Edit

Create an indexed SharePoint knowledge source (preview)

Note

Some agentic retrieval features are generally available in the 2026-04-01 REST API. However, this feature remains in preview and requires a preview REST API. Preview features are provided without a service-level agreement and aren't recommended for production workloads. For more information, see Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews.

Important

These features and functionality are part of the 2026-05-01-preview REST API. The 2026-05-01-preview is licensed to you as part of your Azure subscription and is subject to the terms applicable to "Previews" in the Microsoft Product Terms, the Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum ("DPA"), and the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews.

The 2026-05-01-preview supports connections to other Microsoft services and third-party services. Use of these services is subject to their respective terms and might result in data processing or storage outside of the Azure compliance boundary, as well as data flowing into the Azure compliance boundary.

The 2026-05-01-preview can't modify access permissions that were set outside of the 2026-05-01-preview. If you use the 2026-05-01-preview with access- or permission-restricted content, a timing lag will occur before the 2026-05-01-preview recognizes changes to those access or permission restrictions.

It's your responsibility to manage whether your data will flow outside of your organization's compliance and geographic boundaries and any related implications, and that appropriate permissions, boundaries, and approvals are provisioned.

You're responsible for carefully reviewing and testing applications you build in the context of your specific use cases and making all appropriate decisions and customizations. This includes implementing your own responsible AI mitigations, such as metaprompts, content filters, or other safety systems, and ensuring your applications meet appropriate quality, reliability, security, and trustworthiness standards. For more information, see the Azure AI Search Transparency Note.

An indexed SharePoint knowledge source (preview) ingests SharePoint content into an agentic retrieval pipeline in Azure AI Search. Knowledge sources are created independently, referenced in a knowledge base, and used as grounding data when the knowledge base is queried at runtime.

When you create an indexed SharePoint knowledge source, you specify a SharePoint connection string, models, and properties to automatically generate the following Azure AI Search objects:

  • A data source that points to SharePoint sites.
  • A skillset that chunks and optionally vectorizes multimodal content.
  • An index that stores enriched content and meets the criteria for agentic retrieval.
  • An indexer that uses the previous objects to drive the indexing and enrichment pipeline.

Usage support

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Prerequisites

Check for existing knowledge sources

A knowledge source is a top-level, reusable object. Knowing about existing knowledge sources is helpful for either reuse or naming new objects.

Run the following code to list knowledge sources by name and type.

// List knowledge sources by name and type
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);
var knowledgeSources = indexClient.GetKnowledgeSourcesAsync();

Console.WriteLine("Knowledge Sources:");

await foreach (var ks in knowledgeSources)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"  Name: {ks.Name}, Type: {ks.GetType().Name}");
}

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# List knowledge sources by name and type
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))

for ks in index_client.list_knowledge_sources():
    print(f"  - {ks.name} ({ks.kind})")

Reference: SearchIndexClient

### List knowledge sources by name and type
GET {{search-url}}/knowledgesources?api-version={{api-version}}&$select=name,kind
api-key: {{api-key}}

Reference: Knowledge Sources - List

You can also return a single knowledge source by name to review its JSON definition.

using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using System.Text.Json;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);

// Specify the knowledge source name to retrieve
string ksNameToGet = "earth-knowledge-source";

// Get its definition
var knowledgeSourceResponse = await indexClient.GetKnowledgeSourceAsync(ksNameToGet);
var ks = knowledgeSourceResponse.Value;

// Serialize to JSON for display
var jsonOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions 
{ 
    WriteIndented = true,
    DefaultIgnoreCondition = System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonIgnoreCondition.Never
};
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(ks, ks.GetType(), jsonOptions));

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Get a knowledge source definition
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
import json

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))

ks = index_client.get_knowledge_source("knowledge_source_name")
print(json.dumps(ks.as_dict(), indent = 2))

Reference: SearchIndexClient

### Get a knowledge source definition
GET {{search-url}}/knowledgesources/{{knowledge-source-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
api-key: {{api-key}}

Reference: Knowledge Sources - Get

The following JSON is an example response for an indexed SharePoint knowledge source.

