Connect Bonsai to Shift so you can merge all your web apps into your browser
Download ShiftWhat is Bonsai?
Bonsai is a fully managed search platform that lets teams deploy and operate Elasticsearch and OpenSearch clusters without running the underlying infrastructure. It’s designed for developers, data engineers, and product teams that need product search, log analytics, or full-text search with minimal ops overhead.
Bonsai supports cloud-hosted clusters on AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure and offers AI-powered features like vector and hybrid retrieval. The service handles automatic scaling and performance tuning, includes built-in security controls (encryption, authentication, and compliance certifications), and uses a two-phase snapshot-and-restore upgrade flow to preserve availability. Developers get API keys, a Go client, and a Terraform provider, plus a free starter cluster. The console exposes credential management, logs, and cluster metrics so teams can monitor health while relying on Bonsai for maintenance. It pairs well with other tools in Shift to keep search infrastructure visible and organized alongside development and monitoring apps.
How Bonsai works in Shift
Adding Bonsai to Shift centralizes your search infrastructure tools inside a single, persistent workspace. You can manage clusters, review logs, and iterate on queries without juggling browser windows.
Use Shift’s multi-account feature to stay signed into multiple Bonsai environments—dev, staging, and production—at once. Keep dashboards, Terraform code, and incident tickets side-by-side to reproduce issues and apply fixes without losing your place. Recurring workspaces restore a “search operations” layout after restarts, saving setup time. Custom view layouts let you run a Kibana-like dashboard next to your repository or documentation, and one-window session persistence reduces friction during long monitoring tasks. Overall, the integration streamlines workflows for teams deploying search features, investigating logs, or tuning relevance across projects.
Alternatives to Bonsai
- Amazon OpenSearch Service — Delivers a managed OpenSearch experience tightly integrated with AWS services and IAM, ideal for teams needing deep AWS integration.
- Algolia — A hosted search-as-a-service focused on instant relevance and a strong developer experience for product search and discovery.
FAQ
1. How much does Bonsai charge for transactions?
Bonsai pricing typically depends on cluster size, node types, storage, and data transfer rather than per-transaction fees. Consult Bonsai’s pricing page or your contract for exact billing details and any request-based charges.
2. How does Bonsai secure data?
Bonsai provides encryption in transit and at rest, authentication controls, and compliance features. It also supports credential management and secure API tokens; production plans include additional access controls and audit capabilities.
3. Why might a plan downgrade fail (Can’t downgrade)?
Downgrades can fail if your cluster’s data or resource usage exceeds the lower plan’s limits, or if automated snapshots required for the downgrade haven’t completed. Ensure snapshots finish, reduce resource usage, or contact Bonsai support for migration help.
4. Does Bonsai offer a free tier?
Yes—Bonsai provides a free starter cluster so you can evaluate the platform and run small-scale workloads. Free tiers have limited capacity and are best suited for testing and development.
5. Can I use Bonsai with Terraform and APIs?
Yes—Bonsai exposes REST APIs, API tokens, a Go client, and a Terraform provider to automate cluster provisioning and management via infrastructure-as-code workflows.
