Enabling Request Transformation for Shortened URLs on AEM as a Cloud Service Author Instance

Last update: Fri Jul 04 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓÆµ Experience Manager (AEM) as a Cloud Service, shortened URLs on the author instance redirect to the default start page (/aem/start.html) instead of the intended content. This issue affects teams validating profile pages using URLs that omit the /content/websites prefix. The problem occurs because the author instance doesnâ€™t apply request transformations by default. You can resolve this by deploying a custom CDN configuration using the AEM Config Pipeline.

Description description

Environment

Product: ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓÆµ Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) â€“ Sites
Instance: AEMaaCS Author instance with CDN configuration deployed via the Config Pipeline

Issue/Symptoms

Accessing a shortened URL such as /ui/en/about/people/profiles.user-name+8b1126ad.html redirects to the AEM start page.
Using the full path /content/websites/ui/en/about/people/profiles.user-name+8b1126ad.html correctly displays the profile page.
On AEM as a Cloud Service, the author instance resolves URLs directly from the JCR and does not use a traditional dispatcher.

Cause

By design, AEMaaCS applies request transformation rules only on the publish tier using dispatcher rewrite rules. The author instance doesnâ€™t use a dispatcher, so it doesnâ€™t transform shortened URLs automatically. To enable this on the author tier, a CDN configuration must be deployed via the Config Pipeline. The transformation rule must also use the correct syntax, including proper escaping (for example, \"/content/websites\\\\1\").

Resolution resolution

To fix the issue,

Deploy a CDN configuration using the AEM Config Pipeline. This configuration should include a custom rule named add-content-websites-prefix. The rule checks if the request is on the author tier and if the path starts with /ui/. If both conditions are met, it rewrites the path by prepending /content/websites.

code language-none

code language-none
kind: "CDN" version: "1" metadata: { envTypes: [ "dev", "stage", "prod"] } data: Â requestTransformations: Â Â Â rules: Â Â Â Â Â - name: add-content-websites-prefix Â Â Â Â Â Â Â when: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â allOf: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â - { reqProperty: tier, equals: author } Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â - { reqProperty: path, matches: "/ui/" } Â Â Â Â Â Â Â actions: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â - type: transform Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â reqProperty: path Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â op: replace Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â match: (.*)$ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â replacement: "/content/websites\\1"

kind: "CDN"
version: "1"
metadata: { envTypes: [ "dev", "stage", "prod"]  }
data:
Â  requestTransformations:
Â Â Â  rules:
Â Â Â Â Â  - name: add-content-websites-prefix
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  when:
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  allOf:
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  - { reqProperty: tier, equals: author }
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  - { reqProperty: path, matches: "/ui/" }
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  actions:
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  - type: transform
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  reqProperty: path
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  op: replace
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  match: (.*)$
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  replacement: "/content/websites\\1"

After deploying the configuration, test shortened URLs on the author instance. They should now correctly resolve to the intended content.

Additional considerations

While Out-of-the-box (OOTB) CDN-based request transformation mechanism originally targets publish environments, you can extend it to author environments byÂ deploying a proper configuration via the Config Pipeline.
ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓÆµ recommends using full paths for routine content validation on the author instance. Always test custom transformation rules to avoid disrupting authoring workflows.

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