/labels{/name}","comments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156/comments","events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156/events","html_url":"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156","id":103548524,"number":13156,"title":"_cat should not default to verbose","user":{"login":"grantr","id":680,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/680?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr","html_url":"https://github.com/grantr","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/grantr/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":true},"labels":[{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/labels/discuss","name":"discuss","color":"fbca04"}],"state":"open","locked":false,"assignee":null,"milestone":null,"comments":4,"created_at":"2015-08-27T16:38:59Z","updated_at":"2015-08-27T17:56:31Z","closed_at":null,"body":"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/8927 changed _cat apis to be verbose by default in ES 2.0, based on motivation from https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/8922.\r\n\r\nThe motivation for the change was easing the cluster state inspection experience for users unfamiliar with the command line and ES docs. A noble goal. I certainly empathize with these users.\r\n\r\nThe opposition argued that experience is quickly gained, and experienced users want the non-verbose behavior, such that over time the majority of users will become frustrated with the new, verbose default.\r\n\r\nDespite my empathy for new users, I 100% agree with the opposition. I'd also like to point out that this is an api specifically designed for scripting (see its [introduction](https://www.elastic.co/blog/introducing-cat-api)) and every script that uses it will break in unpredictable ways when the behavior changes. Changing the default will generate a lot of unpleasant work and delay upgrades to 2.0.\r\n\r\nThe argument that every script should have used `v=false` to protect against future breakage is particularly galling, since this usage was undocumented. It demonstrates a cavalier attitude toward breaking changes that doesn't inspire trust.\r\n\r\nBreaking changes, especially breaking changes in APIs (_cat is definitely an API) should only be considered when the original behavior was fundamentally broken. That isn't the case here.\r\n\r\nA command-line, user-friendly state inspection tool would be very useful, but _cat is not that tool. Wow your users with a top-like dashboard shipped with the distribution. Don't discourage them by changing the _cat default.\r\n\r\n/cc @dakrone @drewr @TwP"},"comment":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/comments/135506900","html_url":"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156#issuecomment-135506900","issue_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/13156","id":135506900,"user":{"login":"kimchy","id":41300,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/41300?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy","html_url":"https://github.com/kimchy","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/kimchy/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"created_at":"2015-08-27T17:56:31Z","updated_at":"2015-08-27T17:56:31Z","body":"I vote to default back to non verbose mode"}}