License availabilityCrawler Sap Po: Custom add-on onlyCrawler Sap Ci: Custom add-on only

Crawler Configurations

Overview

A crawler builds test cases for you automatically out of the messages that already flow through your integration platform, so you do not have to create each test case by hand. A crawler configuration is a saved recipe that says what to look at and how to turn what it finds into test cases: it points at one connected system (an SAP Cloud Integration tenant or an SAP PI/PO system), lists the interfaces to inspect, sets a time window to search, and names a folder where the new test cases should land.

A test case can always be built by hand, one at a time. The crawler is the bulk alternative: a robot that scans the platform, collects the historical interface messages that match your criteria, and turns them into many test cases in a single pass — each one mapped to the interface it came from and filed into its folder. Its value is breadth of regression coverage gathered from real, production-like traffic with very little manual effort, which is why it is the fastest way to seed a large suite of tests. Because the interfaces are listed per configuration, the test cases land in a tidy folder structure organised by interface, rather than as one undifferentiated heap.

The Crawler Configurations page is the inventory of every crawler configuration you are allowed to see. It is a list-and-search surface: from here you find an existing configuration, scan its key settings at a glance (which platform and system it targets, whether it is active, whether it runs on a schedule, and when it last ran), and open one to view or change it. You can also start a brand-new configuration from here.

The two platforms a crawler can target — SAP PI/PO and SAP Cloud Integration — are crawled in different ways and expose different options. The settings that are common to both are described under Tasks; the parts that differ are described under Platform types.

Tasks

How to create a crawler configuration

Creating a configuration opens a form split into sections: General, Period, Creation, Platform Parameters (SAP PI/PO only), Scheduling, and Items. The steps below cover the settings shared by both platforms; the platform-specific parts are called out and detailed under Platform types.

1. Click Create New at the left of the toolbar. This opens a blank configuration form.
2. Pick the platform first. In the General section choose Platform Type — SAP Cloud Integration or SAP PI/PO. This is the one choice you cannot change after saving: it decides which systems you may pick, and whether the SAP PI/PO-only options appear. The Save button stays disabled until a platform is chosen.
3. Fill in the rest of the General section: a Name, an optional Description, the System Under Test (the list only offers systems of the chosen platform — changing the platform clears any system you had picked), the Target Folder where new test cases will be filed, an optional Project Scope Id, and the Active toggle.
4. Open the Period section and choose the time window to search (see Field reference for every option).
5. Open the Creation section and set how messages become test cases — preview mode, the per-folder cap, duplicate handling, ordering, and the test-case naming template.
6. (SAP PI/PO only) Open the Platform Parameters section to tune how the platform is queried. This section is not shown for SAP Cloud Integration. See SAP PI/PO.
7. Open the Items section and click Add Item once per interface you want to crawl. Pick its Automation Object, an optional Subfolder Name, and leave Enabled ticked. For SAP PI/PO, each row also offers message filters — see SAP PI/PO. The Add Item button stays disabled until a platform is selected.
8. (Optional) Open the Scheduling section and switch on Schedule Enabled to have the crawler run automatically — see How to schedule a crawler.
9. Click Save. The configuration appears in this list, ready to be run.

The Create New button is disabled unless you have the Crawler: Write permission. Creating a configuration also checks that you may use the system under test, the target folder, and each chosen interface (see Prerequisites & permissions), and the feature must be covered by your licence.

How to run a crawler configuration

1. Open the configuration so it is shown in view mode.
2. Click Execute at the top of the page. The run starts in the background and a message confirms it (Crawler run started successfully); follow its live progress and review the results on the Crawler Runs page.

The Execute button only appears when the configuration has at least one interface item, and it is disabled unless you have the Crawler: Execute permission (plus permission on the system, folder, and interfaces). If the configuration is in test-run (preview) mode, the run only counts what it would create — see Tips & edge cases.

How to schedule a crawler

1. Open the configuration for editing and go to the Scheduling section.
2. Switch on Schedule Enabled, then choose a Schedule Type (Single or Recurring) and fill in the recurrence, start, and end settings.
3. Use Preview Schedule to check the Next scheduled runs before saving.
4. Click Save.

A scheduled crawler only fires while the configuration is Active — see Tips & edge cases.

How to export the list

1. (Optional) Adjust the search and platform filter so the grid shows the rows you want.
2. Click the export button at the right of the toolbar and choose the Excel or PDF format.
3. The file is saved with the name crawler-configurations plus an automatic timestamp.

The export covers only the configurations currently loaded into the grid (the visible page), not the full filtered set on the server.

Platform types

A configuration's platform decides how the crawler reads messages and which extra options you can set. You choose it once, in the General section, and it must match the type of the system under test. Everything in Field reference applies to both platforms; this section covers only what differs.

SAP PI/PO

Pick SAP PI/PO when the messages you want live on a SAP Process Integration / Process Orchestration system. A PI/PO crawl reads from the platform's message store, so it offers both throttle controls (how the store is queried) and per-interface filters (which messages each interface collects).