{
  "name": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks",
  "kind": "indexedSharePoint",
  "description": "A sample indexed SharePoint knowledge source",
  "encryptionKey": null,
  "indexedSharePointParameters": {
    "connectionString": "<redacted>",
    "containerName": "defaultSiteLibrary",
    "query": null,
    "ingestionParameters": {
      "disableImageVerbalization": false,
      "ingestionPermissionOptions": [],
      "contentExtractionMode": "minimal",
      "identity": null,
      "embeddingModel": {
        "kind": "azureOpenAI",
        "azureOpenAIParameters": {
          "resourceUri": "<redacted>",
          "deploymentId": "text-embedding-3-large",
          "apiKey": "<redacted>",
          "modelName": "text-embedding-3-large",
          "authIdentity": null
        }
      },
      "chatCompletionModel": null,
      "ingestionSchedule": null,
      "assetStore": null,
      "aiServices": null
    },
    "createdResources": {
      "datasource": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks-datasource",
      "indexer": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks-indexer",
      "skillset": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks-skillset",
      "index": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks-index"
    }
  },
  "indexedOneLakeParameters": null
}

Create a knowledge source

Run the following code to create an indexed SharePoint knowledge source.

// Create an IndexedSharePoint knowledge source
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes.Models;
using Azure.Search.Documents.KnowledgeBases.Models;
using Azure;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), new AzureKeyCredential(apiKey));

var chatCompletionParams = new AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters
{
    ResourceUri = new Uri(aoaiEndpoint),
    DeploymentName = aoaiGptDeployment,
    ModelName = aoaiGptModel
};

var embeddingParams = new AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters
{
    ResourceUri = new Uri(aoaiEndpoint),
    DeploymentName = aoaiEmbeddingDeployment,
    ModelName = aoaiEmbeddingModel
};

var ingestionParams = new KnowledgeSourceIngestionParameters
{
    DisableImageVerbalization = false,
    ChatCompletionModel = new KnowledgeBaseAzureOpenAIModel(azureOpenAIParameters: chatCompletionParams),
    EmbeddingModel = new KnowledgeSourceAzureOpenAIVectorizer
    {
        AzureOpenAIParameters = embeddingParams
    }
};

var sharePointParams = new IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSourceParameters(
    connectionString: sharePointConnectionString,
    containerName: "defaultSiteLibrary")
{
    IngestionParameters = ingestionParams
};

var knowledgeSource = new IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSource(
    name: "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks",
    indexedSharePointParameters: sharePointParams)
{
    Description = "A sample indexed SharePoint knowledge source."
};

await indexClient.CreateOrUpdateKnowledgeSourceAsync(knowledgeSource);
Console.WriteLine($"Knowledge source '{knowledgeSource.Name}' created or updated successfully.");

Reference: SearchIndexClient, IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSource

# Create an indexed SharePoint knowledge source
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSource, IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSourceParameters, KnowledgeBaseAzureOpenAIModel, AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters, KnowledgeSourceContentExtractionMode
from azure.search.documents.knowledgebases.models import KnowledgeSourceIngestionParameters, KnowledgeSourceAzureOpenAIVectorizer

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))

knowledge_source = IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSource(
    name = "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks",
    description = "A sample indexed SharePoint knowledge source.",
    encryption_key = None,
    indexed_share_point_parameters = IndexedSharePointKnowledgeSourceParameters(
        connection_string = "connection_string",
        container_name = "defaultSiteLibrary",
        query = None,
        ingestion_parameters = KnowledgeSourceIngestionParameters(
            identity = None,
            disable_image_verbalization = False,
            chat_completion_model = KnowledgeBaseAzureOpenAIModel(
                azure_open_ai_parameters = AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters(
                    resource_url = "aoai_endpoint",
                    deployment_name = "aoai_gpt_deployment",
                    model_name = "aoai_gpt_model",
                    api_key = "aoai_api_key"
                )
            ),
            embedding_model = KnowledgeSourceAzureOpenAIVectorizer(
                azure_open_ai_parameters=AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters(
                    resource_url = "aoai_endpoint",
                    deployment_name = "aoai_embedding_deployment",
                    model_name = "aoai_embedding_model",
                    api_key = "aoai_api_key"
                )
            ),
            content_extraction_mode = KnowledgeSourceContentExtractionMode.MINIMAL,
            ingestion_schedule = None,
            ingestion_permission_options = None
        )
    )
)

index_client.create_or_update_knowledge_source(knowledge_source)
print(f"Knowledge source '{knowledge_source.name}' created or updated successfully.")

