Most Asked AEM Interview Questions and Answers for 2025

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a high-demand skill in the digital experience and content management world.

If you're preparing for an AEM interview, whether as a developer, architect, or technical lead, you probably already know it’s not just about knowing the tool, it’s about understanding how things actually work under the hood.

This article brings together the most asked AEM interview questions and answers for 2025, curated for working professionals who want to feel confident before stepping into the interview room.

You’ll find real-world topics, technical deep dives, and sample answers to help you stand out.

AEM Core Concepts Interview Questions

These questions cover the fundamentals of Adobe Experience Manager — including architecture, Sling, JCR, and repository handling. Interviewers want to know how well you understand the system’s backbone, not just how to use the UI.

1. What is Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)?

This is a typical opening question to check your understanding of the platform’s purpose and role in enterprise content management.

Sample Answer:
Adobe Experience Manager is a content management solution for building websites, mobile apps, and forms. It’s part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud and helps businesses manage digital content and assets at scale. AEM uses Java-based technologies and follows a modular architecture combining Sling, JCR, and OSGi for flexibility and scalability.

2. Explain the role of Sling in AEM.

This checks your grasp of the web framework layer and how AEM resolves HTTP requests using resources and scripts.

Sample Answer:
Sling is a REST-based web framework used in AEM to map request URLs to content resources. It sits above JCR and helps resolve URLs dynamically based on resource types and script resolution. Sling’s flexibility allows developers to design clean, resource-driven web applications within AEM.

3. What is the JCR and how is it used in AEM?

Since everything in AEM is stored as a node or property, understanding the Java Content Repository (JCR) is vital.

Sample Answer:
The Java Content Repository (JCR) is a hierarchical data store used by AEM to store all content, templates, components, and configurations. AEM uses Apache Jackrabbit or Oak as its JCR implementation. Developers use the JCR API to read/write content and work with nodes, properties, and paths inside the repository.

4. Describe the AEM architecture and its key modules.

This question aims to evaluate your understanding of AEM’s layered structure and the role of OSGi bundles, Sling, JCR, and the Granite platform.

Sample Answer:
AEM architecture includes four main layers: the OSGi framework for modularity, Sling for web application routing, JCR for content storage, and Granite UI for authoring. Key modules include Sites, Assets, Forms, and Workflows. These layers work together to deliver scalable, content-rich digital experiences.

5. What is a resource in AEM and how is it different from a node?

This helps interviewers test your familiarity with AEM’s abstraction layers and API usage patterns.

Sample Answer:
In AEM, a resource is an abstraction layer built on top of a JCR node. While a node is a physical item in the content repository, a resource represents that node in a Sling-compliant way. Developers use the Resource API (not just the JCR API) to access content more flexibly across different layers of the application.

Related: Top 50 Programming Interview Questions and Answers

AEM Component Development Questions

This section focuses on how AEM components are created and customised — both for authors and developers. Expect questions about HTL, dialogs, Sling Models, and backend integration.

6. What is HTL and how is it different from JSP in AEM?

Interviewers often ask this to check your understanding of templating languages used for AEM component development.

Sample Answer:
HTL (HTML Template Language), formerly known as Sightly, is a secure and easy-to-read templating language used in AEM. It replaces JSP to reduce XSS risks and separate markup from logic. Unlike JSP, HTL promotes cleaner code and uses data-sly attributes for logic, which improves maintainability and readability for frontend teams.

7. How do you create a dialog in AEM for authoring?

This question tests your practical knowledge of building customisable components with editable fields in the authoring interface.

Sample Answer:
To create a dialog, you add a _cq_dialog node inside your component folder. Define fields using Granite UI elements like textfield, pathbrowser, or dropdown under the content/items node. The dialog appears in the page editor, letting authors edit component properties like title, image path, etc.

8. What are Sling Models in AEM?

This checks if you understand how to map backend logic to frontend views in a decoupled, maintainable way.

Sample Answer:
Sling Models are POJOs annotated with @Model to inject content from the JCR repository. They simplify backend logic for components by automatically binding properties using annotations like @ValueMapValue or @Inject. This reduces boilerplate code and improves readability when integrating with HTL templates.

9. How do you include a component inside another in AEM?

This is a hands-on question to assess your implementation skills using HTL or JSP includes.

Sample Answer:
To include one component inside another, use HTL’s data-sly-resource or data-sly-include. For example: <div data-sly-resource="$ "></div>. This dynamically renders the nested component while preserving its authoring experience and configurations.

10. What is the difference between edit and design dialog?

Expect this question to appear if you’re applying for roles involving component customisation for different templates or experiences.

Sample Answer:
Edit dialogs are for content authors to input or edit content like text or images. Design dialogs are for template authors to configure design-level settings (e.g. number of columns, colour schemes). Design dialogs are defined under _cq_design_dialog and affect all component instances on a template.

Related: Top 50 Coding and Programming Interview Questions

AEM Workflows and OSGi Interview Questions

Q11. What is the role of workflows in AEM and where are they commonly used?

Sample Answer:
In AEM, workflows automate a sequence of steps for content approval, asset processing, or publication. They’re widely used in publishing workflows, such as sending an article from authoring to review, then approval, and finally live deployment. You can use out-of-the-box workflows or create custom ones using the Workflow Model editor in AEM.

