Overview - custom connector

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Introduction

The Custom Connector (also referred to as BYOC — “bring your own connector”) lets Simpplr Enterprise Search index content from a data source you control using a schema and presentation you define, instead of integrating with specific sources.

With the current version of this connector, you can:

Index JSON records you control in Amazon S3 as searchable business objects or documents without a one-off engineering project per schema.
Index files stored in SharePoint Online and present them as a different kind of content in search (for example, knowledge base articles) — the search experience doesn't have to look like SharePoint file search.
Brand each Custom Connector instance with its own display name and icon.

Search results and AI-generated summaries from Custom Connector appear alongside all other connected sources in Simpplr.

Capabilities at a glance

Capability	Description
What it indexes	Amazon S3: Custom JSON objects in configured buckets. SharePoint Online: Files in configured sites.
Authentication	Amazon S3: AWS access key ID + secret access key. SharePoint Online: Azure AD app registration with certificate-based authentication (app-only).
Access level	Read-only — the connector never modifies content in Amazon S3 or SharePoint Online.
Enforced permissions	Source permissions not synced — all indexed content is visible to users with connector access. Use Audiences to scope access.
Credential scope	Amazon S3: `s3:ListAllMyBuckets`, `s3:ListBucket`, `s3:GetObject`. SharePoint Online: `Sites.Read.All`, `Files.Read.All` (Microsoft Graph, application permission) and `Sites.Read.All`(Sharepoint Permission)
Audiences	Connector can be enabled or disabled for specific audiences within Simpplr.
Supported editions	SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365 cloud) — on-premises SharePoint Server is not supported.
Sync schedule	Amazon S3 — Full sync: daily. Incremental sync: not available in this release. SharePoint Online — Incremental sync: every hour · Full sync: daily. Permission sync: not applicable (see Permissions & Security).
Filters	SharePoint Online: site include / exclude. Amazon S3: bucket selection (at connection time). Audiences (all sources).

Content types

Type	Supported	Details
JSON records	Yes	Each `.json` object in a configured bucket, containing one JSON object, is indexed as one search record using a field mapping.
Files	Yes	Files are downloaded, text-extracted, and mapped into a searchable article (id, title, body, optional URL).

For fields synced per content type and how each appears in search results, see Content, Sync & Limitations - Custom Connector.

Filters

Filter	Description
SharePoint sites — include / exclude	Applies to: SharePoint. Enabled by default: No — if left empty, the connector can read all sites the app registration can access.
Audiences	Applies to: all content types · Enabled by default: No

Known limitations

Source permissions not synced — neither the Amazon S3 bucket policies/object ACLs nor SharePoint item permissions are read by this connector. All indexed content is visible to any Simpplr user with access to this connector. Use Simpplr Audience settings to scope which users can access this connector.
Amazon S3: only .json files containing a single JSON object are indexed; non-JSON objects, JSON arrays, or malformed JSON are skipped.
Amazon S3: only full sync is available in this release — content changes are picked up at the next full sync, not during the incremental sync.
Amazon S3: field mapping is a fixed default set (id, title, description, created_at, updated_at, author_email, url) — admin-defined custom field mapping is planned for a future release.
SharePoint Online: only PDF files are indexed; other file types in the configured sites are ignored.
SharePoint Online: PDF files larger than 10 MB are skipped and not indexed.

For full detail on each limitation, see Content, Sync & Limitations - Custom Connector.

Page	What it covers
Permissions & Security - Custom Connector	Auth mechanism, credential scope, permission design, propagation latency, supported editions
Setup - Custom Connector	Prerequisites and step-by-step configuration
Content, Sync & Limitations - Custom Connector	Fields synced per content type, sync schedules, data freshness, limitations in detail
Troubleshooting & FAQs - Custom Connector	Connector-specific issues and FAQs