Create a Docusign external content connector

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read
  • Create an external content connector to retrieve searchable content and security principals from your Docusign source system.

    Before you begin

    A source system administrator must have already configured your Docusign source system to allow access by the Docusign external content connector. For details on configuring these settings in the source system, see Configure Docusign for external content indexing.

    Role required: sn_ext_conn.xcc_admin

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > External Content Connectors > External Content Admin Home.
    2. If prompted, select Switch scope to switch to the External Content Connectors Admin scope.
      You must be in this scope to create or edit external content connectors.
    3. In the Connectors section, select New.
    4. On the Choose source page, select the Docusign tile, then select Next.
    5. On the Connection settings page, fill in the connection settings.
      Table 1. Connection settings
      Connection setting Description
      Connector name Unique name for this Docusign external content connector.
      Authentication URL Docusign authentication endpoint URL for the connector. This URL depends on which environment you want the connector to crawl:
      • For a development environment: https://account-d.docusign.com
      • For a production environment: https://account.docusign.com

      To learn more about endpoint URLs for development and production Docusign environments, see the https://developers.docusign.com/platform/api-endpoint-base-paths/ resource.

      Client ID Integration key GUID for the Docusign app that grants the connector access to your Docusign source system via the eSignature REST API.

      If you don't have this integration key GUID, ask your Docusign administrator for it.

      Client Secret Secret key GUID for the Docusign app that grants the connector access to your Docusign source system via the eSignature REST API.

      If you don't have this secret key GUID, ask your Docusign administrator for it.

    6. Save and validate your connection settings.
      1. Select Validate Connection.
        You're prompted to grant the Docusign app access.
      2. Select Allow Access.
      Note:
      If validation of your connection settings fails, the system shows an error message. Verify your connection settings to ensure they're correct. If permissions required by the connector are missing or incorrectly configured in the source system, a warning message appears showing the permissions that must be corrected. Provide the information from this message to your source system administrator.
    7. After your connection settings are validated, select Next.
    8. On the Crawl settings page, modify any default crawl settings that you want to override for this connector, then select Next.
      If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can modify the crawl settings for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure and the available crawl settings, see Configure crawl settings for a Docusign external content connector.
    9. On the User permission settings page, modify any default user permission settings that you want to override for this connector.
      If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can modify the user permission settings for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure and user permission settings, see Configure user permission settings for an external content connector.
    10. On the Create crawl page, create a content crawl for this connector by selecting a crawl scope (if supported) and any desired options, then select Next.
      If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can create and run crawls for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on creating content crawls, see Create a content crawl for an external content connector.
    11. On the Connect search profile page, use the Connect to search profile field and Add button to add any search profiles that you want to connect this external content connector's default search source to, then select Save.
      If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can connect search sources for this connector to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on connecting an external content connector to search profiles, see Connect an external content connector to a search profile.

      When you link a connector search source to a search profile in this step, the system automatically publishes the search profile to make the new link take effect.

    Result

    Your new external content connector appears in the Connectors list on the External Content Admin Home page.

    What to do next

    To retrieve searchable content and security principals with your new connector, you must configure and run content and user mapping crawls for it. You can modify your new connector's crawl settings and create crawls for it from the External Content Admin Home page even if you skipped these steps during connector creation.
    To make content crawled by your new connector searchable in portals and search applications, you must link one of its search sources to the search profile used by each portal or search application. You can use the connector's default search source or create your own custom search sources.
    Default search source
    By default, the system creates a search source that includes all content from your external content connector's indexed source.
    Custom search sources
    You can create your own search sources with filters to specify which content from the connector's indexed source is searchable. To view the connector's indexed source, navigate to All > AI Search > AI Search Index > Indexed Sources. For information about creating search sources, see Search sources in AI Search.
    You can link connector search sources to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure, see Connect an external content connector to a search profile.