Reference: SearchIndexClient

### Create an indexed SharePoint knowledge source
PUT {{search-url}}/knowledgesources/my-indexed-sharepoint-ks?api-version=2026-05-01-preview
api-key: {{api-key}}
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "name": "my-indexed-sharepoint-ks",
    "kind": "indexedSharePoint",
    "description": "A sample indexed SharePoint knowledge source.",
    "encryptionKey": null,
    "indexedSharePointParameters": {
        "connectionString": "{{sharepoint-connection-string}}",
        "containerName": "defaultSiteLibrary",
        "query": null,
        "ingestionParameters": {
            "identity": null,
            "embeddingModel": {
                "kind": "azureOpenAI",
                "azureOpenAIParameters": {
                    "deploymentId": "text-embedding-3-large",
                    "modelName": "text-embedding-3-large",
                    "resourceUri": "{{aoai-endpoint}}",
                    "apiKey": "{{aoai-key}}"
                }
            },
            "chatCompletionModel": null,
            "disableImageVerbalization": false,
            "ingestionSchedule": null,
            "ingestionPermissionOptions": [],
            "contentExtractionMode": "minimal"
        }
    }
}

Reference: Knowledge Sources - Create or Update

Check ingestion status

Run the following code to monitor ingestion progress and health, including the knowledge source kind and detailed indexing errors for knowledge sources that generate an indexer pipeline and populate a search index.

using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using System.Text.Json;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), new AzureKeyCredential(apiKey));

// Get knowledge source ingestion status
var statusResponse = await indexClient.GetKnowledgeSourceStatusAsync(knowledgeSourceName);
var status = statusResponse.Value;

// Serialize to JSON for display
var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(status, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true });
Console.WriteLine(json);

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Check knowledge source ingestion status
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
import json

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint="search_url", credential=AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))

status = index_client.get_knowledge_source_status("knowledge_source_name")
print(json.dumps(status.as_dict(), indent=2))

Reference: SearchIndexClient

### Check knowledge source ingestion status
GET {{search-url}}/knowledgesources/{{knowledge-source-name}}/status?api-version={{api-version}}
api-key: {{api-key}}
Content-Type: application/json

Reference: Knowledge Sources - Get Status

A response for a request that includes ingestion parameters and is actively ingesting content might look like the following example.

{
  "kind": "azureBlob",
  "synchronizationStatus": "active",
  "synchronizationInterval": "1d",
  "currentSynchronizationState": {
    "startTime": "2026-04-10T19:30:00Z",
    "itemUpdatesProcessed": 1100,
    "itemsUpdatesFailed": 100,
    "itemsSkipped": 1100,
    "errors": [
      {
        "key": "Item id 1",
        "docURL": "https://contoso.blob.core.windows.net/contracts/2024/Q4/doc-00023.csv",
        "statusCode": 400,
        "componentName": "DocumentExtraction.AzureBlob.MyDataSource",
        "errorMessage": "Could not read the value of column 'foo' at index '0'.",
        "details": "The file could not be parsed.",
        "documentationLink": "https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2049388"
      }
    ]
  },
  "lastSynchronizationState": {
    "status": "partialSuccess",
    "startTime": "2026-04-09T19:30:00Z",
    "endTime": "2026-04-09T19:40:01Z",
    "itemUpdatesProcessed": 1100,
    "itemsUpdatesFailed": 100,
    "itemsSkipped": 1100,
    "errors": null
  },
  "statistics": {
    "totalSynchronizations": 25,
    "averageSynchronizationDuration": "00:15:20",
    "averageItemsProcessedPerSynchronization": 500
  }
}

Note

The kind property and currentSynchronizationState.errors[] array with document-level error details are available starting with the 2026-04-01 API version. For earlier API versions, these fields aren't returned. The lastSynchronizationState.status field is also new in 2026-04-01.

