--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration ft:clusterId : - platadm bundleId : - platadm workflow : - Platform --- # Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector # Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated July 13, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 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 Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector The Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector enables ServiceNow customers to retrieve pages from their Microsoft SharePoint Online sites and make the content and metadata searchable within AI Search applications. Administrators can run or schedule content crawls to update content and access permissions, as well as user permission crawls to update security principals, feeding this data into AI Search for indexing. Show full answer Show less The connector indexes content and metadata as records in a connector-specific source. Search administrators can then create search sources from this indexed data and link them to search profiles, enabling users to search SharePoint Online content through AI Search applications. ## Key Features * **Content Retrieval:** The connector retrieves static page content stored in CanvasContent1 and WikiFields metadata fields via SharePoint REST API, including metadata such as title, author, and modification date. * **Limitations with Dynamic Content:** Pages relying on dynamic web parts may not have all content retrieved since this content is rendered dynamically at request time and requires user authentication, which the connector cannot impersonate. * **Exclusion of Non-Relevant Content:** The connector automatically excludes sites, lists, or documents flagged as IsCatalog, IsPrivate, Hidden, or NoCrawl, ensuring irrelevant or internal content is not indexed. * **Security and Permissions:** Requires registering an OAuth 2.0 application in Microsoft Entra admin center and granting FullControl SharePoint API permissions for site and site collection access, ensuring secure and authorized crawling. * **Configuration Support:** Provides options for defining crawl scope, including site inclusion/exclusion filters to tailor content retrieval and indexing. * **Document Volume Estimation:** Allows estimation of total documents and site-specific counts to help plan crawl scope and performance. ## Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers By integrating Microsoft SharePoint Online content into AI Search, customers can enhance their enterprise search capabilities, enabling users to discover relevant SharePoint pages and metadata directly within ServiceNow. Administrators control what content is indexed and how permissions are managed, ensuring compliance with organizational security policies. To implement the connector, customers should: * Create a public/private key pair and configure API access via Microsoft Entra admin center. * Register and grant appropriate permissions to an OAuth 2.0 app for the connector. * Configure crawl settings to specify which SharePoint sites and content to index. * Understand the limitations regarding dynamic content retrieval and plan accordingly. This setup ensures that selected SharePoint Online content is searchable in AI Search, improving user access to relevant information while respecting security and content relevance. The Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector retrieves pages from sites in your Microsoft SharePoint Online source system and makes their content and metadata searchable in AI Search applications. Connector administrators can run or schedule content crawls to retrieve updated content and access permissions from your source system, or user permission crawls to retrieve updated security principals from your source system. Both types of crawl feed their data to AI Search for indexing. The indexed content and metadata are stored as records in a connector-specific indexed source. Search administrators can create search sources from this indexed source and link them to search profiles to make the indexed records searchable in AI Search applications. ## Microsoft SharePoint Online static and dynamic page content {#microsoft-sharepoint-online-external-content-connector__section_xpf_mrs_m3c} Microsoft SharePoint Online pages built primarily with static text content authored in the Microsoft SharePoint Online editor produce searchable content that more closely matches what users see in a web browser. By contrast, pages that rely on dynamic web parts may not contain all of the content that users see in a web browser. Microsoft SharePoint Online pages are stored as .aspx files in a site's Site Pages library. These files can include static content in their CanvasContent1 and WikiFields metadata fields. They can also include scripts that call a server-side engine to dynamically render viewable content at request time. The exact content rendered depends on user context, permissions, and web parts loaded as part of the page request. Rendering a page's full viewable content requires an authenticated user session. The Microsoft SharePoint Online connector can't impersonate a user to trigger this rendering process. As a result, the connector cannot capture the final HTML output that a web browser would display. For each page retrieved, the Microsoft SharePoint Online connector queries the SharePoint REST API's _api/web/lists('\')/items(\) endpoint to access the page's underlying list item. Via this API endpoint, the connector retrieves content primarily from the page's CanvasContent1 and WikiFields metadata fields. It also captures the page's other metadata fields such as title, author, and modification date where available. Page content stored exclusively in dynamic web parts may be retrieved only partially or not at all, since that content doesn't exist in the list item metadata. To learn how to view the portion of a page's content that can be retrieved using the Microsoft SharePoint Online connector, see [View retrievable page content using the Microsoft SharePoint Online REST API](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/PNSsiNqnxjN2cuQF0xlfdQ "Review the elements of of a Microsoft SharePoint Online page's content that can be retrieved by the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector."). ## Microsoft SharePoint Online flags {#microsoft-sharepoint-online-external-content-connector__section_iyx_vgb_xjc} Microsoft SharePoint Online uses several flags to define how sites, lists, and documents behave. The Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector automatically ignores any sites, lists, or documents that have any of the following flags set to true: * IsCatalog (denotes a list used for storing assets or configuration) * IsPrivate (denotes a list intended for restricted or internal use) * Hidden (denotes a list that supports system features and isn't meant for user browsing) * NoCrawl (denotes content that shouldn't be indexed for search) {#microsoft-sharepoint-online-external-content-connector__ul_ztj_fhb_xjc} These flags denote content that isn't relevant or user-facing and should be excluded from search results. * **[Estimate document volume for Microsoft SharePoint Online](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/CY34D1GESZZYgATTYoUFOQ)** Estimate the total number of documents included in your Microsoft SharePoint Online source system and the document counts for individual sites. Use this information to determine crawl scope settings needed for your Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector. * **[Create a public/private key pair for the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/EO5iGiTFdt9Cu9VDCfzxKQ)** Generate a public/private key pair for the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector. Extract the public key as a DER-encoded binary X.509 format certificate for use in configuring API access for the connector in the Microsoft Entra admin center. * **[Configure Microsoft SharePoint Online for external content indexing](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/kHGh63v~pTqEQitrsq1dDA)** Register an OAuth 2.0 application in the Microsoft Entra admin center to grant the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector access to your Microsoft SharePoint Online source system. * **[Configure site and site collection access for the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/deILU5~Y_svsacoqTqKJFA)** Allow the Microsoft SharePoint Online connector to crawl your sites and site collections by granting site-specific SharePoint API FullControl permissions to the OAuth 2.0 app registered in Microsoft Entra for the connector. * **[Create a Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ciTOdRw8IUAi8h7jFPY28A)** Create an external content connector to retrieve searchable content and security principals from your Microsoft SharePoint Online source system. * **[Configure crawl settings for a Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/BKpK~oUx06lmRB3yZ7OB3w)** Specify the sites you want your Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector to crawl. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to dictate the types of content the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing. * **[View retrievable page content using the Microsoft SharePoint Online REST API](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/PNSsiNqnxjN2cuQF0xlfdQ)** Review the elements of of a Microsoft SharePoint Online page's content that can be retrieved by the Microsoft SharePoint Online external content connector. **Related tasks** * [Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/fFJ92ZYif96fkc2JA4HtyQ "Retrieve searchable content and metadata from your source system with a content crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis.") * [Create a user permission crawl for an external content connector](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/mgt5mVce9bh_zJPIF3Xy5A "Retrieve security principals from your source system with a user permission crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis.")