---
title: Content connectors
description: Elastic's content connectors allow you to extract, transform, index, and sync data from third-party applications including Github, Jira, Teams, Google...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/solutions/security/get-started/content-connectors
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elastic Security
  - Elastic Stack
  - Elasticsearch
  - Kibana
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
---

# Content connectors
Elastic's content connectors allow you to extract, transform, index, and sync data from third-party applications including Github, Jira, Teams, Google Drive, Slack, email, and more ([view all connectors](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/elasticsearch/tree/main/reference/search-connectors)).

## Managed vs self-managed connectors

Content connectors are available in two deployment options: you can run them yourself or let Elastic run them within your managed deployment on Elastic Cloud.

### Elastic managed connectors

<applies-to>
  - Serverless Security projects: Preview
  - Elastic Stack: Preview since 9.1
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Unavailable
</applies-to>

Elastic managed connectors are deployed within your managed Elastic environment. These connectors:
- Require no infrastructure management
- Offer simplified setup and maintenance
- Do not support customization
- Only send data to the serverless/hosted deployment they're deployed within


### Self-managed connectors

Self-managed connectors run on your own infrastructure, independent of where your Elasticsearch instance is running. These connectors:
- Require you to deploy the connector service (Python) on your infrastructure
- Can send data to any Elasticsearch instance (managed or self-managed)
- Can be customized


## Setup

To learn about setup for self-managed connectors, refer to [Self-managed connectors](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/elasticsearch/tree/main/reference/search-connectors/self-managed-connectors). To set up an Elastic managed connector:
1. Use the [global search field](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/explore-analyze/find-and-organize/find-apps-and-objects) to find "Content conectors".
2. Click **New Connector**.
3. Under **Connector**, select your desired data source.
4. Under **Setup**, select your deployment method.
5. Under **Configure index & API key**, click **Generate configuration**. After a few seconds, this will create a new connector and a new index for its data, and display their names and IDs. You can click their names to view details about each.
6. Click **Next** to continue to the **Configuration** page. This is where you can select details related to your specific data source. For more information about configuring your selected data source, follow the link on the left to the **Connector reference**.
7. When configuration is complete, click **Next**. The **Finish up** page appears. Here you can set up recurring connector syncs, run a manual sync, or use queries and dev tools to interact with your data. Each sync updates the data in the connector's Elasticsearch index. You can also manage the connector.


## Manage a connector

To manage an existing connector:
1. Use the [global search field](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/explore-analyze/find-and-organize/find-apps-and-objects) to find "Content connectors".
2. Click the connector you want to manage to open its settings page, which has six tabs:

- **Overview**: View general information such as the connector's name, ID, status, pipeline, and content sync history. Manage the connector's pipeline and attached index.
- **Documents**: View data from the connector.
- **Mappings**: Update index mappings for the connector's data.
- **Sync rules**: Manage basic and advanced [sync rules](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/elasticsearch/tree/main/reference/search-connectors/es-sync-rules) to control which documents are synced from your third-party data source.
- **Scheduling**: Define when data from this connector gets synced, and set up document level security. A `Full content sync` deletes existing data in your index before fetching from your data source again. An `Incremental content sync` fetches updated data only, without deleting existing data.
- **Configuration**: Edit the connector's data source-specific configuration.