--- 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 --- # Explore # Exploring External Content Connectors {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated July 24, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 6 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Exploring External Content Connectors The External Content Connectors application enables ServiceNow AI Search customers to index and search content and metadata from a wide range of external content repositories, such as Atlassian Confluence Cloud and Microsoft SharePoint Online. This extends AI Search capabilities beyond native ServiceNow content, helping users find relevant information across multiple external systems while preserving original access permissions through AI Search's content security model. Show full answer Show less This feature is supported exclusively on cloud-hosted ServiceNow AI Platform instances and is not available for on-premise deployments. ## Key Features * **Wide Connector Support:** Includes numerous connectors for popular platforms like Adobe Acrobat Sign, Box, GitHub, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and many more. * **Permission Preservation:** Maintains source system user and group access permissions during indexing, ensuring users only see content they are authorized to access. * **Flexible Crawl Management:** Administrators can schedule or run on-demand crawls for content and user permissions, with fine-tuned crawl scopes using inclusion/exclusion filters. * **Semantic Vector Indexing:** Supports semantic vector indexing for enhanced search relevance when using Now LLM Service-enabled features. * **Search Source Configuration:** Each connector has indexed sources and default search sources; administrators can create custom search sources with filters to tailor searchable content within AI Search applications. * **Scalability Limits:** Default indexing limit of 1,000,000 content items per connector with warnings and errors to manage limits; user permissions crawls support up to 500,000 users/groups. * **Integration Hub Transactions:** Connector activities consume Integration Hub transactions, which can be monitored via the Integration Hub Usage Dashboard. * **Delta Crawls:** Efficiently update indexed content by retrieving only newly added, modified, or deleted items. ## Practical Workflow * Connector administrators configure connection settings, crawl scopes, and schedules for external content connectors. * Connectors crawl external systems to retrieve content and permission data, feeding it to AI Search for indexing. * Search users access indexed external content seamlessly within AI Search applications with enforced security permissions. * Administrators analyze crawl metrics and histories to optimize crawl configurations for performance and relevance. ## Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * **Expanded Search Reach:** Enables users to find relevant information across multiple external platforms from a single AI Search interface. * **Security Compliance:** Retains original access controls, ensuring secure and compliant content visibility. * **Administrative Control:** Provides robust tools for administrators to manage crawl scope, schedule, and content indexing volume. * **Improved Search Relevance:** Supports advanced semantic vector search capabilities for richer, AI-powered search experiences. * **Integration Insights:** Transparent tracking of Integration Hub transactions helps manage usage costs effectively. * **Enhanced Virtual Agent Responses:** When using ServiceNow Otto for AI Search and Virtual Agent, external content search results can be included in AI-generated summary answers. ## Important Considerations * Connectors have indexing limits; exceeding these requires configuration adjustments or contacting ServiceNow support for limit increases. * Domain separation is not supported with External Content Connectors, so data segregation by domain is unavailable. * Source systems must be pre-configured to allow indexing and permission retrieval before connector creation. Using External Content Connectors, AI Search applications can search content and metadata from external content repositories such as Atlassian Confluence Cloud and Microsoft SharePoint Online. Expanding search recall to include external content helps search users locate the information they need. ## External Content Connectors overview {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_w3x_wtd_dzb} The External Content Connectors application adds support for indexing content and metadata from external source systems to make those systems searchable in AI Search applications. Indexing preserves the content's original user access permissions from the source system using AI Search's content security model. This release includes the following external content connectors: * Adobe Acrobat Sign external content connector * Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service external content connector * Aha! Roadmaps external content connector * Amazon S3 external content connector * Asana external content connector * Atlassian Confluence Cloud external content connector * Atlassian Jira Cloud external content connector * Box external content connector * Cornerstone external content connector * Docusign external content connector * Fluid Topics external content connector * Dropbox external content connector * GitHub Enterprise Cloud external content connector * GitLab external content connector * Google Drive external content connector * HubSpot external content connector * Lucidchart external content connector * ManageEngine external content connector * Microsoft OneDrive external content connector * Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector * Microsoft Teams external content connector * Microsoft Viva Engage external content connector * Miro external content connector * monday.com external content connector * Notion external content connector * SAP DMS external content connector * SAP SuccessFactors external content connector * ServiceNow documentation external content connector * ServiceNow instance external content connector * Slack external