NOTE: As of 7/31/2026 this feature is in Crawl - If you are interested in participating in the Crawl, please contact your CSM or submit a ticket via DISCO Desk.
Google Vault Ingest lets you ingest a Google Workspace Vault export directly into DISCO — no manual pre-processing, forensic vendor, or in-house scripting required. DISCO parses the Vault-provided XML metadata and makes it available through Search, Viewer, and Productions.
In this article
- What you'll need
- Step-by-step: ingesting a Vault export
- New metadata fields
- Searching Vault-specific metadata
- Using new fields in Productions
- Validation warnings and errors
- Limitations and what's not supported
- Troubleshooting
- FAQ
What you'll need
- A Google Vault export downloaded from your Google Workspace admin (a set of
.zipfiles, each paired with an.xmlmetadata file) - High-Speed Uploader (HSU) 5.1.0 or later installed on the machine performing the upload
- Ingest permissions on the target DISCO database
Important: Do not unzip the Vault export before uploading. DISCO reads the zip and its paired XML metadata file together — modifying the structure will cause metadata reconciliation to fail.
Step-by-step: ingesting a Vault export
1. Start a new ingest
From the DISCO Ingest page, click New Ingest and choose Cloud service → Google Vault.
2. Select your Vault files
Point HSU at the folder containing your Vault export. HSU will detect the .zip files and automatically pair each one with its .xml metadata file.
3. Assign custodians and tags
You can assign a custodian and tags at the container level (the originating zip) or at one level below (subfolders inside the zip). Assignments cascade to all documents within.
DISCO does not auto-infer custodian from the Vault folder name — you must set it explicitly.
4. Kick off the ingest
Click Start Ingest. You'll be redirected to the Ingest page where a new Ingest Card appears for the job.
5. Review the Validation Report
Once ingest completes, open the Validation Report from the Ingest Card. Vault-specific warnings and errors are called out separately from standard ingest signals — see Validation warnings and errors below.
New metadata fields
Google Vault Ingest adds four new metadata fields to Gmail and Google Drive documents. These are surfaced in the Viewer Metadata Panel, are searchable via new syntax, and can be included in load files and productions.
| Field | Applies to | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Source ID | Gmail, Drive | Vault-assigned unique identifier for the source document. Useful for cross-referencing back to the Vault export or for maintaining chain of custody across downstream systems. |
| Collaborators | Drive | Users who have edit access to the Drive document at the time of the Vault export. |
| Viewers | Drive | Users who have view-only access to the Drive document at the time of the Vault export. |
| Labels | Gmail | Gmail labels applied to the message at the time of the Vault export (e.g., INBOX, IMPORTANT, custom user labels). |
[SCREENSHOT: Viewer Metadata Panel on a Gmail document showing Source ID and Labels populated][SCREENSHOT: Viewer Metadata Panel on a Drive document showing Source ID, Collaborators, and Viewers populated]
Note: These fields are not included in production metadata by default — you must select them per production. This behavior is consistent with how Google Chat fields are handled today.
Searching Vault-specific metadata
You can search the four new fields using DISCO Search syntax:
sourceid("1abc23...defg")
collaborator("alice@example.com")
viewer("bob@example.com")
label("Legal Hold")Standard boolean operators, wildcards, and phrase searches are supported.
Example — find all Drive documents Alice could edit and Bob could view:
collaborator("alice@example.com") AND viewer("bob@example.com")Example — find all Gmail messages labeled as legal hold or marked important:
label("Legal Hold") OR label("IMPORTANT")[SCREENSHOT: Search bar with a sourceid(...) query and populated results]
During Crawl: Search syntax is fully supported. Support for these fields in Search Builder, Filters Panel, and Custom Views is a fast-follow after Crawl.
Using new fields in Productions
When creating a Production, you can opt in to including the four new fields on your load file:
- Open the Production Wizard and configure your document set
- In the Metadata Fields step, select any combination of Source ID, Collaborators, Viewers, Labels
- Continue through the wizard as normal — the selected fields will appear as columns on the generated load file
[SCREENSHOT: Production wizard metadata field selector with the 4 new fields checked]
Reminder: These fields are opt-in per production. If you're producing to a receiving party who expects a specific field template, coordinate ahead of time.
