https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli
Command-line tools for developing with AEM
https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli
cli helix helix2 helix3
Last synced: 3 months ago
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Command-line tools for developing with AEM
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli
- Owner: adobe
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2018-07-05T13:34:33.000Z (almost 8 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-02-19T19:04:50.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-02-19T21:57:30.442Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: cli, helix, helix2, helix3
- Language: JavaScript
- Homepage:
- Size: 48.1 MB
- Stars: 61
- Watchers: 48
- Forks: 66
- Open Issues: 19
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE.txt
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# AEM Command Line Interface (`aem`)
## Status
[](https://codecov.io/gh/adobe/helix-cli)
[](https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli/blob/master/LICENSE.txt)
[](https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli/issues)
The AEM Command Line Interface allows web developers to create, develop, and deploy digital experiences using the Adobe Experience Manager Sites feature Edge Delivery Services. Some of this functionality was known as Franklin or Project Helix before.
## Installation
Install `aem` as a global command. You need Node 12.11 or newer.
```bash
npm install -g @adobe/aem-cli
```
If this fails with `File exists: /opt/homebrew/bin/hlx`, please [see here](#npm-install-fails-with-file-exists-opthomebrewbinhlx).
## Quick Start
```
$ aem --help
Usage: aem [options]
Commands:
aem up Run a AEM development server
aem import Run the AEM import server
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"]
--tls-key, --tlsKey Path to .key file (for enabling TLS) [string]
--tls-cert, --tlsCert Path to .pem file (for enabling TLS) [string]
--help Show help [boolean]
use --help to get command specific details.
for more information, find our manual at https://github.com/adobe/helix-cli
```
## Starting development
```
$ cd
$ aem up
```
### automatically open the browser
The `--open` argument takes a path, eg `--open=/products/`, will cause the browser to be openend
at the specific location. Disable with `--no-open'.`
### browser console log forwarding
The `--forward-browser-logs` flag enables forwarding of browser console messages (log, error, warn, info) to the terminal. This is particularly useful for debugging client-side issues without having to open the browser's developer tools.
```
$ aem up --forward-browser-logs
```
When enabled, browser console messages will appear in your terminal with the following format:
```
[Browser:error] 2025-07-27T10:30:45.123Z http://localhost:3000/script.js:42 Error message here
```
This feature is especially helpful when:
- Debugging JavaScript errors in a headless environment
- Monitoring client-side behavior during development
- Working with AI coding assistants that need visibility into both server and client logs
### html folder for content preview
The `--html-folder` option enables serving HTML files without extensions, useful for previewing content changes when you don't have access to the authoring system.
```
$ aem up --html-folder content
```
This enables two features:
1. **Extension-less URLs**: Access `/content/page` to serve `content/page.html`
2. **Plain HTML with metadata**: Create `content/page.plain.html` files that are automatically wrapped with proper HTML structure and metadata processing
#### Plain HTML files (.plain.html)
Plain HTML files contain only the main content and an optional metadata block. The CLI automatically:
- Wraps content in `` structure
- Merges in `head.html` content
- The metadata block is removed from the rendered content and converted to meta tags in the ``.
### setting up a self-signed cert for using https
1. create the certificate
```
$ openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096 -x509 -sha256 -days 365 -nodes -out server.crt -keyout server.key -subj "/CN=localhost"
```
this will create 2 files: `server.crt` and `server.key`
Alternatively, if your browser does not trust the certificate, you can use mkcert to generate a trusted certificate:
```bash
# Install mkcert via Homebrew or your preferred method, then run:
mkcert -cert-file server.crt -key-file server.key localhost 127.0.0.1
```
2. start aem with tls support
```
$ aem up --tls-cert server.crt --tls-key server.key
___ ________ ___ __ __ v14.26.1
/ | / ____/ |/ / _____(_)___ ___ __ __/ /___ _/ /_____ _____
/ /| | / __/ / /|_/ / / ___/ / __ `__ \/ / / / / __ `/ __/ __ \/ ___/
/ ___ |/ /___/ / / / (__ ) / / / / / / /_/ / / /_/ / /_/ /_/ / /
/_/ |_/_____/_/ /_/ /____/_/_/ /_/ /_/\__,_/_/\__,_/\__/\____/_/
info: Starting AEM dev server v14.26.1
info: Local AEM dev server up and running: https://localhost:3000/
```
3. (optional) Add arguments to .env file:
```
$ echo -e "AEM_TLS_CERT=server.crt\nAEM_TLS_KEY=server.key" >> .env
```
### environment
All the command arguments can also be specified via environment variables. the `.env` file is
loaded automatically.
example:
`.env`
```dotenv
AEM_OPEN=/products
AEM_PORT=8080
AEM_PAGES_URL=https://stage.myproject.com
```
#### HTTP Proxy
In order to use a HTTP proxy (eg behind a corporate firewall), you can set the respective environment variables:
`NO_PROXY` is a list of host names (optionally with a port). If the input URL matches any of the entries in `NO_PROXY`, then the input URL should be fetched by a direct request (i.e. without a proxy).
Matching follows the following rules:
`NO_PROXY=*` disables all proxies.
Space and commas may be used to separate the entries in the `NO_PROXY` list.
If `NO_PROXY` does not contain any entries, then proxies are never disabled.
