---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Create connector

# Create a Smartsheet external content connector {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read  
Create an external content connector to retrieve searchable content and security principals from your Smartsheet source system.

## Before you begin

A source system administrator must have already configured your Smartsheet source system to allow access by the Smartsheet external content connector. For the required source system configuration steps, see [Configure Smartsheet for external content indexing](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/pMrwgk3FeV_4aaxPLaDQUQ "Generate an API key in Smartsheet to allow the Smartsheet external content connector to access your Smartsheet source system.").

Role required: sn_ext_conn.xcc_admin

## Procedure

1. Navigate to AllExternal Content ConnectorsExternal Content Admin Home.
2. If prompted, select Switch scope to switch to the External Content Connectors Admin scope.  
   You must be in this scope to create or edit external content connectors.
3. In the Connectors section, select New.
4. On the Choose source page, select the Smartsheet tile, then select Next.
5. On the Connection settings page, fill in the connection settings.  
   {#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__table_uvz_jrv_sdc__entry__2}

   | Connection setting | Description |
   |-|-|
   | Connector name | Unique name for this Smartsheet external content connector. |
   | Domain | URL for your Smartsheet domain, such as https://example.smartsheet.com/. If you don't have the domain URL, ask your Smartsheet administrator for it. |
   | API Key | Value of an API key configured for a Smartsheet user account with administrator privileges. If you don't have the API key value, ask your Smartsheet administrator for it. |
   [Table 1. Connection settings]

   {#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__table_uvz_jrv_sdc}
6. Save and validate your connection settings by selecting Validate Connection.  
   Note:  
   If validation of your connection settings fails, the system shows an error message. Verify your connection settings to ensure they're correct. If permissions required by the connector are missing or incorrectly configured in the source system, a warning message appears showing the permissions that must be corrected. Provide the information from this message to your source system administrator. {#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__new-connector-save-connection-settings-cmd}
7. After your connection settings are validated, select Next.
8. On the Crawl settings page, modify any default crawl settings that you want to override for this connector, then select Next.  
   If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can modify the crawl settings for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure and the available crawl settings, see [Configure crawl settings for a Smartsheet external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ZZRTno7WMMl8dpX3GeVfOw "Specify the items you want your Smartsheet external content connector to crawl. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to dictate the types of content the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing."). {#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__crawl-settings}
{#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__crawl-settings}
9. On the User permission settings page, modify any default user permission settings that you want to override for this connector.  
   If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can modify the user permission settings for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure and user permission settings, see [Configure user permission settings for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/gV5CmuNO1z2In99bB7HITQ "Override the default field mappings for an external content connector's user permission crawls. Specify the fields that uniquely identify user security principals in your source system and users in your ServiceNow AI Platform instance. Optionally execute a custom script to transform security principal IDs before they're compared with the IDs of users in your instance."). {#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__new-connector-user-mapping-settings-cmd}
10. On the Create crawl page, create a content crawl for this connector by selecting a crawl scope (if supported) and any desired options, then select Next.  
    If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can create and run crawls for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on creating content crawls, see [Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fFJ92ZYif96fkc2JA4HtyQ "Retrieve searchable content and metadata from your source system with a content crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis.").
11. On the Connect search profile page, use the Connect to search profile field and Add button to add any search profiles that you want to connect this external content connector's default search source to, then select Save.  
    If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can connect search sources for this connector to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on connecting an external content connector to search profiles, see [Connect an external content connector to a search profile](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1_d0dPqWANwyTUPT43BrA "Make results from an external content connector searchable in your portals and search applications by connecting its search sources to your existing search profiles.").

    When you link a connector search source to a search profile in this step, the system automatically publishes the search profile to make the new link take
    effect.

## Result

Your new external content connector appears in the Connectors list on the External Content Admin Home page.

## What to do next

To retrieve searchable content and security principals with your new connector, you must configure and run content and user mapping crawls for it. You can modify your new connector's crawl settings and create crawls for it from the External Content Admin Home page even if you skipped these steps during connector creation.

* To learn how to configure your new connector's crawl settings, see [Configure crawl settings for a Smartsheet external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ZZRTno7WMMl8dpX3GeVfOw "Specify the items you want your Smartsheet external content connector to crawl. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to dictate the types of content the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing.").
* For details on creating crawls for your new connector, see [Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fFJ92ZYif96fkc2JA4HtyQ "Retrieve searchable content and metadata from your source system with a content crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis.") and [Create a user permission crawl for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/mgt5mVce9bh_zJPIF3Xy5A "Retrieve security principals from your source system with a user permission crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis.").
{#create-ext-cont-connector-smartsheet__ul_zkt_3qj_4fc}  
To make content crawled by your new connector searchable in portals and search applications, you must link one of its search sources to the search profile used by each portal or search application. You can use the connector's default search source or create your own custom search sources.

Default search source
:   By default, the system creates a search source that includes all content from your external content connector's indexed source.

Custom search sources
:   You can create your own search sources with filters to specify which content from the connector's indexed source is searchable. To view the connector's indexed source, navigate to AllAI SearchAI Search IndexIndexed Sources. For information about creating search sources, see [Search sources in AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/BzYQ0BGXWlEpJrmmvXanyw "Define search sources to make your searchable content available in search experiences. Choose an indexed source and configure optional filter conditions to limit the content that users can search.").
You can link connector search sources to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure, see [Connect an external content connector to a search profile](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1_d0dPqWANwyTUPT43BrA "Make results from an external content connector searchable in your portals and search applications by connecting its search sources to your existing search profiles.").

*[\>]: and then