Validation warnings and errors
Vault ingests can surface new signals in the Validation Report and on the Ingest Card. These are DISCO's way of flagging things you should review — they don't necessarily mean the ingest failed.
| Signal | Type | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metadata / zip reconciliation mismatch | ⚠️ Warning | Document counts between the zip contents and the XML metadata file don't match | Review the affected zip; re-export from Vault if the discrepancy is material |
| MBOX/PST expansion failure | ⚠️ Warning | A mailbox archive inside the zip couldn't be fully expanded | Check the underlying file; may need targeted re-collection |
| Unreadable metadata XML | ❌ Error | The XML metadata file is corrupt or malformed | Do not proceed; re-export from Vault |
[SCREENSHOT: Validation Report showing one of each signal type with expandable details]
Limitations and what's not supported
Not supported in initial release:
- Google Voice and Google Sites — these export via Google Takeout, not Vault. Ingest Takeout exports through the standard workflow.
- Native Chat DCF format — Google Chat, Groups, Meet, and Hangouts data in Vault exports ingest as Native Email, not as structured Chat. Native Chat parsing is a separate future initiative.
- Automatic custodian inference from folder structure — DISCO will not read the Vault folder name to guess the custodian. Custodian must be assigned explicitly in the ingest wizard.
- Drive-links / hyperlinked-attachments relationship model — links inside Drive documents are preserved as text, but DISCO does not currently build a relationship graph between the linking and linked documents. Planned for a future MVP.
-
Metadata XML as a discrete document — the paired
.xmlmetadata file is used for enrichment only; it is not itself ingested as a searchable document.
Behaviors to be aware of:
- Ingest Cards show a snapshot in time. Metrics on the Ingest Card (file count, GB, exceptions) reflect the state at the moment of ingest. Post-ingest changes (promotion, deduplication, deletions) are visible in matter-level reporting, not on the card.
- The 4 new fields are opt-in for productions (not default). You must explicitly select them per production.
- Feature toggle-gated during Crawl. If your organization doesn't yet see the Google Vault option in the ingest wizard, contact your DISCO Customer Success representative to be enabled.
Troubleshooting
Q: I don't see "Google Vault" as a cloud service option.
Your organization may not yet be enabled for the Crawl. Contact your Customer Success rep.
Q: HSU is showing my zip as unpaired — what's wrong?
DISCO expects the .xml metadata file to be alongside the .zip file in the same folder, with a matching filename stem. Verify the export wasn't modified after download.
Q: My ingest completed but I'm not seeing Collaborators/Viewers on Drive documents.
Confirm the source document is a native Drive file (not a Google-hosted attachment inside a Gmail message). Collaborators/Viewers apply to Drive-native documents.
Q: Where's the Source ID on Gmail messages that came from a Chat export?
Chat/Groups/Meet/Hangouts data ingested as Native Email doesn't carry the Gmail Source ID — that field applies to true Gmail messages.
Q: The Validation Report shows a "metadata reconciliation" warning. Should I re-ingest?
Not necessarily — the warning surfaces so you can decide. If the count difference is minor (a few files) and non-material to your matter, you can proceed. For material discrepancies, re-exporting from Vault is safer.
FAQ
Q: Do I need a new version of HSU?
Yes — HSU 5.1.0 or later is required for Google Vault Ingest.
Q: Will this change how I ingest non-Vault Google Workspace data?
No. Google Takeout exports and other cloud-service ingests continue to work as they do today. Only ingest paths where you select Google Vault use the new flow.
Q: Are the 4 new fields available in existing matters that were ingested before this feature?
The new fields are populated at ingest time from the Vault metadata XML. Documents ingested before this feature was enabled will not retroactively receive them. The fields can be updated via Overlay to backfill this information.