---
title: Root Element of a Crawler for a Coveo Index is Invalid
slug: '2470'
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/2470/
collection: coveo-for-sitecore-v5
source_format: adoc
---
# Root Element of a Crawler for a Coveo Index is Invalid
## Symptoms

. When looking at the [Coveo Diagnostic Page](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2537/), you see the following error:

```text
 The root element of one or more crawlers for a Coveo index is invalid.
```

![Error message about invalid root element in Coveo index crawlers | Coveo](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/c4sc-v5/36176152.png)

. When rebuilding, you get this message:

```text
 Job has finished unexpectedly: Index_update_IndexName=<NAME_OF_INDEX> See the log file for more details
```

![Error message saying Job has finished unexpectedly](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/c4sc-v5/36176153.png)

. When indexing or publishing, you see this error in your logs:

```text
 Exception: System.InvalidOperationException
 Message: [Index=SpecificCoveoIndex, Crawler=SitecoreItemCrawler, Database=TheDatabase] Root item couldn't be found: <TheRootItem>.
 Source: Sitecore.ContentSearch
    at Sitecore.ContentSearch.SitecoreItemCrawler.get_RootItem()
    at Sitecore.ContentSearch.SitecoreItemCrawler.GetIndexableRoot()
    at Sitecore.ContentSearch.HierarchicalDataCrawler`1.RebuildFromRoot(IProviderUpdateContext context, IndexingOptions indexingOptions, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    at Sitecore.ContentSearch.Crawler`1.RebuildFromRoot(IProviderUpdateContext context, IndexingOptions indexingOptions)
    at Coveo.SearchProvider.ProviderIndex.<>c__DisplayClass40.<Rebuild>b__3f(IProviderCrawler crawler)
    at Coveo.SearchProvider.ProviderIndexBase.PerformRebuild(IProviderUpdateContext p_Context, Action`1 p_CrawlerAction)
```

## Cause

This issue occurs if an item used as a root for a Coveo crawler was deleted or doesn't exist.

## Resolution

Go to the Diagnostic page and click **Show details** on the Coveo Index Crawler component (see screenshot of the first symptom).

For each crawler in error, there are three options:

. Put the item used as the crawler root back into your solution.
. Change the crawler root via the `Website\App_config\Include\Coveo\Coveo.SearchProvider.Custom.config` file.
For more information on how to change a crawler root, see [Change the Crawling Root of an Index](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2159/).

> **Important**
>
> Be careful when choosing a new crawling root, as you don't want to index undesired items.

. Remove the crawler completely if it's not useful for you.
In this case, the best way to do it would be to add `patch:delete` on the crawler you want to remove in the `Website\App_config\Include\Coveo\Coveo.SearchProvider.Custom.config` file.

Add the following line at node `contentSearch/configuration/indexes/index id="<SPECIFIC_COVEO_INDEX>"/locations/crawler name="<INVALID_CRAWLER_NAME>"`:

```xml
 <patch:delete />
```