If a port is added after the host name, then the ports must match. If the URL does not have an explicit port name, the protocol's default port is used.
Generally, the proxy is only disabled if the host name is an exact match for an entry in the `NO_PROXY` list. The only exceptions are entries that start with a dot or with a wildcard; then the proxy is disabled if the host name ends with the entry.
See test.js for examples of what should match and what does not.
`*_PROXY`
The environment variable used for the proxy depends on the protocol of the URL. For example, https://example.com uses the "https" protocol, and therefore the proxy to be used is `HTTPS_PROXY` (NOT `HTTP_PROXY`, which is only used for http:-URLs).
If present, `ALL_PROXY` is used as fallback if there is no other match.
#### Global
| option | variable | default | description |
|--------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `--log-file` | `AEM_LOG_FILE` | `-` | Log file. use `-` to log to stdout |
| `--log-level` | `AEM_LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | Log level |
#### Up command
| option | variable | default | description |
|-------------------|---------------------|-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
| `--port` | `AEM_PORT` | `3000` | Development server port |
| `--addr` | `AEM_ADDR` | `127.0.0.1` | Development server bind address |
| `--livereload` | `AEM_LIVERELOAD` | `true` | Enable automatic reloading of modified sources in browser. |
| `--no-livereload` | `AEM_NO_LIVERELOAD` | `false` | Disable live-reload. |
| `--forward-browser-logs` | `AEM_FORWARD_BROWSER_LOGS` | `false` | Forward browser console logs to terminal. |
| `--html-folder` | `AEM_HTML_FOLDER` | undefined | Serve HTML files from folder without extensions. Supports .html and .plain.html files. |
| `--open` | `AEM_OPEN` | `/` | Open a browser window at specified path after server start. |
| `--no-open` | `AEM_NO_OPEN` | `false` | Disable automatic opening of browser window. |
| `--tls-key` | `AEM_TLS_KEY` | undefined | Path to .key file (for enabling TLS) |
| `--tls-cert` | `AEM_TLS_CERT` | undefined | Path to .pem file (for enabling TLS) |
## Starting an import
The AEM Importer is an application that supports importing content to AEM.
```
$ cd
$ aem import
```
Read the full AEM Importer [documentation](https://github.com/adobe/helix-importer-ui).
# Developing AEM CLI
## Testing
You can use `npm run check` to run the tests and check whether your code adheres
to the aem-cli coding style.
### Browser Injectables
Browser-injected scripts (LiveReload and console log forwarding) are maintained in a separate sub-project at `packages/browser-injectables/`. This isolation keeps browser testing dependencies separate from the main CLI.
#### Development
- Injectable scripts are in `packages/browser-injectables/src/`
- No build step required - scripts are used directly
- Browser tests run only when injectable code changes
#### Testing Browser Injectables
```bash
cd packages/browser-injectables
npm install
npm test
```
# Troubleshooting
## `aem up` fails with `unable to get local issuer certificate`
This error occurs when the server certificate is not trusted by Node.js. The typical
cause is that connections to the server `*.aem.page` and `*.hlx.page` are intercepted
by an enterprise proxy or firewall which is trying to inspect the traffic.
These proxies use a private certificate authority (CA) to sign the certificates of the
servers they intercept. To make Node.js trust the server certificate, you need to add
the CA certificate to the list of trusted CAs.
### Option 1: Using IT-provided CA certificate
The CA certificate is typically provided by your IT department. You can ask them for
the CA certificate and save it to a file, e.g. `my-ca.crt`.
Then you can use the [`NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/cli.html) environment variable to make Node.js trust
the CA certificate:
```bash
export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=my-ca.crt
aem up
```
### Option 2: Extracting certificate from browser
If you don't have access to the CA certificate from your IT department, you can extract it directly
from your browser:
1. Access the AEM admin URL in your browser (e.g., `https://admin.hlx.page/sidekick/owner-name/repo-name/github-branch-name/config.json`)
2. Click on the padlock icon in the address bar and view the certificate details
3. Export the certificate chain as a Base64 encoded `.pem` file
4. Save it to a directory (e.g., `certs/hlx.page.pem`)
5. Set the environment variable and run aem:
```bash
export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=./certs/hlx.page.pem
aem up
```
On Windows, use `set` instead of `export`:
```cmd
set NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=./certs/hlx.page.pem
aem up
```
Either approach will make Node.js trust the server certificate and `aem up` should work.
## `npm install` fails with `File exists: /opt/homebrew/bin/hlx`
If you try to install `@adobe/aem-cli`:
```
> npm install -g @adobe/aem-cli
...
npm error EEXIST: file already exists
npm error File exists: /opt/homebrew/bin/hlx
npm error Remove the existing file and try again, or run npm
```
This can happen when you previously had installed this tool under its old package name [@adobe/helix-cli](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@adobe/helix-cli). Starting with version 15.0.0, this tool was renamed `aem` and published as `@adobe/aem-cli`. The previous `@adobe/helix-cli` has been deprecated. However, the new package still provides the command line binary under the old name `hlx` in addition to `aem`, for backwards compatibility, which can lead to the npm install error.
To solve, first uninstall the old version, then install again with the new name:
```
npm uninstall -g @adobe/helix-cli
npm install -g @adobe/aem-cli
```