OpenSearch Instance Management

Manage Alibaba Cloud OpenSearch instances, including creation and query operations.

Terminology: OpenSearch instance and OpenSearch app group are synonymous. This document uses "instance" uniformly.

Scenario Description

OpenSearch is Alibaba Cloud's intelligent search service. This skill covers core instance management operations:

1. Create Instance - Create a new OpenSearch instance
2. List Instances - Get the list of instances under the current account
3. Describe Instance - Get detailed information of a specific instance

Architecture: OpenSearch Instance (AppGroup)

Alibaba Cloud OpenSearch Instance Management
├── CreateAppGroup     (Create Instance)
├── DescribeAppGroup   (Describe Instance)
└── ListAppGroups      (List Instances)

Installation

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI >= 3.3.3 required Run aliyun version to verify >= 3.3.3. If not installed or version too low, run curl -fsSL https://aliyuncli.alicdn.com/setup.sh | bash to update, or see references/cli-installation-guide.md for installation instructions.

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI plugin update required

[MUST] run aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true to enable automatic plugin installation. [MUST] run aliyun plugin update to ensure that any existing plugins are always up-to-date.

# Install/Upgrade Aliyun CLI
curl -fsSL https://aliyuncli.alicdn.com/setup.sh | bash
aliyun version  # Ensure >= 3.3.3

# Enable auto plugin installation
aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true

# Update plugins
aliyun plugin update

[MUST] CLI User-Agent — Every aliyun CLI command invocation must include: --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

[MUST] AI-Mode — Before executing CLI commands, run:

1. aliyun configure ai-mode enable
2. aliyun configure ai-mode set-user-agent --user-agent "AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage" After all CLI operations complete, run: aliyun configure ai-mode disable

Authentication

Pre-check: Alibaba Cloud Credentials Required

Security Rules (MUST FOLLOW):

• NEVER read, echo, or print AK/SK values
• NEVER ask the user to input AK/SK directly in the conversation
• NEVER use aliyun configure set with literal credential values
• NEVER accept AK/SK provided directly by users in the conversation
• ONLY read credentials from environment variables or pre-configured CLI profiles

⚠️ CRITICAL: Handling User-Provided Credentials

If a user attempts to provide AK/SK directly (e.g., "My AK is xxx, SK is yyy"):

1. STOP immediately - Do NOT execute any command
2. Reject the request politely with the following message:

   For your account security, please do not provide Alibaba Cloud AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret directly in the conversation.
   
   Please use the following secure methods to configure credentials:
   
   Method 1: Interactive configuration via aliyun configure (Recommended)
       aliyun configure
       # Enter AK/SK as prompted, credentials will be securely stored in local config file
   
   Method 2: Configure via environment variables
       export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID=\x3Cyour-access-key-id>
       export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET=\x3Cyour-access-key-secret>
   
   After configuration, please retry your request.
   

3. Do NOT proceed with any Alibaba Cloud operations until credentials are properly configured

Check CLI configuration:

   aliyun configure list

Check the output for a valid profile (AK, STS, or OAuth identity).

If no valid credentials exist, STOP here.

RAM Permissions

[MUST] RAM Permission Pre-check: Before executing any operation, ensure the current user has the required RAM permissions. See references/ram-policies.md for detailed permission list.

Parameter Confirmation

IMPORTANT: Parameter Confirmation — Before executing any command or API call, ALL user-customizable parameters (e.g., instance name, instance type, charge type, quota spec, etc.) MUST be confirmed with the user. Do NOT assume or use default values without explicit user approval.

Required Parameters

Spec Types

Industry Types (for enhanced type only)

Core Workflow

Note: OpenSearch APIs use ROA (RESTful) style. You can use --body to specify the HTTP request body as a JSON string. See examples in each task below.

Idempotency: For write operations (create, restart, delete, etc.), you MUST use --client-token parameter for idempotency.

• Use a UUID format unique identifier as clientToken
• When request times out or fails, you can safely retry with the same clientToken; recommend waiting 10s before retry
• Repeated requests with the same clientToken will not execute the operation multiple times
• Generation: uuidgen (macOS/Linux) or [guid]::NewGuid() (PowerShell)

Task 1: Create OpenSearch Instance

# Generate idempotency token
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --client-token "$CLIENT_TOKEN" \
  --body '{
    "name": "\x3Cinstance_name>",
    "type": "\x3Cstandard|enhanced>",
    "chargeType": "\x3CPOSTPAY|PREPAY>",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": \x3Cstorage_GB>,
      "computeResource": \x3Ccompute_LCU>,
      "spec": "\x3Cspec_type>"
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Optional Parameters (add in body):

• domain - Industry type (only for enhanced type): general (default) / ecommerce / esports / community / education

Idempotency and Dry-run Support (via Query parameters):

• --dryRun true - Dry-run mode, validates parameters without actual creation
• --client-token \x3Cunique_id> - Idempotency token, same token multiple requests only creates once

Example: Create an enhanced (Industry Algorithm) pay-as-you-go instance (E-commerce)

# Generate idempotency token
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --client-token "$CLIENT_TOKEN" \
  --body '{
    "name": "my_search_instance",
    "type": "enhanced",
    "chargeType": "POSTPAY",
    "domain": "ecommerce",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": 100,
      "computeResource": 2000,
      "spec": "opensearch.private.common"
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Example: Create a standard (High-performance) instance

# Generate idempotency token
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --client-token "$CLIENT_TOKEN" \
  --body '{
    "name": "my_standard_instance",
    "type": "standard",
    "chargeType": "POSTPAY",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": 50,
      "computeResource": 1000,
      "spec": "opensearch.share.common"
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Example: Create a subscription (prepaid) instance

