Add a data source in Google Cloud Search

This feature is available with Cloud Search Platform. Please contact your Google Account Manager for details on enabling this feature.

As an administrator, you can set up search for all of your organization's content. To search third-party repositories, you need to add a data source in Google Cloud Search. The data source is the index of searchable items for a repository.

Before you begin

You (or your developer) must have a service account ID with access permissions to the Cloud Search Indexing API. Refer to the Cloud Search developerswebsite for step-by-step instructions on initializing access to the API.

Add a data source

To index items from a third-party repository, add a data source in Cloud Search. If you have Google Workspace, you don't need to add data sources for those services, such as Drive and Gmail.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the top left, click Add .
5. Enter a name in the Display Name text line. For names you can't use, see reserved names.

   Cloud Search users see this name in the search filters at the top of their search results page or in the More drop-down list. You might want to include the source type in the name to make it easy for users to identify.

6. Enter a name in the Short Name text line. For names you can't use, see reserved names.

   To narrow search results, Cloud Search users can use this name with the source search operator.

7. For Visibility, select an option:
   • Visible for everyone to let everyone in your organization see results from this source.
   • Visible for no one to prevent everyone in your organization from seeing results from this source.

     If you find out some users can see results they shouldn't, you can turn off results for everyone until you fix the problem.

   • Only visible for the following to allow only specific users, or groups of users in your organization to see results from this source. Enter the group or user email addresses in the text line.

     When you first add a data source, you might want to turn off visibility for everyone except a few specific users until you test your integration. Verify that users see only search results they have access to.

8. Under Service account ID, add the email address of the service account that authorizes indexing this source.

   Use the email address that was generated for the service account ID when your developer set up credentials for the Cloud Search API.

9. Do not check the Turn on read-only mode box. Cloud Search won't start indexing content from this data source if this box is checked.
10. Click Add.

After you add the data source, it appears in the list of third-party data sources. To identify which data source to access, your developer adds the source ID to the content connector configuration.

Next Steps

1. Give your developer the data source ID to use in the content connector configuration.
2. Your developer needs to create and register a schema (if your content repository has structured data).
3. Before you turn on a source's visibility for everyone, verify your integration is working correctly.
4. Map user identities.

Reserved names

The display name or short name of your data source can't begin with "Google" and can't use a reserved name.

Reserved data source names

• Calendar
• Docs
• Drive
• Gmail
• Gplus
• Groups
• Keep
• Mail
• Sites

Edit or delete a data source

You control which data sources different users can search. For example, you might want your sales team to search different repositories than your accounting department.

You can hide search results from a particular data source if you turn off its visibility. Turning off visibility its means users won't see results from that data source. It doesn't permanently delete a data source from Cloud Search.

Turn visibility on or off

Before you begin: To turn visibility on or off for a select group of users, put their accounts in a group.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the list, highlight the data source you want to change, then click Edit .
5. For Visibility, select an option:
   • Visible for everyone to let everyone in your organization see results from this source.
   • Visible for no one to prevent everyone in your organization from seeing results from this source.
   • Only visible for the following to allow only specific users, or groups of users, in your organization to see results from this source. Enter the group or user email addresses in the text line.
6. Click Save.

Pause indexing of new content

You can temporarily stop new content from showing up in search results. Your users won't see any new or modified content from a source if you pause indexing. When you pause indexing, it applies to your whole organization. You can't pause indexing for individual organizational units.

Note: You can't turn off indexing for any Google Workspace service, such as Gmail, Drive, or Groups.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the list, highlight the data source you want to change, then click Edit .
5. Check the box for Turn on read-only mode.
6. Click Save.

Change the name shown in search filters and the search operator

You can change the name users see in search filters at the top of the search results page or in the More drop-down list. You can also change the name used for the source search operator.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the list, highlight the source you want to change, then click Edit .
5. In the Display Name field, enter a new name to show in search filters.
6. In the Short Name field, enter a new short version of the name.
7. Click Save.

Update the service account

You can change the service account that can index content for this source, or add another service account. This is the service account created when your developer set up credentials for the Cloud Search Indexing API.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the list, highlight the source you want to change, then click Edit .
5. Under Service account email address, enter the email address of an authorized service account.
   • To remove an email address, click Remove next to the address.
6. Click Save.

Delete a data source

If your organization no longer needs to search a data source, you can permanently delete it. For example, if you end your contract with a service provider, you won't need access to that data source anymore.

Do you want to temporarily stop a data source from appearing in search results? Or want to remove a source only for some people? Don't remove the source as described here. Just turn off visibility for that source, for everyone in your organization, or only for certain people.

Important: Deleting a data source also deletes all the content indexed for this source and can't be undone.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Third-party data sources card.
4. In the list, highlight the data source you want to change, then click Delete .
5. Click Save.

After you delete a content source, it's not available to index and search. If you change your mind later, you can add the source again and reindex.