aem Command Line Reference

Installation

$ npm install -g @adobe/aem-cli

Usage

$ aem --help

Help output:

Usage: aem <command> [options]

Commands:
  aem up       Run a AEM development server
  aem import   Run the AEM import server
  aem content  Manage AEM content from da.live



Options:
  --version                Show version number                         [boolean]
  --log-file, --logFile    Log file (use "-" for stdout)  [array] [default: "-"]
  --log-level, --logLevel  Log level
  [string] [choices: "silly", "debug", "verbose", "info", "warn", "error"] [default: "info"]
  --help                   Show help                                   [boolean]

use <command> --help to get command specific details.

for more information, find our manual at https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli

Available Commands

• up
• import
• content

up

Server Options

• --port
  Start development server on port
  Default: 3000
• --addr
  Bind development server on address. Use * to bind to any address and allow external connections.
  Default: "127.0.0.1"
• --stop-other, --stopOther
  Stop other AEM CLI running on the above port
  Default: true
• --tls-cert, --tlsCert
  File location for your .pem file for local TLS support
• --tls-key, --tlsKey
  File location for your .key file for local TLS support

AEM Options

• --url, --pagesUrl, --pages-url
  The origin URL to fetch content from.
• --livereload
  Enable automatic reloading of modified sources in the browser.
  Default: true
• --no-livereload, --noLiveReload
  Disable live-reload
• --open
  Open a browser window at specified path
  Default: "/"
• --no-open, --noOpen
  Disable automatic opening of browser window
• --print-index, --printIndex
  Prints the indexed records for the current page.
  Default: false
• --cache
• --forward-browser-logs, -–forwardBrowserLogs
  Forward browser console logs to terminal
  Default: false

Options

• --version
  Show version number
  Default: boolean
• --log-file, --logFile
  Log file (use "-" for stdout)
  Default: "-"
• --log-level, --logLevel
  Log level
  Choices: "silly", "debug", "verbose", "info", "warn", "error"
  Default: "info"
• --site-token, --siteToken
  Site token to be used by the cli to access the website
• --alpha-cache, --alphaCache
  Path to local folder to cache the responses (alpha feature, may be removed without notice)
• --allow-insecure, --allowInsecure
  Whether to allow insecure requests to the server
  Default: false
• --cookies
  Proxy all cookies in requests. By default, only the hlx-auth-token cookie is proxied.
  Default: false
• --html-folder, --htmlFolder
  Serve HTML files from this folder without extensions (e.g., /folder/file serves folder/file.html or folder/file.plain.html) use this to preview content changes if you do not have access to the authoring system. Can be helpful for Developing with AI Tools
• --help
  Show help
  Default: boolean

import

Server Options

• --port
  Start import server on port
  Default: 3001
• --addr
  Bind import server on address. Use * to bind to any address and allow external connections.
  Default: "127.0.0.1"
• --stop-other, --stopOther
  Stop other AEM CLI running on the above port
  Default: true
• --tls-cert, --tlsCert
  File location for your .pem file for local TLS support
• --tls-key, --tlsKey
  File location for your .key file for local TLS support

AEM Importer Options

• --open
  Open a browser window at specified path
  Default: "/tools/importer/helix-importer-ui/index.html"
• --no-open, --noOpen
  Disable automatic opening of browser window
• --cache
  Path to local folder to cache the responses
• --ui-repo, --uiRepo
  Git repository for the AEM Importer UI. A fragment may indicate a branch other than main.
  Default: "https://github.com/adobe/helix-importer-ui"
• --skip-ui, --skipUI
  Do not install the AEM Importer UI
  Default: false
• --headers-file, --headersFile
  Location of a custom .json file containing headers to be used with all proxy requests

content

The content command set lets you check out your da.live content into a local content/ folder, edit it offline, inspect and merge changes against the remote, and push updates back. It follows a git-like workflow (stage, commit, push) and uses an internal git repository inside content/ to track your edits.

Typical workflow:

$ aem content clone            # fetch remote content into ./content
$ # edit files under ./content
$ aem content status           # see what changed
$ aem content diff             # compare local vs remote
$ aem content add <path>       # stage changes
$ aem content commit -m "..."  # commit staged changes
$ aem content push             # upload to da.live

When content/ is present, aem up automatically serves matching paths from it, so you can preview local edits before pushing.

Authentication

The content commands authenticate against da.live using Adobe IMS. On first use, a browser window opens for you to sign in; after a successful login the callback redirects to https://tools.aem.live/cli/logged-in. The resulting token is cached locally (in the project's .hlx/ folder, alongside the site token) and reused on subsequent invocations.

• --token
  IMS token to use instead of the interactive browser flow. Useful for CI / non-interactive environments.

Subcommands

• content clone
• content status
• content diff
• content merge
• content add
• content commit
• content push

content clone

Downloads da.live sources into ./content/, initializes a git repository with a baseline commit, writes a .da-config.json (org, site, root path) inside content/, and records initial sync state.

Options:

• --path
  Path prefix to clone. Recommended for large sites to limit the scope of the initial clone.
• --force
  Overwrite an existing local content/ folder.
• --yes
  Skip the confirmation prompt for large clones. Required in non-interactive environments (e.g. CI) when the clone exceeds the size threshold.
• --token
  IMS token (see Authentication).
• --org
  The da.live org to clone from.
• --site
  The da.live site to clone from.

Options org and site work together and are useful when the da.live org and site do not match the git owner and repo. This is mainly useful in the repoless scenario.

content status

Lists added, modified, and deleted files under content/ relative to the last sync — similar to git status, but scoped to content rather than code.

content diff

Shows the diff between your local working tree and the remote on da.live.

Options:

• --path
  Limit the diff to a specific path. If omitted, all changed paths are included.

content merge

Merges remote content into local files when both sides have changed.

Options:

• --path
  Merge a specific path. If omitted, all paths with conflicts are merged.

content add

Stages one or more paths so they will be included in the next commit. Works like git add.

Usage:

$ aem content add <path> [<path> ...]

content commit

Commits the currently staged changes with a message. Works like git commit.

Options:

• -m, --message
  Commit message. Required.

content push

Uploads committed changes from content/ to da.live. You must content add and content commit first.

Options:

• --path
  Limit the push to a specific path.
• --dry-run
  Show what would be uploaded / deleted without making any changes on da.live.
• --force
  Proceed even when the remote has diverged. Use with care — this can overwrite remote changes.
• --token
  IMS token (see Authentication).

Options

• --version
  Show version number
  Default: boolean
• --log-file, --logFile
  Log file (use "-" for stdout)
  Default: "-"
• --log-level, --logLevel
  Log level
  Choices: "silly", "debug", "verbose", "info", "warn", "error"
  Default: "info"
• --dump-headers, --dumpHeaders
  Dump request headers to console for debugging
  Default: false
• --allow-insecure, --allowInsecure
  Whether to allow insecure requests to the server
  Default: true
• --help
  Show help
  Default: boolean