content connector * Smartsheet external content connector * Trello external content connector * Webcrawler external content connector * WordPress external content connector * Workday external content connector * Workvivo external content connector * Zendesk Guide external content connector * Zoom external content connector {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__ul_ikh_1rr_qdc} Connector administrators can schedule content and user permission crawls to suit your indexing requirements. If the need arises, connector administrators can also run either type of crawl on demand. Important: The External Content Connectors application consumes Integration Hub transactions when feeding crawled content to AI Search. You can monitor available and used transactions for your Integration Hub subscription packages in the Integration Hub Usage Dashboard. For details on transaction monitoring, see [Transaction reports in Integration Hub Usage Dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=use-the-integration-hub-usage-dashboard&version=australia&pubname=australia-integrate-applications&ft:locale=en-US). All external content connectors support semantic vector indexing of content retrieved from crawled source systems. Only features which use semantic vector search with the Now LLM Service can take advantage of this support. For details on semantic vector indexing and search, see [Semantic vector search in AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/2DCULyElDqaFQk0zc_7vQw "Semantic vector search enables the Now LLM Service to find results based on how similar they are in meaning to your search terms. Knowledge base articles Genius Results and ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent use semantic vector search to improve recall with natural language interpretation of search queries."). ## External Content Connectors indexed sources and search sources {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_hks_152_yjc} Each external content connector has its own indexed source for crawled content. It also has a default search source that specifies no filter conditions and so includes all items from its indexed source. If you want to apply filter conditions to an external content connector's indexed content, you can create your own search sources for that connector's indexed source. To make a connector's content searchable in an AI Search application, include one of its search sources in the search profile used for that application. For more information about creating and using indexed sources and search sources, see [Indexed sources in AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/et~v628Hw6Q5AVlidprgVg "Indexed sources designate ServiceNow AI Platform tables and external document sets with alphanumeric text and string field content that you want to make searchable. AI Search ingests text and string fields from table records or external documents and stores their searchable alphanumeric content in its search index.") and [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."). ## External Content Connectors availability {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_uch_tdj_2jc} The External Content Connectors application is only supported on cloud-hosted ServiceNow AI Platform® instances. It's not supported on on-premise (self-hosted) instances. ## External Content Connectors workflow {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_x3x_wtd_dzb} The following illustration shows a sample workflow of how users in an organization interact with External Content Connectors to enable indexing and search of content and metadata from supported external sources. Figure 1. Configuring and using External Content Connectors In this External Content Connectors workflow: 1. Connector administrators configure connection settings for external content connectors. They configure crawl start points and inclusion/exclusion filters to define the scope of connector crawls. They define schedules that specify when crawls run. 2. The system runs connectors at their scheduled times or when connector administrators start one-time crawls. When crawling, connectors retrieve searchable content and security principals from their source systems and feed them to AI Search for indexing. 3. Search users are presented with content and metadata from external content source systems when interacting with AI Search applications. AI Search's content security model retains user and group access permissions set in the source system, so users can only view content that they have permission to access. 4. Connector administrators review and analyze crawl metrics, crawl histories, and user permission data. They use this information to understand how external data is crawled and indexed, allowing for more effective tuning of crawl settings for their external content connectors. {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__ol_hxy_hwl_31c} Important: By default, each external content connector can index up to one million (1,000,000) content items from its source system. When a connector exceeds this limit, it continues to crawl the source system, but only sends content item deletions and updates to AI Search for indexing, ignoring new content items. The connector logs an error message for every 10,000 content items it crawls beyond the indexing limit.