Query tuning — the Platform Parameters section. This section appears only for SAP PI/PO. Both fields are optional; leave them blank to use the platform defaults. They change only how the search window is read, never which messages match.

Field	Description
Time Slice (minutes)	Controls how the selected time window is divided into individual requests. Each request reads one slice of the specified length (1–1440 minutes). For example, a 60-minute window can be read as a single 60-minute request, two 30-minute requests, or sixty 1-minute requests. Smaller slices keep each request lightweight on a busy system, while larger slices reduce the total number of requests over a long window.
Max Results Per Search Call	The largest number of messages the system returns per request (1–10000). Lower it if a single request would otherwise pull back too much at once.

Per-interface message filters. In the Items section, each SAP PI/PO interface row exposes extra columns that narrow the messages that item picks up. All are optional free text; a blank filter means "do not restrict on that attribute".

Filter	Description
Sender Party	Match only messages from this sender party.
Sender Name	Match only messages from this sender component.
Receiver Party	Match only messages to this receiver party.
Receiver Name	Match only messages to this receiver component.
Receiver Interface Name	Match only this receiver interface name.
Receiver Interface Namespace	Match only this receiver interface namespace.

What the crawl can find. A PI/PO crawl only sees messages the platform still has: the system's message logging for the chosen interfaces must be retained over the time window you search. Widen the window or relax the filters if a crawl comes back emptier than expected.

SAP Cloud Integration

Pick SAP Cloud Integration when the messages live on a SAP Cloud Integration tenant. A Cloud Integration crawler reads from iFlow traces. Each item is defined entirely by its Automation Object (the iFlow to crawl), an optional Subfolder Name, and the Enabled flag. Set everything else in the shared sections.

Tracing must be on — this is the catch. The crawler reads from the iFlow trace, and Cloud Integration switches tracing off automatically after a short while. Any message processed while tracing was off is simply not there to discover, so a crawl over a window when tracing was off returns nothing for that period. Keeping traces on is exactly what a Trace Scheduler is for — set one up for the iFlows you intend to crawl before (or while) you crawl them. If a SAP CI crawl finds fewer messages than you expected, missing traces are almost always the reason.

Field reference

The grid on this page shows these columns for each configuration:

Column	Description
Name	The configuration's unique name, entered by its author. Click it to open the configuration.
Description	Optional free-text note describing what the configuration is for.
Platform	The integration platform this configuration targets — SAP Cloud Integration or SAP PI/PO. It must match the type of the chosen system under test.
System Under Test	The connected system whose messages this configuration crawls.
Active	Whether the configuration is active. A configuration must be active for its schedule to run.
Scheduled	Whether a recurring schedule is switched on, so the crawler runs automatically on a regular basis.
Test Run	Whether the configuration is in test-run (preview) mode — when on, a run reports how many messages and test cases it would produce without actually creating any.
Last Run	When the configuration last ran, shown as a relative time (hover for the exact timestamp). Empty if it has never run.
Created By	The user who created the configuration.
Created Date	When the configuration was created, shown as a relative time (hover for the exact timestamp).

The create/edit form holds these settings (those that differ by platform are documented under Platform types above):

Setting	Section	Description
Name	General	Unique, human-readable name for the configuration.
Description	General	Optional free-text note.
Platform Type	General	The integration platform: SAP Cloud Integration or SAP PI/PO. Cannot be changed after saving; must match the system under test.
System Under Test	General	The connected system to crawl. The list is filtered to the chosen platform.
Target Folder	General	The folder where created test cases are filed. Each interface item can place its output in a subfolder beneath this.
Project Scope Id	General	Optional project scope that governs who may read, edit, and run the configuration. Leave empty for no scope.
Active	General	Whether the configuration is usable. A schedule only fires while this is on.
Period Type	Period	The time window to search: Today, Yesterday (default), Last Hour, Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Relative Period, or Custom Range.
Relative Value / Relative Unit	Period	Shown for Relative Period: how far back from now to search, as a number plus Minutes, Hours, or Days.
Date From / Date To	Period	Shown for Custom Range: the explicit start and end of the window. The end must be after the start.
Test Run Mode	Creation	Preview mode (on by default): a run counts the messages and test cases it would create without writing any. Switch off to create test cases for real.
Max Test Cases Per Folder	Creation	The most test cases a single folder may receive from one run (default 10). When more messages match, ordering decides which are kept.
Duplicate Check Mode	Creation	How repeated messages are skipped: None (No Duplicate Check), Document Number (default), or Description.
Message Order	Creation	Which messages win when more match than the per-folder cap allows: Random, Latest First (default), or Oldest First.
Test Case Description Pattern	Creation	A free-text template that names each created test case, with \{\{...\}\} placeholders filled in per message (up to 500 characters). The default, \{\{INTERFACE\}\} \{\{MSG_DATE\}\} \{\{MSG_TIME\}\}, names each test case after its interface plus the message date and time. See Tips & edge cases for the available placeholders and how they behave.
Automation Object	Items	The interface to crawl. One item per interface; the crawler maps each discovered message to this interface when building its test case.
Subfolder Name	Items	Optional subfolder, under the target folder, for this item's test cases — keeps results organised per interface.
Enabled	Items	Only enabled items are included in a run.

