diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/common/constants.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/common/constants.ts
index bfcb5e8e15b9d..019afcba60000 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/common/constants.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/common/constants.ts
@@ -22,4 +22,5 @@ export const INDEXES_SEPARATOR = ',';
 export const AUTO_INTERVAL = 'auto';
 export const ROUTES = {
   VIS_DATA: '/api/metrics/vis/data',
+  FIELDS: '/api/metrics/fields',
 };
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/aggs/field_select.js b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/aggs/field_select.js
index a4168fd1398f1..b1ff749494b10 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/aggs/field_select.js
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/aggs/field_select.js
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ function FieldSelectUi({
 }
 
 FieldSelectUi.defaultProps = {
-  indexPattern: '*',
+  indexPattern: '',
   disabled: false,
   restrict: [],
   placeholder: i18n.translate('visTypeTimeseries.fieldSelect.selectFieldPlaceholder', {
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/annotations_editor.js b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/annotations_editor.js
index 34132e5f72716..3d38aa72fc271 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/annotations_editor.js
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/annotations_editor.js
@@ -43,13 +43,14 @@ import {
   EuiCode,
   EuiText,
 } from '@elastic/eui';
+import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 import { FormattedMessage } from '@kbn/i18n/react';
 
 function newAnnotation() {
   return {
     id: uuid.v1(),
     color: '#F00',
-    index_pattern: '*',
+    index_pattern: '',
     time_field: '@timestamp',
     icon: 'fa-tag',
     ignore_global_filters: 1,
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ export class AnnotationsEditor extends Component {
     const defaults = {
       fields: '',
       template: '',
-      index_pattern: '*',
+      index_pattern: '',
       query_string: { query: '', language: getDefaultQueryLanguage() },
     };
     const model = { ...defaults, ...row };
@@ -100,6 +101,8 @@ export class AnnotationsEditor extends Component {
     const htmlId = htmlIdGenerator(model.id);
     const handleAdd = collectionActions.handleAdd.bind(null, this.props, newAnnotation);
     const handleDelete = collectionActions.handleDelete.bind(null, this.props, model);
+    const defaultIndexPattern = this.props.model.default_index_pattern;
+
     return (
       <div className="tvbAnnotationsEditor" key={model.id}>
         <EuiFlexGroup responsive={false}>
@@ -120,14 +123,22 @@ export class AnnotationsEditor extends Component {
                   label={
                     <FormattedMessage
                       id="visTypeTimeseries.annotationsEditor.indexPatternLabel"
-                      defaultMessage="Index pattern (required)"
+                      defaultMessage="Index pattern"
                     />
                   }
+                  helpText={
+                    defaultIndexPattern &&
+                    !model.index_pattern &&
+                    i18n.translate('visTypeTimeseries.annotationsEditor.searchByDefaultIndex', {
+                      defaultMessage: 'Default index pattern is used. To query all indexes use *',
+                    })
+                  }
                   fullWidth
                 >
                   <EuiFieldText
                     onChange={this.handleChange(model, 'index_pattern')}
                     value={model.index_pattern}
+                    placeholder={defaultIndexPattern}
                     fullWidth
                   />
                 </EuiFormRow>
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/vis_editor.js b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/vis_editor.js
index 083ccaf8e5073..2cc50bd7efaeb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/vis_editor.js
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/components/vis_editor.js
@@ -76,6 +76,19 @@ export class VisEditor extends Component {
     });
   }, VIS_STATE_DEBOUNCE_DELAY);
 
+  debouncedFetchFields = debounce(
+    (extractedIndexPatterns) => {
+      if (this.abortControllerFetchFields) {
+        this.abortControllerFetchFields.abort();
+      }
+      this.abortControllerFetchFields = new AbortController();
+
+      return fetchFields(extractedIndexPatterns, this.abortControllerFetchFields.signal);
+    },
+    VIS_STATE_DEBOUNCE_DELAY,
+    { leading: true }
+  );
+
   handleChange = (partialModel) => {
     if (isEmpty(partialModel)) {
       return;
@@ -94,7 +107,7 @@ export class VisEditor extends Component {
 
     const extractedIndexPatterns = extractIndexPatterns(nextModel);
     if (!isEqual(this.state.extractedIndexPatterns, extractedIndexPatterns)) {
-      fetchFields(extractedIndexPatterns).then((visFields) =>
+      this.debouncedFetchFields(extractedIndexPatterns).then((visFields) =>
         this.setState({
           visFields,
           extractedIndexPatterns,
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/lib/fetch_fields.js b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/lib/fetch_fields.js
index 6dd56a58418c5..a32ab71f36357 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/lib/fetch_fields.js
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/public/application/lib/fetch_fields.js
@@ -19,34 +19,40 @@
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 import { extractIndexPatterns } from '../../../common/extract_index_patterns';
 import { getCoreStart } from '../../services';
+import { ROUTES } from '../../../common/constants';
 
-export async function fetchFields(indexPatterns = ['*']) {
+export async function fetchFields(indexPatterns = [], signal) {
   const patterns = Array.isArray(indexPatterns) ? indexPatterns : [indexPatterns];
   try {
     const indexFields = await Promise.all(
-      patterns.map((pattern) => {
-        return getCoreStart().http.get('/api/metrics/fields', {
+      patterns.map((pattern) =>
+        getCoreStart().http.get(ROUTES.FIELDS, {
           query: {
             index: pattern,
           },
-        });
-      })
+          signal,
+        })
+      )
     );
-    const fields = patterns.reduce((cumulatedFields, currentPattern, index) => {
-      return {
+
+    return patterns.reduce(
+      (cumulatedFields, currentPattern, index) => ({
         ...cumulatedFields,
         [currentPattern]: indexFields[index],
-      };
-    }, {});
-    return fields;
-  } catch (error) {
-    getCoreStart().notifications.toasts.addDanger({
-      title: i18n.translate('visTypeTimeseries.fetchFields.loadIndexPatternFieldsErrorMessage', {
-        defaultMessage: 'Unable to load index_pattern fields',
       }),
-      text: error.message,
-    });
+      {}
+    );
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (error.name !== 'AbortError') {
+      getCoreStart().notifications.toasts.addDanger({
+        title: i18n.translate('visTypeTimeseries.fetchFields.loadIndexPatternFieldsErrorMessage', {
+          defaultMessage: 'Unable to load index_pattern fields',
+        }),
+        text: error.message,
+      });
+    }
   }
+  return [];
 }
 
 export async function fetchIndexPatternFields({ params, fields = {} }) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/server/routes/fields.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/server/routes/fields.ts
index f9a600fa4b1f3..a9a890845d154 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/server/routes/fields.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_timeseries/server/routes/fields.ts
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ import { isBoom } from '@hapi/boom';
 import { schema } from '@kbn/config-schema';
 import { getFields } from '../lib/get_fields';
 import { Framework } from '../plugin';
+import { ROUTES } from '../../common/constants';
 
 export const fieldsRoutes = (framework: Framework) => {
   framework.router.get(
     {
-      path: '/api/metrics/fields',
+      path: ROUTES.FIELDS,
       validate: {
         query: schema.object({ index: schema.string() }),
       },