---
title: "Configure your index"
slug: "configure-your-index"
abstract: "Describes how to index items for your Sitecore Search implementation."
---
# Configure your index

This is part two of the [get started](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/get-started.html "Get started") walkthrough series.

Every implementation requires indexing methods to extract required metadata and information about searchable items such as location and type. In Sitecore Search, a *source* is part of the infrastructure that brings data into the platform. You can index items using pull and push mechanisms.

![Configuring sources lets you index different item types from multiple locations.](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/search/en/users/search-user-guide/images/getstarted-3.PNG)

When triggered, a source extracts metadata and other information from items in repositories and other locations, then stores them in structured documents called *index documents*, which are stored in an index.

At runtime, Search examines the index to retrieve items that match the search request.

You can specify the type and the location of content you want to index to suit your business, data, and design strategy. The following procedure provides an example of how you might configure these options.

> [!important]
> Your implementation will use the preconfigured entities *Content*, *Product*, *Category*, and *Store* unless you've [configured required entities](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/get-started/add-or-edit-entities.html "Add or edit entities") to match your implementation plan.

To index your items:

1. Using your implementation plan, configure each required source:
    - [Web crawler](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/configure-indexing/configure-a-web-crawler.html "Configure a web crawler") 
    - [Advanced web crawler](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/configure-indexing/configure-an-advanced-web-crawler.html "Configure an advanced web crawler") 
    - [API crawler](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/configure-indexing/configure-an-api-crawler.html "Configure an API crawler") 
    - [API push](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/configure-indexing/configure-api-push.html "Configure API push") 
    - [PDFs](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/configure-indexing/configure-for-pdfs/extract-html-from-a-pdf.html "Extract HTML from a PDF") 
2. To trigger crawling, [publish your configured sources](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/get-started/configure-a-web-crawler.html#UUID-d2842294-0288-d59c-43b0-a157eeeec32c_UUID-4bfb6fbe-49af-3f77-85f9-31be054eec3a).
3. While the indexing is in progress, you can monitor it and observe potential errors by clicking **Analytics** > **Sources** > **Overview**.
4. If the indexing completes successfully, you can validate the indexed content by [browsing the entities in the Content collection section](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/index-items/browse-indexed-items.html "Browse indexed items").

Now you can work with a developer to [integrate your website or application](https://doc.sitecore.com/search/en/users/search-user-guide/get-started/create-your-first-integration.html "Create your first integration") with Sitecore Search.