When using Azure Search for your indexes (as is default in Sitecore PaaS), you can quickly hit the 1000 fields limit imposed by Azure Search.

(Each template field you add, is added to your master index, multiplied by the number of languages you are using)

We first tried excluding all the custom fields but that was like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

We would like to inverse the logic and set the IndexAllFields property of the master index to false, so that only fields that are explicitly configured end up in the database.

For our custom logic, we use seperate indexes.

Is there a list of fields that sitecore needs and should be added to the master index? Or is there another approach to get past this limit?

We would like to inverse the logic and set the IndexAllFields property of the master index to false, so that only fields that are explicitly configured end up in the database. (Reason we are doing this has to do with the 1000 fields limit azure search)

Is there a list of fields that sitecore needs and should be added to the master index?