Tips & edge cases

• What you see is scoped by permissions. The list only shows configurations whose project scope grants you read access. If a colleague's configuration is missing, the cause is usually a missing permission on that scope, not a problem with the configuration.

• Platform and system must match. A configuration's platform (SAP Cloud Integration or SAP PI/PO) has to match the type of the system under test it points at. The platform also cannot be changed once the configuration is saved — to switch platforms, create a new configuration.

• Test-run (preview) mode creates nothing. When the Test Run flag is on, running the configuration only counts the messages and test cases it would create. Switch it off when you want the crawler to actually write test cases.

• A scheduled crawler only fires while active. Turning a configuration inactive stops its schedule from running even if the schedule itself is still switched on.

• You cannot delete a configuration that is busy. If a configuration has a run that is queued or still in progress, deleting it is blocked until that run finishes.

• Creating and running need more than Write. Beyond the Crawler: Write permission, creating or running a configuration also checks that you are allowed to use its system under test, its target folder, and each chosen interface, and that the platform is covered by your licence. A missing piece is the usual reason the create or run button is disabled.

• The crawler can only find what the platform kept. A crawl reads historical messages, so it can only build test cases from traffic the platform actually retained over your chosen time window. For an SAP Cloud Integration system this means tracing has to have been active on the iFlows while those messages were processed — messages handled while tracing was off are simply not there to discover. Keeping traces on is what the trace scheduler is for; for SAP PI/PO the equivalent is the platform's own message logging being retained for the period you search.

• Production traffic may be sensitive. Because a crawl pulls in real messages, the data it captures can contain confidential business content. Plan to scramble or mask that data through the interface's own data-handling rules before the resulting test cases are replayed, especially if they will be shared or run against other systems.

• Naming created test cases — what the template can use. The Test Case Description Pattern is a plain text template. Any text you type is kept exactly as-is, and these three placeholders are replaced for each message the crawl turns into a test case:

  Placeholder	Replaced with	Example
  \{\{INTERFACE\}\}	The name of the interface the message belongs to (falls back to the interface's own name when the message does not carry one).	OrderCreate_Out
  \{\{MSG_DATE\}\}	The date the message was processed on the platform, as YYYY-MM-DD.	2026-06-16
  \{\{MSG_TIME\}\}	The time the message was processed on the platform, as HH:MM:SS (24-hour).	14:32:05

  A few things to keep in mind so names come out the way you expect:

  • Placeholders are case-sensitive and must be upper-case. \{\{INTERFACE\}\} works; \{\{interface\}\} does not.
  • A mistyped placeholder is left in the name as-is — it is not flagged as an error. For example \{\{INTERFAACE\}\} would appear literally in every test case name, so double-check spelling.
  • If a value is missing, its placeholder becomes blank. A message with no recorded time leaves \{\{MSG_TIME\}\} empty, which can leave a double space or a trailing separator from your template.
  • The template does not guarantee unique names. Two messages on the same interface within the same second produce identical names from the default template; add more distinguishing text if you need names to stand apart.

Related features

• Test Cases list — the cross-folder inventory of the test cases a crawler produces.
• Crawler Runs — past and in-progress crawler runs and what each one created.
• Trace schedulers — keep SAP Cloud Integration iFlow traces on so a SAP CI crawl has messages to find.

Prerequisites & permissions

About permissions. Int4 Suite controls what you can see and do through roles and permission groups assigned to your user. Each role grants permissions on a specific resource (for example, Test Case, Automation Object, System Under Test) at one of four levels: Read, Write, Delete, or Execute. Some permissions are further narrowed by project scope, so you may have access to one part of the system but not another.

If a button is disabled or a list comes back empty, missing permissions are the most likely cause. Ask an administrator to review your role assignments, or check IAM → Users if you have the User: Read permission.

To open this page and see the list you need the Crawler: Read permission on the project scopes that hold the configurations. Additional permissions unlock specific actions:

• Crawler: Write — required to create a new configuration from this page (and to edit one). Creating a configuration with interfaces additionally requires Execute on the chosen system under test, Write on the target folder, and Execute on each referenced automation object, all resolved by project scope.
• Crawler: Execute — required to actually run a configuration. Running re-checks the same component permissions above.
• Crawler: Delete — required to delete a configuration. Deletion is blocked while the configuration has a queued or running crawl.

Several of these actions are also licence-gated: creating, editing, deleting, and running a configuration require the crawler feature, and running additionally requires your licence to cover the specific platform.

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