Introduction

The Notion connector allows Simpplr Enterprise Search to index your Notion content, making it easily discoverable and searchable directly within Simpplr.

With this connector, you can:

• Bring Notion content into Simpplr Enterprise Search so users can find files alongside intranet content in one place.

• Use advanced features like autocomplete, hybrid ranking, and Smart Answers on top of Notion content.

Indexed content from Simpplr Enterprise Search is available in:

• In main search listing

• Smart answers

Capabilities at a glance

Objects and content supported

1. Objects - List the object types that are indexed, for example:

• Pages

2. Metadata - For each indexed item, Notion captures:

• Title

• URL / link

• Owner / collaborators

• Created time and last modified time

• Path / location (e.g.,page )

• File type and size

3. Permissions model - Due to the lack of a publicly available API to fetch permissions, Permissions cannot be retrieved or read directly from Notion.

Versions and editions supported

• Supported Notion editions: N/A

• Not supported: N/A

• Any minimum version or API requirement: N/A
  
  Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

1. Source system permissions

• Notion Admin Access 

2. Application / service account

• Ability to create a Notion Api Key 

Notion Documentation : Introduction - Notion Docs

Authentication and security

1. Authentication mechanism
   Describe how  Simpplr Enterprise Search connects to Notion L 

• Auth type: Api Key 

• Scopes or permissions required (examples):

  • Read Content  

  • Read User Information Including user

2. Data security

• Data storage and residency: Indexed content and ACLs from Notion are stored within your Simpplr Enterprise Search environment, in the same region as your Simpplr tenant.

• Encryption in transit: Server-side  encryption with Amazon S3 managed keys (SSE-S3), TLS encryption in Kafka.

• Encryption at rest: SSL (TLS 1.2 or higher), Auth: OAuth 2.0 client-credentials.

• Permission enforcement: Due to the lack of a publicly available API to fetch permissions, Permissions cannot be retrieved or read directly from Notion.

Setup and configuration

Step 1 - Prepare Notion

1. Create a new integration here :   https://www.notion.so/profile/integrations/internal

2.  Select the New integration button. Name the integration “Simpplr Enterprise Search”

3. Associate the integration with your workspace by selecting it from the drop down menu. (You can only do this if you are an admin of that workspace.) Select Submit.

   

4. Required Capabilities for Simpplr Enterprise Search - Notion Connector:

1. Read Content

2. Read

5. Pick the Integration Secret , copy and select Save

6. Provide the Integration with the content access from the configuration Page by selection the list of pages or Teamspaces  from the dropdown

Step 2 - Create the connector in Enterprise Application

1. In Simpplr, go to: Manage Features → Enterprise Search → Add Source.

   

   

2. Search and Select “Notion”.
   

3. Enter basic information:

   • Connection Name: Simpplr Notion

4. Provide authentication details and select the certificate toggle in authentication method  (Copied from the client Application):

   • Api Key 

   

5. Click “Save” and “confirm”.

Step 3 - Filters (Optional)

1. Configure Audience based filtering.

   • Include audiences

   • Exclude audiences

Step 4 - Monitor the sync

1. Monitor the initial full sync status (starts automatically) in the connector dashboard.

Crawling and sync behavior

How the connector works over time:

1.  Initial full crawl

• All the content present in the Notion is indexed during the first run

• How long it may take: Depends on the size of the content.

2. Deletion changes

• Deleted items are removed from index at next sync.

3. Expected latency

• With the default schedule (full sync every 6 hours), changes made to Notion content are generally reflected in Simpplr search results within 6 hours of the update, and the permission lag in the system can be up-to 6hours. (as the full Sync runs every 6 hours).

Field mapping and search experience

1. Default field mapping

Source field Notion → Index field Simpplr

2. Search experience - how content from this connector appears in search:

• Result layout: (Icon, Connector name, Folder name, title (name) as link, body(excerpt), Created Date, File Type icon, file type)

• Available filters and facets:

  • Sources = Notion

  • File type

  • Owner

  • Created Date

• Participation in advanced features:

  • Smart Answers / Q&A: Yes

  • Autocomplete: Yes

  • Recommendations / “Suggested for you”: N/A

  • Trending / popular results: N/A

  • Semantic / hybrid ranking: Yes

Limits and known limitations

Monitoring and troubleshooting

1. Connector health and monitoring - Describe where admins can see status information:

• Enterprise Search → Connector name

• Available metrics:

  • Last sync status (Success / Warning / Failed)

  • Last sync time

  • Next scheduled sync

  • Sync Type

  • Total items indexed count

2. Common issues and resolutions. Example pattern:

   1. Issue: Authentication failed, Failed to fetch the access token (invalid credentials or missing scopes)
      Possible causes:

      1. Incorrect API key 

      2. Permission for a given page is not Configured in Notion admin panel

   2. Resolution:

      1. Verify and re-enter credentials

      2. Confirm required permissions are granted
         

3. When to contact support. 

   1. Authentication error persists even after trying the above-mentioned resolutions

   2. Sync is stuck in the Pending state,

   3. Sync is in progress but no documents are getting ingested.

   4. Sync failure with cancelled error (when not cancelled manually)

   5. Incomplete or Partial sync.

4. When contacting Support, include:

   1. Connector name and instance ID (if available)

   2. Organization URL

   3. Approximate time and date of the issue

   4. Error messages or screenshots

   5. Steps you already tried

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Q1. Can I connect multiple tenants or domains?
A. Multiple Notion connections can be configured in the Simpplr environment.

Q2. How often does Notion sync data?
A. The connector runs a full crawl on first setup and then there is Incremental sync with full scan run every 6 hours.

Q3. Are comments, revisions, or version history indexed?
A. Comments and individual versions are not indexed as separate items. The connector indexes the latest file metadata, including the last updated time and updated-by user.

Q4. What happens when a user loses access to an item in Notion Storage ?
A. The updated access permissions will be indexed during the next sync.

Note: Files are synced every 6 hours. However, the actual update time may vary depending on the volume of data created within that period. Under normal conditions, changes are reflected within 6-7 hours, provided there has not been a significant spike in data uploads. 

Q5. Can I exclude certain sites/teams/folders from being indexed?
A. Documents can be included and excluded based on the permissions you configure in the Notion while creating the API key , you have the option to not enable this integration for any of the page , database 

Q6. How are deletions handled?
A. Objects deleted from the source are permanently deleted from the index.