---
title: Discovery Policies for Identifiers
slug: discovery-policies-for-identifiers
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-06-26T13:31:59.986Z
---

Discovery policies give you precise control over subdomain enumeration. They define rules that determine which identifiers are automatically created or recommended and which patterns are ignored, letting you focus enumeration on the subdomains that matter to you and reduce noise in your Events feed.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/wtmLmyh6YG71yn5qVtkMM/CfpSJPjGvqJT8S53-VLSN_image.png)

# Creating a Discovery Policy

::::WorkflowBlock
:::WorkflowBlockItem
Navigate to the **Identifiers** page and select the **Policies** tab.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Locate **Identifiers Discovery Policies** and select **Create Identifier Discovery Policy**.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
In the **Discovery Policy Terms** field, enter the patterns you want to ignore to avoid the discovery of irrelevant subdomain identifiers. You can enter multiple patterns separated by commas. 

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/wtmLmyh6YG71yn5qVtkMM/9eG5rEDlZ5eK0YZ3bDmr5_image.png" size="70" isUploading="false" width="1272" height="622" darkWidth="1272" darkHeight="622" position="flex-start" showCaption="false"}
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Click **Create** **Policy** to save it.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Each policy appears in the Identifiers Discovery Policies list, showing its Identifier Types and Terms. 
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
To edit a policy, select it from the list and edit its configuration.To remove a policy, select the delete icon on its card.
:::
::::

***

## Disabling all Subdomain Enumeration

To stop subdomain enumeration entirely across all of your domain identifiers:

1. Navigate to the **Identifiers** page and select the **Policies** tab.
2. Locate **Identifiers Discovery Policies** and select **Create Identifier Discovery Policy**.
3. In the **Discovery Policy Terms** field, enter `*`.
4. Select **Create Policy**.

:::hint{type="warning"}
No new subdomains are enumerated while this policy is active. Subdomains that were already discovered are not removed. To stop monitoring them, delete those identifiers individually.
:::

***

## Ignoring Specific Patterns

When creating a discovery policy, you can define ignore patterns to exclude specific subdomains from enumeration. The following patterns are supported:

- `*:` Ignores all enumerated subdomains.
- `*.domain.com:` Ignores all enumerated subdomains under a specific domain, for example test.domain.com and dev.domain.com.
- `api.*:` Ignores the API subdomain across all domains, for example api.domain1.com and api.domain2.com.

These rules help fine-tune subdomain enumeration by excluding unnecessary or irrelevant Identifiers.

:::hint{type="warning"}
Creating a new policy does not affect previously discovered subdomains.
:::

****