Review the generated objects

When you create this knowledge source, Azure AI Search automatically generates a data source, skillset, indexer, and index. The creation response lists each object under createdResources.

These objects are generated according to a fixed template, and their names are based on the name of the knowledge source. You can't change the object names. Avoid editing these objects directly, as changes can introduce errors or incompatibilities that break the indexer pipeline.

You can use the Azure portal to validate object creation. The workflow is:

  1. Check the indexer for success or failure messages. Connection or quota errors appear here.

  2. Check the data source to verify the connection to your data store. The connection uses either a connection string or a managed identity, depending on how you configured the knowledge source.

  3. Check the skillset to see how your content is chunked and optionally vectorized.

  4. Check the index to see how your content is indexed and exposed for retrieval, including which fields are searchable and filterable and which fields store vectors for similarity search. Use Search Explorer to run queries against the generated index.

Assign to a knowledge base

If you're satisfied with the knowledge source, add it to a knowledge base.

For any knowledge base that specifies an indexed SharePoint knowledge source, be sure to set includeReferenceSourceData to true. This step is necessary for pulling the source document URL into the citation.

Query a knowledge base

After the knowledge base is configured, call the retrieve action or MCP endpoint to query the knowledge source. This knowledge source supports optional configurations for document-level permissions enforcement and document-embedded image surfacing.

Enforce document-level permissions

To enforce document-level permissions, set ingestionPermissionOptions when you create this knowledge source, and then include the user's access token in the retrieve request. For more information, see Enforce permissions at query time (preview).

Surface document-embedded images

To surface document-embedded images (such as diagrams or scans) in answer synthesis responses, configure assetStore on this knowledge source, and then enable image serving on the knowledge base. For more information, see Surface document-embedded images in agentic retrieval (preview).

Delete a knowledge source

Before you can delete a knowledge source, you must delete any knowledge base that references it or update the knowledge base definition to remove the reference. For knowledge sources that generate an index and indexer pipeline, all generated objects are also deleted. However, if you used an existing index to create a knowledge source, your index isn't deleted.

If you try to delete a knowledge source that's in use, the action fails and returns a list of affected knowledge bases.

To delete a knowledge source:

  1. Get a list of all knowledge bases on your search service.

    using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);
var knowledgeBases = indexClient.GetKnowledgeBasesAsync();

Console.WriteLine("Knowledge Bases:");

await foreach (var kb in knowledgeBases)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"  - {kb.Name}");
}

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
     "@odata.context": "https://my-search-service.search.windows.net/$metadata#knowledgebases(name)",
     "value": [
     {
         "name": "my-kb"
     },
     {
         "name": "my-kb-2"
     }
     ]
 }

  2. Get an individual knowledge base definition to check for knowledge source references.

    using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using System.Text.Json;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);

// Specify the knowledge base name to retrieve
string kbNameToGet = "earth-knowledge-base";

// Get a specific knowledge base definition
var knowledgeBaseResponse = await indexClient.GetKnowledgeBaseAsync(kbNameToGet);
var kb = knowledgeBaseResponse.Value;

// Serialize to JSON for display
string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(kb, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true });
Console.WriteLine(json);

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
   "Name": "earth-knowledge-base",
   "KnowledgeSources": [
     {
       "Name": "earth-knowledge-source"
     }
   ],
   "Models": [
     {}
   ],
   "RetrievalReasoningEffort": {},
   "OutputMode": {},
   "ETag": "\u00220x8DE278629D782B3\u0022",
   "EncryptionKey": null,
   "Description": null,
   "RetrievalInstructions": null,
   "AnswerInstructions": null
 }

  3. Either delete the knowledge base or, if you have multiple knowledge sources, update the knowledge base to remove the source. This example shows deletion.

