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Introduction

The SharePoint connector for Glean allows Glean to fetch and index content from SharePoint sites, ensuring that users can search and access documents where they have authorized permissions.

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Authentication and API Usage

• Authentication: is done by creating and registering an App for each deployment - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-v2-service.

• API Usage:

  • Glean will use the Graph API to ingest all data and permissions, using the current Microsoft Graph API SDK v5.30.0.
  • Glean will ingest all data using the standard Graph API and SharePoint REST API.
  • Glean uses application permissions with admin-granted access.

• Permissions Enforcement: Glean respects all user access permissions, ensuring users only see search results for documents they have access to. When a user clicks on a search result, they are taken to the Office 365 web application, which enforces the permission.

• Data Storage: All data is stored in the customer’s project within the customer’s cloud account, ensuring no data leaves the customer’s environment.

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Content Captured

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OneDrive Content

Glean will capture:

• Folders
• Documents (All document types, e.g. word, excel, PowerPoint)
• OneNote (limited support, indexing Notebooks + Sections)

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SharePoint Content

Glean will capture:

• Site Pages (web part or wiki page libraries)
• Site Drives (document libraries)
• Basic List and Calendar List items (optional configuration not by default)

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SharePoint Permissions

Glean requires the following permissions set by the Office 365 tenant administrator:

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For Identities in Azure:

• User.Read.All
• Group.Read.All
• GroupMember.Read.All

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For OneDrive/SharePoint:

• Directory.Read.All
• Files.Read.All
• Files.ReadWrite.All (for webhooks setup)
• Reports.Read.All (for ranking signals)
• Sites.FullControl.All (previously Sites.Read.All)
• SharePoint REST API requires full control to properly crawl all Site Collections, SharePoint site content, and permissions

Note: If the SharePoint site is a new tenant, Glean has observed DisableCustomAppAuthentication is set to True, which needs to be set to False in order for the registered app to be authenticated. The command to run is |set-pnptenant -DisableCustomAppAuthentication $false

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SharePoint REST & Graph API Full Control Discussion

As of 07/06/2024, Microsoft SharePoint REST API does not provide granular access for admins. Therefore, Glean requires FullControl to properly retrieve data and permissions such as Role Assignment, Collections, etc. on the SharePoint site pages.

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Sites.FullControl.All Discussion

Glean optimizes to automatically collect and analyze customer data. With Site.FullControl.All, Glean can:

• Discover all of the customer’s current SharePoint sites automatically
• Automatically add new sites as they are created

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Sites Selected Discussion

Customers can alternatively use Sites.Selected to explicitly indicate which sites the application can crawl. However, there are trade-offs:

• Customers must notify Glean when new SharePoint sites are created
• Crawling new sites may take up to 24 hours
• Glean can’t gather activity data for specific sites, which affects ranking and personalization

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Files.ReadWrite.All for Webhooks Discussion

Webhooks allow Glean to:

• Be aware of and sync changes to content in real-time
• Process immediate notifications for document deletions or permission changes

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Versions Supported

There are no specific version limitations of the SharePoint connector.

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Objects Supported

• Folders: Captured and indexed within OneDrive & SharePoint
• Documents: Various types stored in OneDrive & SharePoint
• Native File Types: Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
• Content from Personal and Shared Drives: Supported from both personal and shared drives

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