Documentation discrepancy - Custom Kibana settings on Elastic Cloud

[emrcbrn]

Description

Currently, when a user checks the Elastic Cloud documentation to check which Kibana settings can be modified, they do not align with the Kibana settings we list in the main Kibana documentation, or specifically, there is no icon that confirms it's supported:

For the setting server.maxPayload this is the case, but there might be a need to review other Kibana settings and cross-check what's officially supported on Elastic Cloud and add the icon where needed.

What should be reviewed/corrected

Review Kibana settings and cross-check what's officially supported on Elastic Cloud and add the icon where needed.

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-docs (Team:Docs)

[florent-leborgne]

Hi @emrcbrn, thanks for raising this.
Is there one of the 2 docs that is correct, and is there a way to check which ones are supported?

[emrcbrn]

Hi @florent-leborgne ! I think the main source of truth is the Elastic Cloud supported documentation, so we should use that to correct the Kibana docs.

is there a way to check which ones are supported?

Yes, test every setting documented in our Cloud documentation for custom settings in an Elastic Cloud environment to be sure it's 100% correct, then correct the main Kibana documentation. Though it's a bit of a tedious process, to be honest.

[florent-leborgne]

I think the main source of truth is the Elastic Cloud supported documentation, so we should use that to correct the Kibana docs.

Got it. That's at least one way we can start with it.
Though I'm not entirely sure what is the benefit of documenting this in 2 different places. As you pointed out, it just creates maintenance hassle and risk for discrepancies. In parallel to updating the Kibana docs, we'll investigate if there's a way to refactor these into a unique, maintained, source of truth.

[kilfoyle]

Though I'm not entirely sure what is the benefit of documenting this in 2 different places. As you pointed out, it just creates maintenance hassle and risk for discrepancies. In parallel to updating the Kibana docs, we'll investigate if there's a way to refactor these into a unique, maintained, source of truth.

For sure!!! We have a plan over the next few months to try and improve how the Kibana (and other) settings docs pages are generated. As part of that effort we can try to make the Kibana settings pages the single source of truth, and simply link to those from the Cloud docs. This new settings effort is in its early stages, but details can be found in this PR.

[TinaHeiligers]

As part of that effort we can try to make the Kibana settings pages the single source of truth, and simply link to those from the Cloud docs.

@kilfoyle please be aware that Cloud doesn't allow configuring every kibana setting. Some settings are not exposed to Cloud users and aren't documented on purpose.

Please reach out to the Kibana teams (or Core) if you need to discuss the approach.