Lab #6: Configuring Enterprise Search
Overview
- Learning Objectives: Set up Moveworks Enterprise Search to ingest knowledge base articles from ServiceNow so the AI Assistant can answer questions in chat
- Estimated Time: 45 minutes active, about 12 hours total (initial search ingestion runs after configuration)
- Prerequisites:
- Lab #4 complete (users ingested)
- Lab #5: Install the Moveworks Update Sets complete
- Published knowledge base articles in your ServiceNow instance
Key Concepts
Moveworks Enterprise Search indexes your existing knowledge content so the AI Assistant can answer questions directly in-chat. Important elements include:
- Search Connector: The bridge to your Knowledge Management System (KMS) that defines the scope of what the Moveworks AI Assistant is allowed to read.
- Knowledge Base (KB) Selection: The specific repositories within your KMS that you choose to ingest; you can ingest everything or limit search to specific knowledge bases.
- Ingestion Cycle: The periodic process where Moveworks fetches updates to articles. New content typically appears in search results 15 to 30 minutes after a crawl. The first ingestion after setup takes much longer, because Moveworks processes every document for the first time.
- Access Control Lists (ACLs): Security settings inherited from the source system (like ServiceNow User Criteria) that ensure users only see articles they have permission to view.
Relevant Documentation:
- Moveworks Help: Enterprise Search Overview
- Moveworks Help: Configuring Enterprise Search for ServiceNow
π οΈ 1: Walkthrough
- Navigate to Search > Configure Search > Max Capacity

- Select Get Started

- Select ServiceNow as the source system

- From the Select connector dropdown, choose the connector you created in Lab #3 (
snow)

- Under Select and combine one or more required method(s), check Add Knowledge Bases, then click Start Validation to allow Moveworks to verify that the ServiceNow instance is ready for Moveworks to ingest content

- Confirm that Credentials, Content, User, and Permission all return successful, then click Close
If the connector has not validated successfully, take these troubleshooting steps:
- Confirm you can reach the ServiceNow instance from API Playground in Moveworks Setup.
- Confirm the Moveworks update sets are installed on the Retrieved Update Sets page in ServiceNow. You should see
moveworks.baseandmoveworks.acl. If Permission fails, repeat the Lab #5.

- Click Save to confirm your connector configuration, then move on to the Content Selection step

-
Select All Knowledge Bases and click Save

-
Select the Audience step

- Select All Users and click Save

- Wait for the initial ingestion to complete. While the data syncs, review the security configuration Moveworks generated.
Initial ingestion of content and permissions takes about 12 hours. This is a one-time cost; incremental syncs after that run every 15 to 30 minutes. Donβt expect search results right after configuration.

- Open Resource Permissions > Mirror Permissions and check that access controls and User Criteria are being pulled from ServiceNow.
Note: This page is powered by the moveworks.acl update set. If you are also configuring Form Ingestion, ensure the Fetch Form Access Controls checkbox is selected here.

- Open Resource Permissions > Permission Rules. Moveworks uses Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC) so the AI Assistant respects the source systemβs permissions.
Key Concept: While Mirroring is specific to ServiceNow, Permission Rules apply across all integrated systems to maintain a consistent security posture.

- Navigate to AI Assistant > Plugin Management and confirm the Enterprise Search plugin is set to
TRUE.

β 2: Verification & Next Steps
Initial ingestion takes about 12 hours. Incremental syncs after that run every 15 to 30 minutes.
-
Check success: After the initial ingestion completes, confirm your knowledge articles appear on the Indexed Content > Internal Knowledge page.

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Confirm access: In the AI Assistant, ask a question about one of the articles listed on that page. An answer confirms you have access and Moveworks is serving the ingested content.
If you donβt get any knowledge content back, see Section 3: Troubleshooting.

Next: Lab #7: Basic Forms
β 3: Troubleshooting: Why Canβt I Find My Article?
If an article has been ingested but isnβt surfacing in search, work through these checks from the outside in to find the root cause.
3.1: Ingestion Check: Is It There?
Before checking within the Assistant, verify the article & permissions are ingested & βServingβ within Moveworks Setup
-
The Data Crawling page allows us to see all of the full & incremental updates Moveworks has processed from the knowledge system. We should sanity check that the Permission & Content ingestion have been operating without error

-
Validate that the Content & Permission crawling are recent, and have had a chance to run after any changes in the source system that may be causing the current issue

-
Search for the record: In the Indexed Content > Internal Knowledge page, search for your article by ID.

- Check the Status: Only articles marked Serving are searchable.
- Check the Cadence: New content takes 15 to 30 minutes to appear after a crawl.
- Check the Health: Ensure that the content & permission crawling is marked as Healthy.
3.2: Access Strategy Check: Am I Allowed?
Moveworks defaults to REBAC (Relationship-Based Access Control), meaning it strictly follows the source system permissions.
-
Confirm REBAC: Navigate to the Permission Rules page. If Strategy is set to REBAC, Moveworks is looking for your ServiceNow User Criteria.

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Check the userβs evaluated permissions: On the Indexed Content > Internal Knowledge page, click the row for the article, and check the permissions of the user who canβt see it.

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Result: If the permissions evaluate to False, the user either meaningfully has no access to the content or there is a misalignment between Moveworks & the source system permissions
3.3: Isolation Test: Is It the ACL?
If you are unsure if the issue is the search engine or the permissions, use these bypass methods in the Resource Permissions configuration to confirm:
- Add Additional Access: Open the associated Resource Permission in Moveworks and add your email to the Additional Access field.
- Result: If the article now appears, the search engine is fine, but your ServiceNow ACLs are blocking you.

- Result: If the article now appears, the search engine is fine, but your ServiceNow ACLs are blocking you.
3.4: Source System Permission Check
If you are able to successfully retrieve the article after doing the isolation test, it means there is some mismatch between the system permissions & Moveworks interpretation of them. We should sanity check the users access to the article in the given system. To evaluate permissions collect the following:
-
The Source System ID of the KB article we are validating against

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The Source System ID of the User we are validating against
-
User Identity > Imported Users > Search for user

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Scroll to the bottom of the page, expand the system information, and capture the users
External ID
-
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In API Playground, select the
ACL GETrequest and enter the articlesys_idand the userβssys_id.

- Result: When looking at the source system, we see that the knowledge base user criteria requirements only allow access for the criteria with sys_id
f0603ded09df3e107f4401ffa7a2528f, which the given user does not have. Therefore they should not have access within Moveworks
3.5: Check the Moveworks Status Page
Validate that there have been no broader issues reported by the Moveworks team on the Moveworks Status Page
3.6: Escalate to Moveworks Support
If youβve validated the above and still canβt find the root cause, open a ticket with Moveworks Support and include the following details related to the failure mode we are seeing:
- The email of the user experiencing the issue
- The KB Article they are experiencing the issue in relation to
- Title, sys_id, and current state within Moveworks (in this case,
SERVING)
- Title, sys_id, and current state within Moveworks (in this case,
- That we have already validated the following:
- The article has been ingested
- The permissions are being ingested from the source system (working for other articles)
- Our Resource Permissions configuration is set to REBAC
- The user does have access to the article in the source system
The more detail you include, the faster Moveworks Support can help.
πͺ 4: Reflecting on This Configuration
Through this lab, youβve learned the following:
- How to configure Moveworks Enterprise Search
- How knowledge system permissions are respected + configured within Moveworks
- What to expect in terms of turnaround time for content ingestion within Moveworks
- The troubleshooting flow to follow when a user is not seeing results they expect within Moveworks
βοΈ 5: Configuration Details
Use the table below to fill in the required fields accurately.