Kibana Index Pattern field discovery and mapping synchronization

Index Pattern Field Mapping

Kibana utilizes Index Patterns to bridge Elasticsearch indices with the visualization interface. This process relies on the Elasticsearch Mapping API to identify field types and populate the local Kibana cache, which governs how data appears in the Discover tab.

When the underlying Elasticsearch mapping is modified after an Index Pattern has been established, the changes are not reflected in the UI automatically. While the manual refresh action updates the field list, there is a need to understand the behavior of this synchronization in environments with high field cardinality.

Given that large numbers of unique fields can impact performance during discovery, what are the specific constraints regarding the maximum number of fields Kibana can cache per Index Pattern? Does the refresh process trigger a full re-scan of the mapping or a delta update?