Remove deprecated opensearch.ToPointer helper

Remove the exported ToPointer generic function and its test.
No non-test call sites exist in the tree; internal code uses the
unexported per-package ptr helper.

Closes #871

Signed-off-by: Arin Mallanna Tumbagi <arin16tumbagi@gmail.com>

Author: Arin016

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ Inspired from [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 
 ### Removed
 - Remove backport.yml and dependabot_pr.yml as we are not using backport app anymore
+- Remove the deprecated `opensearch.ToPointer` generic helper ([#871](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-go/issues/871))
 
 ### Fixed
 

UPGRADING.md

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
     - [DiscoverNodes() blocking semantics](#discovernodes-blocking-semantics)
     - [opensearchtransport.Route interface gained OpID()](#opensearchtransportroute-interface-gained-opid)
     - [Response.Body becomes a method](#responsebody-becomes-a-method)
+    - [`opensearch.ToPointer` removed](#opensearchtopointer-removed)
   - [Upgrading to >= 4.7.0](#upgrading-to->=-4.7.0)
     - [opensearch.Request interface signature change](#opensearchrequest-interface-signature-change)
     - [Path segment values are percent-encoded](#path-segment-values-are-percent-encoded)
@@ -154,6 +155,19 @@ body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body())
 raw := resp.RawBody()
 ```
 
+### `opensearch.ToPointer` removed
+
+The deprecated `opensearch.ToPointer` generic helper has been removed. Replace calls with a one-line helper or, on Go 1.26+, use the native `new(value)` form:
+
+```go
+// Before
+p := opensearch.ToPointer(true)
+
+// After — define a one-line local helper:
+func ptr[V any](v V) *V { return &v }
+p := ptr(true)
+```
+
 ## Upgrading to >= 4.7.0
 
 ### `opensearch.Request` interface signature change

opensearch.go

@@ -643,17 +643,6 @@ func extractCredentialsFromURLs(cfg *Config, urls []*url.URL) {
 	}
 }
 
-// ToPointer converts any value to a pointer, mainly used for request parameters
-//
-// Deprecated: ToPointer will be removed in v5. The helper is intentionally not
-// part of the public API going forward; consumers within this module use the
-// unexported `ptr` defined per-package. Once the module's go directive moves
-// to 1.26, callers can drop any wrapper in favor of the native new(value)
-// form (e.g. new(false)).
-func ToPointer[V any](value V) *V {
-	return ptr(value)
-}
-
 // ptr returns a pointer to a copy of value. Used for the *T query/body
 // parameter pattern. Unexported by design.
 //

opensearch_internal_test.go

@@ -513,12 +513,6 @@ func TestParseElasticsearchVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestToPointer(t *testing.T) {
-	testPointer := ToPointer(true)
-	require.NotNil(t, testPointer)
-	require.True(t, *testPointer)
-}
-
 func TestClientGetConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("returns config", func(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedAddresses := []string{"http://localhost:9200"}