---
title: Streams
description: Kibana Streams is a centralized UI for managing Elasticsearch data streams: retention, field extraction, routing into child streams, and data quality...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/streams
---

# Streams
[Kibana Streams](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/streams) is a centralized UI for managing Elasticsearch data streams: retention, field extraction, routing into child streams, and data quality. This library maps to Streams through two ingest targets.

## Terminology


| Kibana Streams | This library       | What it means                                                                   |
|----------------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Classic stream | `[DataStream<T>]`  | You own templates. Bootstrap creates component + data stream templates.         |
| Wired stream   | `[WiredStream<T>]` | Elasticsearch manages templates and lifecycle. Bulk goes to a managed endpoint. |

Classic streams work with existing `{type}-{dataset}-{namespace}` data streams. Wired streams are the managed ingest path (Elastic Stack 9.2+ / serverless preview) that supports hierarchical inheritance and cascading configuration.

## Choosing a target

```mermaid
flowchart TD
  start[Need Streams-friendly log ingest?] --> q1{Manage templates yourself?}
  q1 -->|Yes / self-managed stack| classic["DataStream EntityTarget"]
  q1 -->|No / serverless managed| wired["WiredStream EntityTarget"]
  classic --> bootstrap[Bootstrap component + DS templates]
  wired --> endpoint[Pick logs / logs.ecs / logs.otel]
  bootstrap --> kibanaClassic[Appears as classic stream in Kibana]
  endpoint --> kibanaWired[Appears under wired streams hierarchy]
```


| Use case                                     | Attribute                                    | Guide                                                                                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Append-only logs/metrics with local mappings | `[DataStream<T>]`                            | [Data streams](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/data-streams)                     |
| LogsDB storage mode                          | `[DataStream<T>(DataStreamMode = LogsDb)]`   | [LogsDB](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/logsdb)                                 |
| Managed wired ingest (serverless / Streams)  | `[WiredStream<T>]`                           | [Wired streams](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/wired-streams)                   |
| ECS documents from ecs-dotnet                | `[WiredStream<T>(IngestEndpoint = LogsEcs)]` | [ECS and OTel endpoints](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/ecs-and-otel-endpoints) |


## What Kibana owns after ingest

Once documents land in Streams, Kibana features operate on them. The .NET library does **not** author Streamlang or extract knowledge indicators — those are configured in Kibana (or via the Streams API).
See [Downstream Streams features](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic-ingest-dotnet/index-management/streams-downstream-features) for how document shape affects Streamlang, significant events, and knowledge indicators.

## Related Elastic docs

- [Streams overview](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/streams)
- [Get data into Streams](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/get-data-in)
- [Wired streams field naming](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/wired-streams-field-naming)
- [Streamlang](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/streamlang)
- [Knowledge indicators](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/streams/knowledge-indicators)