Rebuild Spatial Index for Hosted Feature layers

MariusVerdes

Hello everyone,

We are running ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5 and I am looking to automate the process of rebuilding spatial indexes for hosted feature layers.

I am aware that this can be done manually through the Portal UI by going to the hosted feature layer item → Settings → Feature Layer (Hosted) → Indexes, where the spatial index can be rebuilt. Since this functionality exists and is supported in the Portal interface, I assume it is calling some internal operation.

However, I have not been able to find any documented or supported way to trigger the same spatial index rebuild programmatically using the REST API, ArcGIS API for Python, or a geoprocessing tool. I did come across the following community post, but it is unclear whether it applies only to ArcGIS Online or if it is relevant to ArcGIS Enterprise as well:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-online-questions/automate-task-to-rebuild-spatial-index-of-hosted/m-p/1247358

Has anyone identified a supported method to automate the same spatial index rebuild that is available in the Portal UI for hosted feature layers in ArcGIS Enterprise? Or is this currently only possible through manual interaction in the Portal?

Any insights or confirmation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

ZenMasterZeke

from arcgis.gis import GIS

from arcgis.features import FeatureLayerCollection

 

# 1) Sign in (use a user with admin or owner privileges)

gis = GIS("https://your-portal-url/portal", "admin_user", "admin_password")

 

# 2) Get the Feature Layer item (hosted)

item = gis.content.get("ITEM_ID_OF_HOSTED_FEATURE_LAYER")

flc = FeatureLayerCollection.fromitem(item)

 

# 3) Loop sublayers, find spatial index name, and rebuild it

for lyr in flc.layers:  # each is a FeatureLayer

    idxs = getattr(lyr.properties, "indexes", [])

    # find spatial index for this sublayer

    shape_idx = next((i for i in idxs if i.get("fields") == "Shape"), None)

    if not shape_idx:

        print(f"No spatial index found for layer {lyr.properties.name}; skipping.")

        continue

 

    payload = {"indexes": [{"name": shape_idx["name"], "fields": "Shape"}]}

    # 4) Call updateDefinition on the Admin endpoint via the Python API wrapper

    result = lyr.manager.update_definition(payload)  # returns {"success": true} on success

    print(lyr.properties.name, result)