Indexed Source form

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Indexed Source form

    The Indexed Source form in ServiceNow's AI Search allows you to create and manage indexed sources, which define the specific tables and records to be indexed for AI-powered search capabilities. This form is essential for configuring how content from ServiceNow AI Platform tables is included in AI Search results.

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    Key Features

    • Name: Assign a unique identifier to each indexed source.
    • Source Table: Select the ServiceNow AI Platform table to index. Note that some tables are excluded from indexing, and remote tables require external indexed sources.
    • Active: Only one indexed source per table can be active at a time, and AI Search indexes content only from active sources. Duplicate sources are inactive by default to prevent conflicts.
    • Application Scope: Automatically set to indicate the application owning the indexed source.
    • Retention Policy: Define how long records remain indexed based on their last update. This is mandatory for the Task table and its extensions, ensuring outdated data is purged appropriately.
    • Force Late Binding: Optional setting to enforce late binding security on search results. This field is hidden by default and requires form customization to enable.
    • Condition Filter: Allows defining filters to limit which records from the source table are indexed, ensuring only relevant data is searchable and outdated or irrelevant records are removed.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By properly configuring the Indexed Source form, you control the scope and freshness of content included in AI Search, improving search relevance and performance. Activating only one source per table avoids indexing conflicts, while retention policies help maintain up-to-date search indexes. Filter conditions enable precise targeting of searchable records, and late binding security ensures compliance with access controls. Understanding and using these settings enables you to tailor AI Search indexing to your organization's unique data and security requirements.

    The Indexed Source form enables you to create an indexed source for use in AI Search.

    For details on creating or modifying an indexed source, see Create an indexed source.

    Table 1. Indexed Source form
    Title Description
    Name Unique name for the indexed source.
    Source The ServiceNow AI Platform® table to index.

    AI Search excludes some ServiceNow AI Platform tables from indexing. You can't define indexed sources for these excluded tables or their derived tables. For a list of excluded tables, see ServiceNow AI Platform tables excluded from AI Search indexing.

    To index content from a remote table, create an external indexed source. For more details on configuring indexed sources for external content, see Indexing and searching external content in AI Search.

    Plugins and applications can define multiple indexed sources for the same ServiceNow AI Platform table, but only one of them can be active at a time. For more details, see Active.
    Active Option to activate the indexed source. AI Search only indexes content and metadata from active indexed sources.
    Note:
    Only one indexed source can be active at a time for a given ServiceNow AI Platform table. The system makes duplicate indexed sources for a table inactive by default. Before you can make one of these duplicate sources active, you must edit the currently active source and make it inactive. AI Search only indexes content and metadata from active indexed sources.
    Application Application scope for the indexed source. This field is automatically set.
    Retention Policy Policy specifying a retention time limit for records from the source table. AI Search only indexes source records that were last updated within the specified time period, and purges records from the index when their time since last update exceeds the limit.
    If this field is empty, AI Search indexes source records regardless of their last updated date and retains them in the index indefinitely.
    Note:
    This field is required when Source is set to the Task [task] table or any table that extends it.
    Force Late Binding Option to make AI Search use late binding security for all search results from the indexed source.

    This field isn't shown in the default Indexed Source form view. For instructions on configuring the form layout to show the field, see Configuring the form layout.

    For an explanation of late binding security and its effects on search, see Content security in AI Search.
    Condition
    Filter Optional filter conditions limiting the set of records to index from the source table. AI Search only indexes records that satisfy all defined filter conditions, and purges records from the index if they no longer satisfy these conditions.