{#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__store-app-external-content-connectors-indexing-limit-numeric-ph} When a connector's indexed content item count exceeds 800,000, a warning message appears in the connector's UI to indicate that it's approaching the indexing limit. If the connector reaches the indexing limit, an error message appears in its UI. External content connectors that support user permissions crawls can handle permissions for up to five hundred thousand (500,000) users and their groups. If a connector retrieves users in excess of this limit, user and group permissions may not be correctly applied to the connector's retrieved content. As a result, the content may not be searchable. If one of your connectors reaches the content indexing limit, you can update its crawl settings and file inclusion/exclusion filters to reduce the number of content items it retrieves. Alternatively, if you need a connector to index more than 1,000,000 content items, you can create a Customer Service and Support case at to request a limit increase for the connector. ## External Content Connectors benefits {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_ajx_wtd_dzb} {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__table_bjx_wtd_dzb__entry__3} | Benefit | Feature | Users | |-|-|-| | Configure source systems for external content indexing | [Configuring source systems for external content indexing](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/LTV9lxnqrfTU7ch~xIyJ9Q "Source system administrators configure settings to allow external content connectors to index your documents and security settings for search. These settings must be configured for a source system before you create an external content connector to crawl that source system.") | Source system administrators | | Create connectors to retrieve searchable content and metadata and user permissions from supported external data source systems | [Creating external content connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/RO_72r3h5xPvPt_4UyilPA "Connector administrators can create external content connectors to retrieve searchable content and metadate and security permissions from supported source systems.") | Connector administrators | | Control the scope of external content connector crawls by specifying source system locations to crawl and content types to feed to AI Search for indexing | [Configuring crawl settings for external content connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/GvhDZ6doCt4nrRPDkPNVAQ "Connector administrators can configure crawl settings for each external content connector, such as which source system locations it crawls and which types of content it sends to AI Search for indexing.") | Connector administrators | | Update searchable content and metadata from source systems on demand or on a scheduled recurring basis | [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.") | Connector administrators | | Update user and group access permissions from source systems on demand or on a scheduled recurring basis | [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.") | Connector administrators | | Review metrics for source system items retrieved by content crawls | [Review crawl history for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/tpl7XZpOM6TO0gLa9WidyA "View crawl history records for an external content connector. Drill into a crawl history record to see metrics and alerts for the crawl in question.") | Connector administrators | | Review user and group access permissions retrieved by user permission crawls | [Review user permissions for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/2Cd2sRBMT5sPDjzwx_mmSA "View user and group access permissions retrieved by an external content connector, and see how the connector maps those permissions to your ServiceNow AI Platform instance's users.") | Search high security administrators | | Search content and metadata indexed from external data source systems | [Searching in AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/jWUL8I9RGEqP71WxiCB8uQ "See how AI Search displays search results, refinement filter options, and Genius Result answers. Learn how to search using the AI Search query language. Understand when and how AI Search automatically resubmits queries.") | AI Search users | [ ] {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__table_bjx_wtd_dzb} ## Interaction with ServiceNow Otto® Genius Results {#exploring-ext-cont-connectors__section_xfh_dr2_m2c} If you have the ServiceNow Otto for AI Search and ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent ServiceNow Store applications installed, external content search results are eligible for inclusion in Summary Genius Result answers. This includes answers generated in ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent chats. External content search results are ignored when generating answers for Knowledge base articles Genius Results and Actions Genius Results. * **[Estimating document volume for source systems](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ZPw_A0xkdvhTZIzvcMIThg)** Source system tools allow you to estimate the number of documents available for retrieval by external content connectors. By estimating the available document count for a source system, you can determine whether you need to apply crawl scope restrictions when configuring an external content connector for that source system. * **[Configuring source systems for external content indexing](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/LTV9lxnqrfTU7ch~xIyJ9Q)** Source system administrators configure settings to allow external content connectors to index your documents and security settings for search. These settings must be configured for a source system before you create an external content connector to crawl that source system. * **[Creating external content connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/RO_72r3h5xPvPt_4UyilPA)** Connector administrators can create external content connectors to retrieve searchable content and metadate and security permissions from supported source systems. * **[Configuring crawl settings for external content connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/GvhDZ6doCt4nrRPDkPNVAQ)** Connector administrators can configure crawl settings for each external content connector, such as which source system locations it crawls and which types of content it sends to AI Search for indexing. * **[Delta content crawls for external content connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/KWmskCNac4pCU2wdT4x4wQ)** Delta content crawls improve content crawl performance by only retrieving newly added, changed, or deleted items from an external content connector's source system. * **[Domain separation and External Content Connectors](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/rW1PHBVQS4DueTzcTsu4VQ)** Domain separation is unsupported for External Content Connectors. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.