diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete.js
index 8275813ea2b98..a29854ee2a02a 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete.js
@@ -345,7 +345,14 @@ export default function (editor) {
     let valueToInsert = termAsString;
     let templateInserted = false;
     if (context.addTemplate && !_.isUndefined(term.template) && !_.isNull(term.template)) {
-      const indentedTemplateLines = utils.jsonToString(term.template, true).split('\n');
+      let indentedTemplateLines;
+      // In order to allow triple quoted strings in template completion we check the `__raw_`
+      // attribute to determine whether this template should go through JSON formatting.
+      if (term.template.__raw && term.template.value) {
+        indentedTemplateLines = term.template.value.split('\n');
+      } else {
+        indentedTemplateLines = utils.jsonToString(term.template, true).split('\n');
+      }
       let currentIndentation = session.getLine(context.rangeToReplace.start.row);
       currentIndentation = currentIndentation.match(/^\s*/)[0];
       for (let i = 1; i < indentedTemplateLines.length; i++) // skip first line
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete/body_completer.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete/body_completer.js
index 68e0889f9c618..e377a749aaf78 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete/body_completer.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/autocomplete/body_completer.js
@@ -127,6 +127,18 @@ class ScopeResolver extends SharedComponent {
 }
 function getTemplate(description) {
   if (description.__template) {
+    if (description.__raw && _.isString(description.__template)) {
+      return {
+        // This is a special secret attribute that gets passed through to indicate that
+        // the raw value should be passed through to the console without JSON.stringifying it
+        // first.
+        //
+        // Primary use case is to allow __templates to contain extended JSON special values like
+        // triple quotes.
+        __raw: true,
+        value: description.__template,
+      };
+    }
     return description.__template;
   } else if (description.__one_of) {
     return getTemplate(description.__one_of[0]);
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/utils.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/utils.js
index 1f2c3b9267b74..15a32f90942a2 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/src/utils.js
@@ -59,9 +59,11 @@ utils.reformatData = function (data, indent) {
 };
 
 utils.collapseLiteralStrings = function (data) {
-  return data.replace(/"""(?:\s*\r?\n)?((?:.|\r?\n)*?)(?:\r?\n\s*)?"""/g, function (match, literal) {
-    return JSON.stringify(literal);
-  });
+  const splitData = data.split(`"""`);
+  for (let idx = 1; idx < splitData.length - 1; idx += 2) {
+    splitData[idx] = JSON.stringify(splitData[idx]);
+  }
+  return splitData.join('');
 };
 
 utils.expandLiteralStrings = function (data) {
@@ -69,8 +71,7 @@ utils.expandLiteralStrings = function (data) {
     // expand things with two slashes or more
     if (string.split(/\\./).length > 2) {
       string = JSON.parse(string).replace('^\s*\n', '').replace('\n\s*^', '');
-      const append = string.includes('\n') ? '\n' : ''; // only go multi line if the string has multiline
-      return '"""' + append + string + append + '"""';
+      return '"""' + string  + '"""';
     } else {
       return string;
     }
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_collapsing.txt b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_collapsing.txt
index 235151317377f..5ddd1b5a376fe 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_collapsing.txt
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_collapsing.txt
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ to you """
 ==========
 String only 2
 -------------------------------------
-""" 
+"""
 starting with new lines and ending as well
- """
+"""
 -------------------------------------
-"starting with new lines and ending as well"
+"\nstarting with new lines and ending as well\n"
 ==========
 Strings in requests
 -------------------------------------
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ test2
 }
 -------------------------------------
 {
-  "f": { "somefield" : "test\ntest2" },
+  "f": { "somefield" : "\ntest\ntest2\n" },
   "g": { "script" : "second + \"\\\";" },
   "h": 1,
   "script": "a + 2"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_expanding.txt b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_expanding.txt
index 762e0ad164634..4f3abf177490a 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_expanding.txt
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/console/public/tests/src/utils_string_expanding.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Scripts in requests
 -------------------------------------
 {
-  "f": { "script" : { "source": "test\ntest\\2" } },
+  "f": { "script" : { "source": "\ntest\ntest\\2\n" } },
   "g": { "script" : "second + \"\\\";" },
   "f": "short with \\",
   "h": 1,
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/console_extensions/spec/overrides/sql.query.json b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/console_extensions/spec/overrides/sql.query.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f2fe456a0c6e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/console_extensions/spec/overrides/sql.query.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  "sql.query": {
+    "data_autocomplete_rules": {
+      "query": {
+        "__template": {
+          "__raw": true,
+          "value": "\"\"\"\nSELECT * FROM \"TABLE\"\n\"\"\""
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "url_params": {
+      "format": [
+        "csv",
+        "json",
+        "tsv",
+        "txt",
+        "yaml",
+        "cbor",
+        "smile"
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}