    using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);

await indexClient.DeleteKnowledgeBaseAsync(knowledgeBaseName);
System.Console.WriteLine($"Knowledge base '{knowledgeBaseName}' deleted successfully.");

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

  4. Delete the knowledge source.

    await indexClient.DeleteKnowledgeSourceAsync(knowledgeSourceName);
System.Console.WriteLine($"Knowledge source '{knowledgeSourceName}' deleted successfully.");

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

  1. Get a list of all knowledge bases on your search service.

    # Get knowledge bases
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))

print("Knowledge Bases:")
for kb in index_client.list_knowledge_bases():
    print(f"  - {kb.name}")

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
     "@odata.context": "https://my-search-service.search.windows.net/$metadata#knowledgebases(name)",
     "value": [
     {
         "name": "my-kb"
     },
     {
         "name": "my-kb-2"
     }
     ]
 }

  2. Get an individual knowledge base definition to check for knowledge source references.

    # Get a knowledge base definition
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))
kb = index_client.get_knowledge_base("knowledge_base_name")
print(kb)

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
   "name": "my-kb",
   "description": null,
   "retrievalInstructions": null,
   "answerInstructions": null,
   "outputMode": null,
   "knowledgeSources": [
     {
       "name": "my-blob-ks",
     }
   ],
   "models": [],
   "encryptionKey": null,
   "retrievalReasoningEffort": {
     "kind": "low"
   }
 }

  3. Either delete the knowledge base or, if you have multiple knowledge sources, update the knowledge base to remove the source. This example shows deletion.

    # Delete a knowledge base
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential 
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))
index_client.delete_knowledge_base("knowledge_base_name")
print(f"Knowledge base deleted successfully.")

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

  4. Delete the knowledge source.

    # Delete a knowledge source
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential 
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "search_url", credential = AzureKeyCredential("api_key"))
index_client.delete_knowledge_source("knowledge_source_name")
print(f"Knowledge source deleted successfully.")

    Reference: SearchIndexClient

  1. Get a list of all knowledge bases on your search service.

    ### Get knowledge bases
GET {{search-url}}/knowledgebases?api-version={{api-version}}&$select=name
api-key: {{api-key}}

    Reference: Knowledge Bases - List

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
     "@odata.context": "https://my-search-service.search.windows.net/$metadata#knowledgebases(name)",
     "value": [
     {
         "name": "my-kb"
     },
     {
         "name": "my-kb-2"
     }
     ]
 }

  2. Get an individual knowledge base definition to check for knowledge source references.

    ### Get a knowledge base definition
GET {{search-url}}/knowledgebases/{{knowledge-base-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
api-key: {{api-key}}

    Reference: Knowledge Bases - Get

    An example response might look like the following:

     {
   "name": "my-kb",
   "description": null,
   "retrievalInstructions": null,
   "answerInstructions": null,
   "outputMode": null,
   "knowledgeSources": [
     {
       "name": "my-blob-ks",
     }
   ],
   "models": [],
   "encryptionKey": null,
   "retrievalReasoningEffort": {
     "kind": "low"
   }
 }

  3. Either delete the knowledge base or, if you have multiple knowledge sources, update the knowledge base to remove the source. This example shows deletion.

    ### Delete a knowledge base
DELETE {{search-url}}/knowledgebases/{{knowledge-base-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
api-key: {{api-key}}

    Reference: Knowledge Bases - Delete

  4. Delete the knowledge source.

    ### Delete a knowledge source
DELETE {{search-url}}/knowledgesources/{{knowledge-source-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
api-key: {{api-key}}

    Reference: Knowledge Sources - Delete

Known errors

When you create this knowledge source with contentExtractionMode set to standard, you might get the following error.

Failed to create custom analyzer 'azs_tmp': BadRequest - {"error":{"code":"InvalidRequest","message":"Invalid request.","innererror":{"code":"DefaultsNotSet","message":"Defaults have not yet been set. Call 'PATCH /contentunderstanding/defaults' first."}}}

To resolve the error, define the default values as instructed in the Content Understanding prerequisites. Afterwards, you can proceed with creating the knowledge source.

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