Global Search Fundamentals for Next Experience and Workspace UIIssue <!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } The goal of this article is to clarify how the Global Search mechanism within ServiceNow Next Experience UI (Polaris) operates, and how this differs from previous UI16. Many people notice the look and feel is similar, yet there are some key differences that may cause general confusion. By obtaining a fundamental understanding of what changed, and how to verify the tables/records being used, this should streamline administration and investigation into unexpected behavior. Symptoms<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Any end user is utilizing Global Search. They see the dropdown choices for Global, various workspaces, etc... and may have a requirement to understand if the underlying search is Zing, AI Search, and which sources were used. This is specific for Next Experience/Polaris/Workspace Experience(s) Facts<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } In Next Experience UI, the global search and dropdown choices always rely on a Search Application Configuration record.The Search Application Configuration could be AI Search or Zing.Zing did not previously rely on Search Application Configuration, but was placed under this umbrella config that can handle either AIS or Zing.It is important to keep in mind that many applications in ServiceNow have their own experience via workspace (SOW, etc...) and in fact even the main 'Unified Navigation' - or what we see commonly navigating '/now/nav/ui' - is also an experience. At the experience config level you may define the Search Application Configuration. With that in mind, it should be noted the 'Global' option is present under the Unified Navigation experience, and other workspace searches are configured under their respective UI Builder app settings. We will learn how to navigate the instance confidently to the source Search Application Configuration for a given experience. First, here are some additional points to consider: The 'Search Applications' Module is found in the Filter Navigator at: AI Search > Search Experience > Search Applications. Since these records could use Zing or AI Search, it may be a point of confusion that all records are found here(housed under AI Search). Most likely, it's positioned here simply to appear next to the 'Search Profiles' Module, which is heavily tied to any [sys_search_context_config] which does use AI Search. (It makes sense going forward with AIS, but a slight nuance when dealing with Zing...)You'll notice even for instances where AI Search is not enabled, the above note (placement of Module) is true for Search Applications.This list itself does not provide a practical means to determine which record is utilized by which experience, so examining these records directly can often feel like a dead-end, or leave uncertainty how or where these are otherwise used. That is one primary pitfall where I hope this KB can help. Release<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Xanadu+ Cause<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Global search in the header (banner) was refactored to utilize something called a Search Application Configuration, which is a way for ServiceNow to offer Zing or AI Search capability on the instance. Resolution<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } UI Builder You can use UI Builder's home page to navigate right where you need to find your search settings. This is a very simple approach and doesn't require UI Builder editor knowledge. Start in the Filter Navigator by selecting UI Builder. The UIB homepage should have the URL similar to '/now/builder/ui/home'. From here select the top menu item 'Experiences'. The Experiences tab shows us a list of app experiences, particularly of interest those based on the Unified App Shell. We discussed already how each experience may configure its Text Search, so this could be a helpful point of reference to branch off to any impacted workspace in the future.In scope of this KB you will be examining OOB Global Text Search, so it is your interest to find the 'nav/ui' experience. Find your target experience (easiest by name or URL) in the list. For this article, look for 'Unified Navigation App' and select it. '/now/builder/ui/experience/a84adaf4c700201072b211d4d8c260b7' This opens the Experience page which includes a list of Pages/Variants that will take you further into the UIB Editor, which is not where you want to be. Instead, in the upper-right of the screen, select the cog button that will take you to the Experience Settings page. /now/builder/ui/experience-settings/a84adaf4c700201072b211d4d8c260b7 Please notice the slight difference in URLs above. On the 'Experience Settings' page under 'General' find and select 'Advanced Settings' This will navigate you outside UIB, and it has served its purpose to swiftly take us to the tables and records we need from here. You should be on the UX Page Registry [sys_ux_page_registry] Form View for the experience selected. On the bottom of the form should be a Related List of "UX Page Properties." This is a list of [sys_ux_page_property] records. Find and select the record named "globalSearchDataConfigId" UX Page Registries/UX Page Properties These tables do not have an Application Module to access from the Filter Navigator. It's true you may access 'sys_ux_page_registry.list' or 'sys_ux_page_property.list' as a shortcut to circumnavigate the above UI Builder process. However, this might be considered a more advanced approach, the tables' names are uncommon and not likely to be ready from memory, and the UI Builder Experiences page is an important tool for administrating experience settings and other tasks beyond Text Search such that we recommend general familiarity. globalSearchDataConfigId With the [sys_ux_page_property] named "globalSearchDataConfigId" the important context here is the 'value' which will be the 'sys_id' of a Search Application Configuration [sys_search_context_config] record. Thus, if you take the 'value' and navigate back to AI Search > Search Experience > Search Applications and filter where 'sys_id' is the value, this will give you the exact Search App being used for that experience! Zing Considerations The default OOB Global Search zing engine [sys_search_context_config] sys_id is 'c861cea2c7022010099a308dc7c26041.' Please notice that [sys_search_context_config] records using the Zing engine have no search profile (not needed), and the Application Search Sources related list maps to a number of [sys_search_source] records which is what Zing originally relied on. AI Search Considerations The default OOB Global Search AIS engine [sys_search_context_config] sys_id is '6ebf8fe1531201107f03ddeeff7b122b.' If this is your first time configuring AI Search, or you are not seeing the expected global search choice, you may want to doublecheck first that AI Search is enabled and ready on the instance, then doublecheck the System Property 'glide.ui.polaris.ais_ready' is now set to 'true' and finally ensure the value in the 'globalSearchDataConfigId' for your experience is set using the method outlined in this KB. Related Links<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } KB0959688: AI Search FAQs KB1514184: How to find out if Global Search is using AI search or Zing Search Docs: Add a workspace application to the Unified Navigation search context menu Docs: Using global search with AI Search for Next Experience