Last updated on
Aug 20, 2026
Crawl website content, test the results, and add indexed pages to a collection.
The Knowledge Base Indexer is a desktop application for crawling website content. Use it with Knowledge Base in Acrobat to inspect the content discovered during a crawl or upload indexed pages to a collection.
Choose an operation mode
The Indexer provides two operation modes:
| Mode | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Discovery Mode | Crawl and process website content without uploading it to a collection. |
| Upload Mode | Crawl website content and upload the indexed pages to a collection where you have write access. |
Discovery Mode is selected by default.
Clear Discovery Mode when you are ready to authenticate to Knowledge Base, select a destination collection, and upload content.
Understand the main controls
The application includes controls for configuring and running a crawl:
| Control | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Target URLs | Defines where the crawl begins. |
| Crawl Depth | Controls how many levels of links the Indexer follows. |
| Page Limit | Restricts the maximum number of pages processed. |
| Number of Workers | Controls how many crawlers process pages in parallel. |
| Authentication URL | Provides an optional URL for accessing protected website content. |
| Discovery Mode | Switches between Discovery Mode and Upload Mode. |
| Collection selector | Identifies the collection that receives indexed content in Upload Mode. |
| Logs | Displays progress, discovered and processed pages, warnings, errors, and completion status. |
| Start and Stop | Starts or stops the crawl. |
| Logout | Invalidates the current Knowledge Base session token. |
How the indexing workflow works
A typical indexing workflow includes:
- Install the Knowledge Base Indexer package that matches your computer.
- Enter one or more HTTPS starting URLs.
- Configure the crawl depth, page limit, and number of workers.
- Add an Authentication URL when the website contains protected content.
- Run the crawl in Discovery Mode to inspect its scope and identify errors.
- Switch to Upload Mode, authenticate, and select a writable collection.
- Run the crawl and monitor the logs until processing completes.
Best practices
- Start with a shallow crawl depth and a small page limit.
- Use a starting URL for a specific website section instead of an entire domain.
- Test a crawl in Discovery Mode before uploading content.
- Review warnings and errors in the logs.
- Increase the number of workers only when the computer has sufficient resources.
- Avoid excessive crawling of the same website within a short period.
Things to know
- Only HTTPS URLs are supported.
- Local network addresses, loopback addresses, and certain restricted IP addresses are blocked.
- A Knowledge Base account is required for Upload Mode but not for Discovery Mode.
- Upload Mode lists only collections where you have write access.
- Higher crawl depths can include more content than intended.
- Large page limits can increase processing time.
- Higher worker counts can improve speed but use more system resources.
- Authentication tokens are handled securely and are not stored permanently.
