Domain separation and AI Search

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Domain Separation and AI Search

    Domain separation in ServiceNow allows for the logical grouping of data, processes, and administrative tasks, controlling user access to data. While the AI Search application does not support domain separation for its tables, it respects domain restrictions for indexed records when processing user search queries.

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    Key Features

    • Domain Filtering: AI Search applies a filter based on the current session's domain, ensuring that only records visible in that domain appear in search results.
    • Indexed Content Management: The sysdomain field values for records are stored during indexing, allowing for appropriate domain filtering in search queries.
    • Referencing Behavior: If a referenced record is not visible in the current session domain, it will not match search queries, and filtering or faceting on the reference field will have no effect.
    • Domain Updates: AI Search automatically updates indexed domains for records in configured indexed sources but requires manual updates for referenced tables.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing domain separation effectively, ServiceNow customers can ensure that search results are relevant and secure based on user permissions. Understanding the limitations and functionalities of AI Search in relation to domain separation enables better management of data visibility and access control. Customers can also automate domain updates for referenced tables to maintain accurate indexing.

    Domain separation is unsupported for the AI Search application tables, but user search queries respect domain restrictions from indexed ServiceNow AI Platform® table records. 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.

    Note:
    Refer to the Overview and following sections for details on how AI Search search queries respect domain settings from indexed records.

    Support level: No support

    • The domain field may exist on data tables but there is no business logic to manage the data.
    • This level is not considered domain-separated.

    For more information on support levels, see Application support for domain separation.

    AI Search domain separation overview

    AI Search enables users to index and search content from records in ServiceNow AI Platform tables. The AI Search application tables and properties don't support domain separation, but user search queries respect domain settings from indexed content as described in the following sections.

    Domain separation in indexed content and search queries

    When indexing searchable content from a ServiceNow AI Platform table, AI Search stores the sys_domain field values for records on the source table and referenced tables.

    If domain separation is enabled, AI Search applies a filter for the current session domain to every search query. This filter excludes records that aren't visible in the session domain. Only records visible in the session domain appear as search query results.

    For child tables that have the domain_master attribute set, both indexing and search use the appropriate reference field to derive the child record domain from a referenced parent record.

    Restrictions apply to referenced records in search queries, as summarized in the following table.

    Condition Behavior
    Referenced record isn't visible in current session domain
    • Search queries don't match content from the referenced record
    • Filtering on the reference field has no effect on search results
    • Faceting on the reference field has no effect
    Referenced record domain differs from parent record domain Search result records don't display the reference field

    Indexing changes to record domains

    AI Search automatically updates indexed domains for records in tables configured as indexed sources.

    AI Search doesn't automatically update indexed domains for referenced tables. You can update the indexed domain for a referenced table in either of the following ways.

    Use case Action
    Perform a one-time update of domain field values for a referenced table Perform a full table reindex for the indexed source that includes the affected table.

    For details on this procedure, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.
    Enable automatic updating of domain field values for a referenced table Create a dot_walk_fields field setting for the reference field, specifying the sys_domain,sys_domain_path domain fields as the attribute value.

    For full steps for this task, see Enable automatic domain updates for a referenced table.