List of AI Search indexed source field settings

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of List of AI Search indexed source field settings

    This guide explains how ServiceNow customers can configure indexing behavior for fields in AI Search indexed sources by setting specific field attributes. These settings allow you to control how field data is indexed, searched, and used in filters, enabling more precise and efficient AI Search configurations tailored to your data sources.

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    Key Settings and Their Practical Use

    • dotwalkfields: Indexes values from referenced table fields for use in search source filters, facet filters, and EVAM search results. Changes in referenced tables are automatically updated. Note that these values are not searchable; for searchable indexing of referenced fields, use searchabledotwalkfields.
    • indexcalculatedfield: Enables indexing of calculated fields when set to true. Calculated fields require this setting to be indexed properly; otherwise, their values are ignored.
    • mapto: Maps a source table field to a specific AI Search index field. This controls how source data populates index fields, such as mapping a knowledge article's short description to the searchable title in AI Search.
    • notextindex: Disables searchable content indexing for a selected field when true, meaning the field’s values won’t be searchable or used in filters, and no index events are generated on updates. Use caution with critical fields like sysupdatedon on task-related tables to avoid disrupting retention policies.
    • notsearchable: Disables search matching for the field's indexed content but allows filters to still match its values. This setting requires reindexing to take effect.
    • searchabledotwalkfields: Indexes referenced table fields as searchable content. Unlike dotwalkfields, changes in referenced tables require manual reindexing to update the search index. These fields cannot be used in filters but can be searched.

    Important Considerations

    • Changing any field setting requires reindexing the AI Search indexed source to apply the changes fully.
    • Only one mapto setting can be defined per source field; attempts to define multiple mappings will result in errors.
    • dotwalkfields and searchabledotwalkfields can both be used on the same reference field to serve different purposes (filtering vs. searching).
    • Immediate effects on indexing event generation occur when toggling notextindex, but search and filter updates need reindexing.
    • Field settings are configured via records on the AI Search Configuration Attribute table with the Applies To field set to Column.

    What This Enables for You

    By configuring these field settings, you gain granular control over how data from your source tables and their references are indexed and surfaced in AI Search. This helps optimize search relevance, filtering capabilities, and performance, ensuring your AI Search results align closely with your organization's data structure and business needs.

    You can adjust indexing behavior for source record fields in an AI Search indexed source by configuring field setting attributes and values.

    For more information on creating field settings, see Create a field setting for an AI Search indexed source.

    Attribute Description
    dot_walk_fields Index reference and display values from fields on the selected reference field's source table for use in search source filters, facet filters, and EVAM search result configurations.

    AI Search automatically updates the indexed field values to reflect changes made to the referenced table's field values.

    For more information about search source filters, see Search sources in AI Search. For details on facet filters, see Create a facet in an AI Search application configuration.
    • Field: Name of the reference field on your indexed source table. As an example, if your indexed source table contains a company reference field that references the Company [core_company] table, and you want to index field values from that table's name and city fields, you'd set company as the field.
    • Type: string
    • Value: Comma-separated list of referenced table fields to index values from. As an example, if your indexed source table contains a company reference field that references the Company [core_company] table, and you want to index field values from that table's name and city fields, you'd set name,city as the value.
    Note:
    You can't search field values indexed with this field setting. To index field values from referenced tables for search, create a searchable_dot_walk_fields field setting. You can create both dot_walk_fields and searchable_dot_walk_fields field settings for the same reference field.

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the change doesn't take effect until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    index_calculated_field Option to enable indexing of searchable content from calculated field values.
    If your indexed source contains a calculated field, set this field setting to true for that field to correctly index its values. With a field setting value of false or no value, AI Search ignores values from the calculated field when indexing content.
    • Field: Name of a calculated field from the indexed source table. (If you specify a non-calculated field, the system rejects the field setting submission and displays a warning message.)
    • Type: true | false
    • Supported values:
      • true: Apply special handling to correctly index calculated field values from the selected field.
      • false: Don't apply special handling when indexing field values from the selected field. Calculated field values aren't indexed.

