Manage sources
Feature availability is part of a phased rollout. Your organization may not see this functionality yet. It will become available when your environment is included in the rollout.
A search source is an index of content from your content library, along with the configurations that control how that content is searched. When a visitor uses a search component on your site, the results they get come from the search source you select for that component.
A search source contains:
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Indexed data from your content library.
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Field configurations that determine which content attributes are searchable or filterable.
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Rules that influence result ordering, such as pinning, boosting, or burying content.
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Settings that support more advanced search behavior beyond basic keyword matching
When you create a source, you specify a content template from the Content editor and SitecoreAI ingests all published content items based on that template. The selected field values are stored directly in the source’s index, along with the rules and settings you define. To locate a published template, see identify the template that an item is based on.
Because a source contains both indexed data and configurations, changes you make to the source affect only search behavior. They do not modify the underlying content in your content library.
If you make changes to data in your content library after creating a source, such as adding or deleting items, reindex the source to reflect those changes.
Create a source
When you save a new source, it triggers the source's first ingestion.
You must publish your data in the Content editor and initiate a reindex before it can be ingested by your source.
To create a source for your search experience:
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On the menu bar, click Content > Search sources.
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On the Search Sources page, click Create Source.
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In the Create new search source dialog, in the Source Name field, enter a name for your source.
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In the Template ID field, specify the template ID that your source will pull data from.
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Optionally, add a Description for your source, then click Define Fields.
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Configure the fields in your source and their behavior, and then click Add Rules.
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Optionally, add rules to your source and then click Advanced Settings.
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Enable the advanced settings you want to use in your source and then click Save.
Reindex content for a source
When you make changes to content in the Content editor, you need to refresh sources so that the search information is accurate
When you reindex a source, SitecoreAI rebuilds the underlying index and seamlessly switches the source to use the updated index. This ensures that search experiences connected to the source continue to return results while the reindexing process completes.
To reindex content for a source:
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On the menu bar, click Content > Search sources.
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Next to the source you want to reindex content for, click Reindex content.
View a source
Clicking on a source allows you to view and edit that source's configurations, including fields and rules.
To view the details associated with a source:
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On the menu bar, click Content > Search sources.
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Click a source.
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Click any of the following tabs:
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Fields - to display the list of fields indexed by the source, and their configurations.
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Pinning Rules - to display a list of pinning rules active on the source. Click Add a pin to create a pin rule.
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Boost/Bury Rules - to display a list of boost and bury rules active on the source. Click Add new rule to create a new boost or bury rule.
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Settings - to display the source settings, such as the source name, ID, and advanced settings.
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Delete a source
When you delete a source, search components connected to that source do not return results. You can select a new source in the Source Configuration Manager menu.
To delete a source:
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On the menu bar, click Content > Search sources.
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Next to the source you want to delete, Actions
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Click Delete.
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To confirm the deletion, click Delete.
Configure a search component
After you have created a source, the next step is to configure a search component so your search experience can display the content indexed by that source.