Note: Subscription instances MUST provide order parameter

# Generate idempotency token
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --client-token "$CLIENT_TOKEN" \
  --body '{
    "name": "my_prepay_instance",
    "type": "enhanced",
    "chargeType": "PREPAY",
    "domain": "ecommerce",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": 100,
      "computeResource": 2000,
      "spec": "opensearch.private.common"
    },
    "order": {
      "duration": 1,
      "pricingCycle": "Year",
      "autoRenew": true
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Dry-run Mode Example (validates parameters only, no actual creation):

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --dryRun true \
  --body '{
    "name": "my_search_instance",
    "type": "enhanced",
    "chargeType": "POSTPAY",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": 100,
      "computeResource": 2000,
      "spec": "opensearch.private.common"
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Idempotent Creation Example (prevents duplicate creation):

# Generate idempotency token
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)

aliyun opensearch create-app-group \
  --client-token "$CLIENT_TOKEN" \
  --body '{
    "name": "my_search_instance",
    "type": "enhanced",
    "chargeType": "POSTPAY",
    "quota": {
      "docSize": 100,
      "computeResource": 2000,
      "spec": "opensearch.private.common"
    }
  }' \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Task 2: List Instances

aliyun opensearch list-app-groups \
  --engine-type ha3 \
  --page-number \x3Cpage> \
  --page-size \x3Csize> \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Supported Filter Parameters:

• --engine-type ha3 - Engine type (default ha3, must specify)
• --name \x3Cinstance_name> - Filter by name
• --instance-id \x3Cinstance_id> - Filter by instance ID
• --type \x3Cstandard|enhanced> - Filter by type
  • standard: High-performance
  • enhanced: Industry Algorithm
• --sort-by \x3Cfield> - Sort field

Example: List instances

aliyun opensearch list-app-groups \
  --engine-type ha3 \
  --page-number 1 \
  --page-size 10 \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Task 3: Describe Instance

aliyun opensearch describe-app-group \
  --app-group-identity \x3Cinstance_name_or_id> \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Example: Get instance details

aliyun opensearch describe-app-group \
  --app-group-identity my_search_instance \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Response includes:

• Basic info (instanceId, name, type, status)
• Quota info (quota: docSize, computeResource, spec)
• Billing info (chargeType, chargingWay)
• Version info (currentVersion, versions)
• Status info (lockMode, produced)
• Engine info (engineType)

Success Verification

For operation verification, see references/verification-method.md

Quick Verification

Verify Instance Creation:

aliyun opensearch describe-app-group \
  --app-group-identity \x3Cinstance_name> \
  --connect-timeout 3 \
  --read-timeout 10 \
  --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-opensearch-app-manage

Check if result.instanceId field is non-empty; if non-empty, instance creation succeeded.

Resource Cleanup

To delete instances, please use OpenSearch Console.

API and Command Reference

For complete API list, see references/related-apis.md

Best Practices

Write Operation Parameter Confirmation (Required)

Important: Before executing write operations (create instance, etc.), you MUST confirm the following parameters with the user:

Pre-creation Confirmation Checklist:

Confirmation Flow Example:

You are about to create the following OpenSearch instance, please confirm:

- Region: cn-hangzhou (China East 1)
- Instance Name: my_search_instance
- Instance Type: Industry Algorithm (enhanced)
- Industry: E-commerce (ecommerce)
- Charge Type: Pay-as-you-go (POSTPAY)
- Spec Type: Dedicated Common (opensearch.private.common)
- Storage: 100 GB
- Compute: 2000 LCU

Confirm creation? (yes/no)

Idempotency Best Practices

For write operations (create, restart, delete), follow these idempotency best practices:

1. Generate unique Token before each operation: Use uuidgen to generate UUID
2. Reuse Token on timeout retry: If request times out, retry with the same clientToken
3. Use different Token for different operations: Each independent operation needs a new clientToken
4. Token validity: clientToken is typically valid for 24 hours

# Example: Safe retry pattern
CLIENT_TOKEN=$(uuidgen)
echo "Using clientToken: $CLIENT_TOKEN"

# First attempt
aliyun opensearch create-app-group --client-token $CLIENT_TOKEN ...

# If timeout, retry with same Token
aliyun opensearch create-app-group --client-token $CLIENT_TOKEN ...

Other Best Practices

1. Naming Convention: Instance name must start with a letter, only lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores (_) allowed, hyphens (-) are forbidden, max 30 characters
   • ✅ Correct: my_search_instance, video_search, product_search_2024
   • ❌ Incorrect: my-search-instance, My_Search, 123_search
2. Quota Planning: Plan storage and compute resources based on actual data volume and query requirements
3. Charge Type Selection:
   • Test/Dev environment: Use pay-as-you-go (POSTPAY)
   • Production environment: Consider subscription (PREPAY) to reduce costs
   • Note: Subscription instances MUST provide order parameter (including duration and pricingCycle)
4. Instance Type Selection:
   • High-performance (standard): Suitable for general search scenarios
   • Industry Algorithm (enhanced): Suitable for specific industry scenarios, requires domain parameter
5. Industry Selection (Industry Algorithm):
   • E-commerce: ecommerce
   • Gaming: esports
   • Content Community: community
   • Education: education
   • General: general (default)
6. Spec Selection:
   • Shared Common: Suitable for small-scale scenarios
   • Dedicated: Suitable for production environments, more stable performance
7. Resource Cleanup: Delete unused pay-as-you-go instances promptly to avoid unnecessary costs

Reference Links