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the change doesn't take effect until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    map_to Map the selected field from the indexed source table to an AI Search index field. When indexing records from the source table, AI Search populates the specified index field with the value of the selected source field.
    For example, the base system's Knowledge Table indexed source maps the kb_knowledge.short_description source field to the title index field. When AI Search indexes a record from the Knowledge [kb_knowledge] table, it populates the indexed record's searchable title with the value from the source record's short_description field.
    • Field: Name of a field from the indexed source table.
    • Type: string
    • Value: Name of the AI Search field that you want to map the selected field's display values to. For details on AI Search index fields, see AI Search index fields.
    Note:
    You can only define one map_to field setting for an indexed source field. If you try to define multiple map_to settings for the same field, the system displays an error message.

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the change doesn't take effect until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    no_text_index Option to disable indexing of searchable content from the selected field on records from the indexed source.
    • Field: Name of a field from the indexed source table.
    • Type: true | false
    • Supported values:
      • true: Disable searchable content indexing for the selected field. Search and filters can't match the field's value. AI Search doesn't generate an index event when the field is updated.
      • false: Enable searchable content indexing for the selected field. Search and filters can match the field's value. AI Search generates an index event when the field is updated, adding the affected record to its indexing queue.
    • Default value: false

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the new value immediately affects index event generation for updates to that field, but it doesn't affect searches or filters for previously indexed records until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    Warning:
    Don't set this option to true for the sys_updated_on field on the Task [task] table, tables that extend Task, or any other tables that you've configured retention policies for. The retention policies for these tables rely on indexing of sys_updated_on field values. For more information on retention policies, see Indexed source retention policies and filter conditions.
    For Customer Service and Support guidelines on setting the no_text_index option for different field types, see KB0859922 on the Now Support site.
    not_searchable Option to disable search matching for content indexed from the selected field.
    • Field: Name of a field from the indexed source table.
    • Type: true | false
    • Supported values:
      • true: Disable search matching for content indexed from the selected field. Search can't match the field's value. Filters (such as those for content security, source facet buckets, and facets) can still match the field's value.
      • false: Enable search matching for content indexed from the selected field. Search and filters can match the field's value.
    • Default value: false

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the change doesn't take effect until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    searchable_dot_walk_fields Index reference and display values from fields on the selected reference field's source table as searchable text.
    AI Search doesn't automatically update the indexed field values to reflect changes made to the referenced table's field values. To update the indexed field values, you must reindex the indexed source. For details on this procedure, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.
    • Field: Name of the reference field on your indexed source table. As an example, if your indexed source table contains a company reference field that references the Company [core_company] table, and you want to index searchable text from that table's name and city fields, you'd set company as the field.
    • Type: string
    • Value: Comma-separated list of referenced table fields to index as searchable content. As an example, if your indexed source table contains a company reference field that references the Company [core_company] table, and you want to index searchable text from that table's name and city fields, you'd set name,city as the value.
    Note:
    You can't use field values indexed with this field setting in search source filters. To index field values from referenced tables for use in search source filters, create a dot_walk_fields field setting. You can create both dot_walk_fields and searchable_dot_walk_fields field settings for the same reference field.

    If you change the value of this setting for an indexed source's field, the change doesn't take effect until you reindex content from the indexed source. For reindexing steps, see Perform a full table index or reindex for a single AI Search indexed source.

    Note:
    Field settings are records on the AI Search Configuration Attribute [ais_configuration_attribute] table that have Column as their Applies To field value. Records on this table that have Table as their Applies To field value are Indexed source attributes for AI Search.

    This example shows how the base system's Catalog Item Table indexed source maps short_description field values from the Catalog Item [sc_cat_item] table to the AI Search index's text field for indexed records.


    AI Search Field Setting form showing source Catalog Item [sc_cat_item], attributemap_to, fieldshort_description, and valuetext.