---
id: kibBestPractices
slug: /kibana-dev-docs/best-practices
title: Best practices
summary: Best practices to follow when building a Kibana plugin.
date: 2021-03-17
tags: ['kibana', 'onboarding', 'dev', 'architecture']
---

## General

First things first, be sure to review our <DocLink id="kibDevPrinciples" text="development principles"/> and check out all the available
platform <DocLink id="kibBuildingBlocks" text="building blocks"/> that can simplify plugin development.

## Developer documentation

### High-level documentation

#### Structure

Refer to [divio documentation](https://documentation.divio.com/) for guidance on where and how to structure our high-level documentation.

<DocLink id="kibDevDocsWelcome" text="Getting started" /> and
<DocLink id="kibPlatformIntro" text="Key concepts" /> sections are both _explanation_ oriented,
<DocLink id="kibDevTutorialDebugging" text="Tutorials" /> covers both _tutorials_ and _How to_, and the <DocLink
  id="kibDevDocsApiWelcome"
  text="API documentation"
/> section covers _reference_ material.

#### Location

If the information spans multiple plugins, consider adding it to the [dev_docs](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/tree/master/dev_docs) folder. If it is plugin specific, consider adding it inside the plugin folder. Write it in an mdx file if you would like it to show up in our new (beta) documentation system.

<DocCallOut title="internal only">

To add docs into the new docs system, create an `.mdx` file that
contains <DocLink id="docsSyntax" section="frontmatter" text="frontmatter"/>. Read about the syntax <DocLink id="docsSyntax" text="here"/>. An extra step is needed to add a menu item. <DocLink id="docsSetup" text="These instructions" /> will walk you through how to set the docs system
up locally and edit the nav menu.

</DocCallOut>

#### Keep content fresh

A fresh pair of eyes are invaluable. Recruit new hires to read, review and update documentation. Leads should also periodically review documentation to ensure it stays up to date. File issues any time you notice documentation is outdated.

#### Consider your target audience

Documentation in the Kibana Developer Guide is targeted towards developers building Kibana plugins. Keep implementation details about internal plugin code out of these docs.

#### High to low level

When a developer first lands in our docs, think about their journey. Introduce basic concepts before diving into details. The left navigation should be set up so documents on top are higher level than documents near the bottom.

#### Think outside-in

It's easy to forget what it felt like to first write code in Kibana, but do your best to frame these docs "outside-in". Don't use esoteric, internal language unless a definition is documented and linked. The fresh eyes of a new hire can be a great asset.

### API documentation

We automatically generate <DocLink id="kibDevDocsApiWelcome" text="API documentation"/>. The following guidelines will help ensure your <DocLink id="kibPlatformIntro" section="public-plugin-api" text="public APIs" /> are useful.

#### Code comments

Every publicly exposed function, class, interface, type, parameter and property should have a comment using JSDoc style comments.

- Use `@param` tags for every function parameter.
- Use `@returns` tags for return types.
- Use `@throws` when appropriate.
- Use `@beta` or `@deprecated` when appropriate.
- Use `@removeBy {version}` on `@deprecated` APIs. The version should be the last version the API will work in. For example, `@removeBy 7.15` means the API will be removed in 7.16. This lets us avoid mid-release cycle coordination. The API can be removed as soon as the 7.15 branch is cut.
- Use `@internal` to indicate this API item is intended for internal use only, which will also remove it from the docs.

#### Interfaces vs inlined types

Prefer types and interfaces over complex inline objects. For example, prefer:

```ts
/**
* The SearchSpec interface contains settings for creating a new SearchService, like
* username and password.
*/
export interface SearchSpec {
 /**
  * Stores the username. Duh,
  */
 username: string;
 /**
  * Stores the password. I hope it's encrypted!
  */
 password: string;
}

 /**
  * Retrieve search services
  * @param searchSpec Configuration information for initializing the search service.
  * @returns the id of the search service
  */
export getSearchService: (searchSpec: SearchSpec) => string;
```

over:

```ts
/**
  * Retrieve search services
  * @param searchSpec Configuration information for initializing the search service.
  * @returns the id of the search service
  */
export getSearchService: (searchSpec: { username: string; password: string }) => string;
```

In the former, there will be a link to the `SearchSpec` interface with documentation for the `username` and `password` properties. In the latter the object will render inline, without comments:

![prefer interfaces documentation](./assets/dev_docs_nested_object.png)

#### Export every type used in a public API

When a publicly exported API items references a private type, this results in a broken link in our docs system. The private type is, by proxy, part of your public API, and as such, should be exported.

