--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-administration Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration ft:clusterId : - platadm bundleId : - platadm workflow : - Platform --- # Delta content crawls for external content connectors # Delta content crawls for external content connectors {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated August 26, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 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 Delta content crawls for external content connectors Delta content crawls enhance performance by retrieving only newly added, changed, or deleted items from an external content connector's source system, rather than crawling all items. This targeted approach significantly reduces crawl time, enabling more frequent updates to searchable content between scheduled full or partial crawls. Delta content crawls are supplemental and do not replace full crawls. By default, they are inactive and must be enabled per connector by administrators. As of External Content Connectors version 9.0, delta crawls are supported only for the Google Drive connector. Show full answer Show less ## Scheduling and Operation Delta content crawls begin scheduling only after a full content crawl completes on the connector. After upgrades to newer connector versions, a new full crawl must be run to enable delta crawls, as previous full crawls lack necessary metadata. The system automatically schedules delta crawls, which cannot be manually timed or forced. Delta crawls will not run concurrently with full or partial crawls and have a time limit; if incomplete, the next delta crawl resumes from where the previous stopped. Consistently failing to keep up with source changes may require more frequent full crawls. ## Interaction with Other Crawls Full, partial, and delta content crawls do not run in parallel. If a delta crawl is in progress, attempts to start full or partial crawls prompt options to either queue the new crawl or cancel the delta crawl to start immediately. ## Monitoring and Limitations Delta crawl activity for each connector is summarized over the last 30 days in the connector editor's Crawl history tab, though these entries do not appear in the general Crawl history list. Delta crawls may miss some changes such as deletions or other modifications depending on connector type. Running full crawls detects and corrects such missed changes to ensure the AI Search index stays accurate. Delta content crawls improve content crawl performance by only retrieving newly added, changed, or deleted items from an external content connector's source system. ## Delta content crawls overview {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__section_zzk_xvf_fkc} By default, an external content connector's content crawl examines all content items from its source system to determine which ones to retrieve and index for search. If the source system contains many items, a full content crawl can take a long time to complete. This remains true even if the number of items with actual updates is fairly small. Starting with External Content Connectors 9.0, the External Content Connectors application supports delta content crawl operations for some external content connectors. When running a delta content crawl, an external content connector only examines, retrieves, and indexes newly added, changed, or deleted items from its source system. By ignoring unchanged items, delta content crawling can significantly reduce the time taken to crawl content from the source system. This means you can refresh your searchable content more often by running delta content crawls between your scheduled full or partial content crawls. Note: Delta content crawls don't replace full content crawls. They're supplemental crawls that enable you to refresh searchable content more frequently in between full content crawls. By default, delta content crawls aren't active for any external content connector. Connector admins can activate or deactivate delta content crawls for individual connectors of supported types. To view the activation procedure, see [Activate delta content crawling for an external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2fr30gzmG1LtWZKGTUQfKw "Reduce content crawl time for your external content connector by enabling delta content crawls, which ignore unchanged content items from your source system."). Note: In External Content Connectors 9.0, delta content crawls are only supported for the [Google Drive external content connector.](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Y9C1S9vw7PO0gLRBkkuU1g "The Google Drive external content connector retrieves files and attachments from eligible shared drives in your Google Drive source system and makes their content and metadata searchable in AI Search applications.") ## Scheduling of delta content crawls {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__section_z3l_ywf_fkc} When you activate delta content crawling for an external content connector, the system begins scheduling delta content crawls for that connector after it completes a full content crawl. Until that full content crawl is completed, no delta content crawls will be scheduled. Note: If you upgrade to a new External Content Connectors major release, run a full content crawl in the new version for each connector that has delta content crawling activated. Full content crawls run in a previous External Content Connectors release don't retrieve all of the metadata needed for delta content crawling. As an example, after upgrading from External Content Connectors version 8.0 to version 9.0, you must complete a full content crawl in version 9.0 for each connector that has delta content crawls activated. Until you complete that full content crawl, delta content crawls won't run for the connector. The system automatically schedules delta content crawls for connectors that have them activated. You can't override the automatic scheduling. Scheduled delta content crawls aren't guaranteed to run at any particular time. The system may pause, delay, or skip a scheduled delta content crawl. In particular, delta crawls won't run if a full or partial content crawl is already running for the external content connector. Delta content crawls have a time limit. If a delta content crawl doesn't complete within its specified time, the next delta content crawl attempts to pick up where the previous one stopped. If delta content crawls are consistently unable to keep up with changes made in the connector's source system, you may need to run more frequent full content crawls to keep your searchable content up-to-date with the source data. ## Interaction with other content crawls {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__section_hd2_yvf_fkc} Full, partial, and delta content crawls can't run in parallel. The system won't start a delta content crawl for a connector if it has a full or partial content crawl running. If you try to start a one-time full or partial content crawl while a delta content crawl is running, the system offers you the following options: * Queue the one-time full or partial content crawl so that it doesn't start until the current delta content crawl completes. * Cancel the current delta content crawl and start the one-time full or partial content crawl immediately. {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__ul_s22_3wf_fkc} ## Delta content crawl history {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__section_e23_fxf_fkc} In the connector editor's Crawl history tab, a summary of delta content crawl activity over the last 30 days appears in the Delta content crawls section. Delta content crawl history doesn't appear in the Crawl history listing. ## Limitations of delta content crawls {#delta-content-crawls-external-content-connectors__section_m3r_bhx_gkc} Delta content crawls may not detect all relevant changes to items in the source system. As an example, a delta content crawl may not detect that a source system content item has been deleted. Other similar detection issues are specific to the connector type. In all of these cases, running a new full connector content crawl detects the overlooked changes and brings your AI Search index up to date.