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Introduction

Glean provides administrators with powerful tools to control what content appears in search results. This document covers two key visibility management approaches:

  1. Data Source Visibility: Control whether entire data sources appear in search results
  2. Document-Level Visibility: Hide specific documents at scale using CSV upload

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Managing Data Source Visibility

To control whether a data source appears in search results:

1

Access Admin Console

Navigate to the admin console > Data sources

You must have Glean admin privileges to access these pages.
2

Select Data Source

Click on the specific data source you want to configure.

3

Configure Search Results

In the Overview tab, locate the “Search results” section. Here you can:

  • Add the data source to search results
  • Remove the data source from search results
  • Limit search results to a select group of teammates (e.g., “test group”)

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Test Groups for Data Sources

When setting up a new data source in Glean, you may want to test with a smaller group before enabling it for everyone. This ensures proper setup and expected search results.

1

Navigate to Test Group Settings

2

Access Test Group Management

Click on the “Manage test group” button

3

Add Team Members

Add teammates who already have access to Glean to the test group. Note that teammates will only see results from apps they have access to.

Changes may take up to 30 minutes to take effect. During this period:

  • Newly added teammates may not see results from the data source
  • Removed teammates may still see results temporarily

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Hiding Specific Documents with CSV Upload

While data source visibility controls apply to entire applications, there may be times when you need more granular control over specific documents. Glean’s CSV upload feature allows administrators to hide individual documents at scale.

Up to 500,000 documents can be specified in a single CSV file. The hiding process takes approximately one hour, and documents remain hidden until you delete the CSV file or upload a new one.

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Implementation Steps

1

Prepare your CSV file

  1. Navigate to the admin console
  2. Go to Governance > Document hiding
  3. Click “Download the CSV template”

Your CSV should contain two columns:

Column 1Column 2
Document IDPreferred visibility

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Visibility Options

  • HIDE_ALL: Hides the document from all Glean users
  • HIDE_ALL_EXCEPT_OWNER: Hides the document from everyone except the owner (documents without owners will be hidden from all users)
  • HIDE_FROM_GROUPS: Hides the document from everyone except those with explicit share permissions

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Finding Document IDs

  1. Visit app.glean.com/search
  2. Search for the document
  3. Hover over the search result to copy the document ID
2

Upload your CSV file

Upload your prepared CSV file to Glean. The system will validate the file data and execute the changes when all validation checks pass.

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Important Notes for CSV Management

CSV Management Best Practices

  • Only one CSV can be active at any time
  • Deleting the uploaded CSV unhides all documents
  • Each new CSV must contain ALL document IDs that should be hidden, not just updates

The CSV must include all document IDs you want to keep hidden. For example:

  • If you have 10 hidden documents and want to hide 2 more, your new CSV needs 12 entries
  • If you want to unhide 10 out of 12 documents, your new CSV should contain only the 2 remaining document IDs

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Limitations of Document Hiding

  • Non-document items (folders, containers) cannot be hidden
  • CSV upload only affects visibility in Glean’s search results and Assistant responses
  • Source permissions remain unchanged

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Error Handling

  • Glean performs validation checks during upload and will notify admins of any errors
  • All errors must be resolved for the CSV upload to succeed
  • If any errors are found (e.g., 2 errors in a CSV with 100 entries), none of the documents will be hidden until the CSV is corrected

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Choosing the Right Visibility Controls

When to use each method

Data Source Visibility: Best for:

  • Newly added data sources that need testing
  • Temporarily removing an entire data source from search
  • Limiting access to specific teams

Document Hiding via CSV: Best for:

  • Selectively hiding sensitive documents
  • Maintaining granular control over specific content
  • Managing visibility without affecting source permissions
Looking for the original versions of this page? You can find the archived versions here and here.