Do:

```ts
export interface AnInterface { bar: string };
export type foo: string | AnInterface;
```

Don't:

```ts
interface AnInterface { bar: string };
export type foo: string | AnInterface;
```

#### Avoid “Pick”

`Pick` not only ends up being unhelpful in our documentation system, but it's also of limited help in your IDE. For that reason, avoid `Pick` and other similarly complex types on your public API items. Using these semantics internally is fine.

![pick api documentation](./assets/api_doc_pick.png)

### Example plugins

Running Kibana with `yarn start --run-examples` will include all [example plugins](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/tree/master/examples). These are tested examples of platform services in use. We strongly encourage anyone providing a platform level service or <DocLink id="kibBuildingBlocks" text="building block"/> to include a tutorial that links to a tested example plugin. This is better than relying on copied code snippets, which can quickly get out of date.

## Performance

Build with scalability in mind.

- Consider data with many fields
- Consider data with high cardinality fields
- Consider large data sets, that span a long time range
- Consider slow internet and low bandwidth environments

## Accessibility

Did you know Kibana makes a public statement about our commitment to creating an accessible product for people
with disabilities? [We do](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/master/accessibility.html)! It's very important
all of our apps are accessible.

- Learn how [EUI tackles accessibility](https://elastic.github.io/eui/#/guidelines/accessibility)
- If you don't use EUI, follow the same EUI accessibility standards

<DocCallOut title="Internal only">
  Elasticians, check out the #accessibility channel to ask questions and receive guidance.
</DocCallOut>

## Localization

Kibana is translated into other languages. Use our i18n utilities to ensure your public facing strings will be translated to ensure all Kibana apps are localized. Read and adhere to our [i18n guidelines](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/blob/master/packages/kbn-i18n/GUIDELINE.md)

<DocCallOut title="Internal only">
  Elasticians, check out the #kibana-localization channel to ask questions and receive guidance.
</DocCallOut>

## Styleguide

We use es-lint rules when possible, but please review our [styleguide](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/blob/master/STYLEGUIDE.md), which includes recommendations that can't be linted on.

Es-lint overrides on a per-plugin level are discouraged.

## Plugin best practices

Don't export <DocLink id="kibPlatformIntro" section="public-plugin-api" text="public APIs"/> without reason. Make your public APIs as small as possible. You will have to maintain them, and consider backward compatibility when making changes.

Add `README.md` to all your plugins and services and include contact information.

## Re-inventing the wheel

Over-refactoring can be a problem in it's own right, but it's still important to be aware of the existing services that are out there and use them when it makes sense. Check out our <DocLink id="kibBuildingBlocks" text="building blocks"/> to see what high-level services are at your disposal. In addition, our <DocLink id="kibDevDocsApiWelcome" text="API documentation" /> lists additional services.

## Feature development

### Timing

<DocCallOut title="Internal only">

Try not to put your PR in review mode, or merge large changes, right before Feature Freeze. It's inevitably one of the most volatile times for the
Kibana code base, try not to contribute to this volatility. Doing this can:

- increase the likelyhood of conflicts from other features being merged at the last minute
- means your feature has less QA time
- means your feature gets less careful review as reviewers are often swamped at this time

All of the above contributes to more bugs being found in the QA cycle and can cause a delay in the release. Prefer instead to merge
your large change right _after_ feature freeze. If you are worried about missing your initial release version goals, review our
[release train philophy](https://github.com/elastic/dev/blob/master/shared/time-based-releases.md). It's okay!

</DocCallOut>

### Size

When possible, build features with incrementals sets of small and focused PRs, but don't check in unused code, and don't expose any feature on master that you would not be comfortable releasing.

![product_stages](./assets/product_stages.png)

If your feature cannot be broken down into smaller components, or multiple engineers will be contributing, you have a few other options to consider.

**1. Hide your feature behind a feature flag**

Features can be merged behind a flag if you are not ready to make them the default experience, but all code should still be tested, complete and bug free.

A good question to ask yourself is, how will you feel if a customer turns this feature on? Is it usable, even if not up to the
level of something we would market? It should have some level of minimal utility.

Another question to ask yourself is, if this feature gets cancelled, how difficult will it be to remove?

**2. Develop on a feature branch**

This option is useful if you have more than one contributor working on a large feature. The downside is handling code conflicts when rebasing with the main branch.

Consider how you want to handle the PR review. Reviewing each PR going into the feature branch can lighten the review process when merging into the main branch.

**3. Use an example plugin**

If you are building a service for developers, create an [example plugin](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/tree/master/examples) to showcase and test intended usage. This is a great way for reviewers and PMs to play around with a feature through the UI, before the production UI is ready. This can also help developers consuming your services get hands on.

## Embrace the monorepo

Kibana uses a monorepo and our processes and tooling are built around this decision. Utilizing a monorepo allows us to have a consistent peer review process and enforce the same code quality standards across all of Kibana's code. It also eliminates the necessity to have separate versioning strategies and constantly coordinate changes across repos.

When experimenting with code, it's completely fine to create a separate GitHub repo to use for initial development. Once the code has matured to a point where it's ready to be used within Kibana, it should be integrated into the Kibana GitHub repo.

There are some exceptions where a separate repo makes sense. However, they are exceptions to the rule. A separate repo has proven beneficial when there's a dedicated team collaborating on a package which has multiple consumers, for example [EUI](https://github.com/elastic/eui).

It may be tempting to get caught up in the dream of writing the next package which is published to npm and downloaded millions of times a week. Knowing the quality of developers that are working on Kibana, this is a real possibility. However, knowing which packages will see mass adoption is impossible to predict. Instead of jumping directly to writing code in a separate repo and accepting all of the complications that come along with it, prefer keeping code inside the Kibana repo. A [Kibana package](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/tree/master/packages) can be used to publish a package to npm, while still keeping the code inside the Kibana repo. Move code to an external repo only when there is a good reason, for example to enable external contributions.

## Security best practices

When writing code for Kibana, be sure to follow these best practices to avoid common vulnerabilities. Refer to the included Open Web
Application Security Project (OWASP) references to learn more about these types of attacks.

### Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

[_OWASP reference for XSS_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/xss)

XSS is a class of attacks where malicious scripts are injected into vulnerable websites. Kibana defends against this by using the React
framework to safely encode data that is rendered in pages, the EUI framework to [automatically sanitize
links](https://elastic.github.io/eui/#/navigation/link#link-validation), and a restrictive `Content-Security-Policy` header.

**Best practices**

- Check for dangerous functions or assignments that can result in unescaped user input in the browser DOM. Avoid using:
  - **React:** [`dangerouslySetInnerHtml`](https://reactjs.org/docs/dom-elements.html#dangerouslysetinnerhtml).
  - **Browser DOM:** `Element.innerHTML` and `Element.outerHTML`.
- If using the aforementioned unsafe functions or assignments is absolutely necessary, follow [these XSS prevention
  rules](https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Cross_Site_Scripting_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html#xss-prevention-rules) to ensure that
  user input is not inserted into unsafe locations and that it is escaped properly.
- Use EUI components to build your UI, particularly when rendering `href` links. Otherwise, sanitize user input before rendering links to
  ensure that they do not use the `javascript:` protocol.
- Don't use the `eval`, `Function`, and `_.template` functions -- these are restricted by ESLint rules.
- Be careful when using `setTimeout` and `setInterval` in client-side code. If an attacker can manipulate the arguments and pass a string to
  one of these, it is evaluated dynamically, which is equivalent to the dangerous `eval` function.

### Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF/XSRF)

[_OWASP reference for CSRF_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/csrf)

CSRF is a class of attacks where a user is forced to execute an action on a vulnerable website that they're logged into, usually without
their knowledge. Kibana defends against this by requiring [custom request
headers](https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html#use-of-custom-request-headers)
for API endpoints. For more information, see [API Request
Headers](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/master/api.html#api-request-headers).

**Best practices**

- Ensure all HTTP routes are registered with the [Kibana HTTP service](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/master/http-service.html) to
  take advantage of the custom request header security control.
  - Note that HTTP GET requests do **not** require the custom request header; any routes that change data should [adhere to the HTTP
    specification and use a different method (PUT, POST, etc.)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Methods)

### Remote Code Execution (RCE)

[_OWASP reference for Command Injection_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Command_Injection),
[_OWASP reference for Code Injection_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Code_Injection)

RCE is a class of attacks where an attacker executes malicious code or commands on a vulnerable server. Kibana defends against this by using
ESLint rules to restrict vulnerable functions, and by hooking into or hardening usage of these in third-party dependencies.

**Best practices**

- Don't use the `eval`, `Function`, and `_.template` functions -- these are restricted by ESLint rules.
- Don't use dynamic `require`.
- Check for usages of templating libraries. Ensure that user-provided input doesn't influence the template and is used only as data for
  rendering the template.
- Take extra caution when spawning child processes with any user input or parameters that are user-controlled.

### Prototype Pollution

Prototype Pollution is an attack that is unique to JavaScript environments. Attackers can abuse JavaScript's prototype inheritance to
"pollute" objects in the application, which is often used as a vector for XSS or RCE vulnerabilities. Kibana defends against this by
hardening sensitive functions (such as those exposed by `child_process`), and by requiring validation on all HTTP routes by default.

**Best practices**

- Check for instances of `anObject[a][b] = c` where `a`, `b`, and `c` are controlled by user input. This includes code paths where the
  following logical code steps could be performed in separate files by completely different operations, or by recursively using dynamic
  operations.
- Validate all user input, including API URL parameters, query parameters, and payloads. Preferably, use a schema that only allows specific
  keys and values. At a minimum, implement a deny-list that prevents `__proto__` and `prototype.constructor` from being used within object
  keys.
- When calling APIs that spawn new processes or perform code generation from strings, protect against Prototype Pollution by checking if
  `Object.hasOwnProperty` has arguments to the APIs that originate from an Object. An example is the defunct Code app's
  [`spawnProcess`](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/blob/b49192626a8528af5d888545fb14cd1ce66a72e7/x-pack/legacy/plugins/code/server/lsp/workspace_command.ts#L40-L44)
  function.
  - Common Node.js offenders: `child_process.spawn`, `child_process.exec`, `eval`, `Function('some string')`, `vm.runInContext(x)`,
    `vm.runInNewContext(x)`, `vm.runInThisContext()`
  - Common client-side offenders: `eval`, `Function('some string')`, `setTimeout('some string', num)`, `setInterval('some string', num)`

See also:

- [Prototype pollution: The dangerous and underrated vulnerability impacting JavaScript applications |
  portswigger.net](https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/prototype-pollution-the-dangerous-and-underrated-vulnerability-impacting-javascript-applications)
- [Prototype pollution attack in NodeJS application | Olivier
  Arteau](https://github.com/HoLyVieR/prototype-pollution-nsec18/blob/master/paper/JavaScript_prototype_pollution_attack_in_NodeJS.pdf)

### Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

[_OWASP reference for SSRF_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Server_Side_Request_Forgery)

SSRF is a class of attacks where a vulnerable server is forced to make an unintended request, usually to an HTTP API. This is often used as
a vector for information disclosure or injection attacks.

**Best practices**

- Ensure that all outbound requests from the Kibana server use hard-coded URLs.
- If user input is used to construct a URL for an outbound request, ensure that an allow-list is used to validate the endpoints and that
  user input is escaped properly. Ideally, the allow-list should be set in `kibana.yml`, so only server administrators can change it.
  - This is particularly relevant when using `transport.request` with the Elasticsearch client, as no automatic escaping is performed.
  - Note that URLs are very hard to validate properly; exact match validation for user input is most preferable, while URL parsing or RegEx
    validation should only be used if absolutely necessary.

### Reverse tabnabbing

[_OWASP reference for Reverse Tabnabbing_](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Reverse_Tabnabbing)

Reverse tabnabbing is an attack where a link to a malicious page is used to rewrite a vulnerable parent page. This is often used as a vector
for phishing attacks. Kibana defends against this by using the EUI framework, which automatically adds the `rel` attribute to anchor tags,
buttons, and other vulnerable DOM elements.

**Best practices**

- Use EUI components to build your UI whenever possible. Otherwise, ensure that any DOM elements that have an `href` attribute also have the
  `rel="noreferrer noopener"` attribute specified. For more information, refer to the [OWASP HTML5 Security Cheat
  Sheet](https://github.com/OWASP/CheatSheetSeries/blob/master/cheatsheets/HTML5_Security_Cheat_Sheet.md#tabnabbing).
- If using a non-EUI markdown renderer, use a custom link renderer for rendered links.

### Information disclosure

Information disclosure is not an attack, but it describes whenever sensitive information is accidentally revealed. This can be configuration
info, stack traces, or other data that the user is not authorized to access. This concern cannot be addressed with a single security
control, but at a high level, Kibana relies on the hapi framework to automatically redact stack traces and detailed error messages in HTTP
5xx response payloads.

**Best practices**

- Look for instances where sensitive information might accidentally be revealed, particularly in error messages, in the UI, and URL
  parameters that are exposed to users.
- Make sure that sensitive request data is not forwarded to external resources. For example, copying client request headers and using them
  to make an another request could accidentally expose the user's credentials.