Q12. How is OSGi used in AEM and why is it important?

Sample Answer:
OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative) is the modular framework that AEM is built upon. It allows for dynamic loading/unloading of bundles (modular JAR files) without restarting the system. This modularity makes development and maintenance easier. Developers use OSGi annotations (like @Component, @Service) to register services and make dependencies manageable.

Q13. What are the common workflow components in AEM?

Sample Answer:
Key workflow components in AEM include Process Step, Participant Step, Dialog Step, and OR Split/AND Split. Process Step allows Java class execution, Participant Step assigns tasks to users, and Dialog Step shows custom dialogs. These steps are orchestrated to form a complete approval or transformation workflow in the system.

Q14. How do you create and deploy a custom workflow process in AEM?

Sample Answer:
To create a custom workflow, implement the WorkflowProcess interface, annotate the class with OSGi component metadata, and register it using a unique service label. Then, upload this component as a bundle. You can use this process in the workflow model by selecting it from the Process Step’s drop-down in the AEM workflow editor.

Q15. What is Felix Console and how does it relate to OSGi in AEM?

Sample Answer:
The Felix Console is the web interface provided by Apache Felix (AEM’s OSGi container) for managing bundles, configurations, and services. You can view all active and inactive bundles, check their states, and even restart or stop them. This tool is critical when debugging bundle issues or checking OSGi service availability.

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Dispatcher, CRX, and Deployment Questions

Q16. What is the role of the Dispatcher in AEM?

Sample Answer:
The Dispatcher in AEM is Adobe’s caching and/or load balancing tool. It helps to cache static content on the web server and reduce load on the publish instance. It also performs load balancing across multiple publish instances. This ensures faster content delivery and higher availability in production environments.

Q17. How do you invalidate or flush cache in AEM Dispatcher?

Sample Answer:
You can configure auto-invalidation rules in the dispatcher.any file or use the Dispatcher Flush agents from the AEM publish instance. These agents send HTTP requests to trigger cache invalidation for updated or published content. Manual cache clearing is also possible by deleting files from the dispatcher cache directory.

Q18. What is CRX in AEM and how is it structured?

Sample Answer:
CRX (Content Repository eXtreme) is Adobe’s implementation of the JCR (Java Content Repository) used in AEM. It stores all content as nodes in a hierarchical structure. Common paths include /apps, /content, /etc, and /libs. Developers use CRXDE Lite to view and modify this structure in the browser.

Q19. What deployment methods are commonly used in AEM projects?

Sample Answer:
Typical deployment methods in AEM include Maven builds using AEM Project Archetypes and CI/CD tools like Jenkins or GitHub Actions. Deployment pipelines usually build and package AEM code into content packages (.zip) using the FileVault tool and deploy them to author/publish instances via package managers or APIs.

Q20. How do you handle code versioning and content sync across AEM environments?

Sample Answer:
Code versioning is handled using Git, while content sync across environments is typically managed using tools like VLT-RCP, Grabbit, or custom scripts. For structured content, replication agents can be used to push content from author to publish. In large teams, maintaining environment-specific run modes helps isolate config files.

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Integration, Testing, and Performance Tuning

Q21. How do you integrate AEM with third-party systems?

Sample Answer:
To integrate AEM with external platforms like CRMs (Salesforce), analytics tools, or payment gateways, we primarily use RESTful APIs, custom Sling Servlets, or OSGi services.

For example, we may create a custom AEM service that pulls real-time data from an external inventory system using HTTP calls authenticated via OAuth 2.0.

These integrations are usually modular, with scheduler jobs or workflows that handle periodic data syncs. Adobe I/O Runtime can also serve as a middleware in Adobe Experience Cloud setups.

Q22. What testing strategies do you follow in AEM development?

Sample Answer:
We take a layered approach to testing. Unit tests for back-end Java code are written using JUnit 5 and Mockito, particularly for OSGi services and utility classes.

For Sling Models and servlets, we use AEM’s Sling Testing framework. On the front end, Jest or Cypress is used for testing React/Angular components embedded within AEM.

For full-stack integration tests, we spin up AEM SDK environments in CI pipelines. Jenkins executes automated test suites after every pull request to catch regressions early.

Q23. How do you optimise page load speed in AEM?

Sample Answer:
Optimising load speed involves a mix of front-end and back-end tuning. We ensure clientlibs are minified and versioned for caching. Image renditions are optimised using Dynamic Media or ImageMagick.

Lazy loading and resource include patterns (like SSI or WCMUsePojo) help minimise initial render payload. Dispatcher rules are crafted to maximise caching and reduce requests to the publish tier.

We also use AEM’s ACS Commons tools to identify unused components and large node structures that may slow down content rendering.

Q24. What is the role of the ACS Commons in AEM performance tuning?

Sample Answer:
ACS AEM Commons is an open-source toolkit with performance-focused utilities. For example, the Dispatcher Flush UI lets authors manually clear caches after major content changes.

The System Notifications feature helps detect issues early by alerting admins. Tools like the Generic List component reduce the need for custom code in dropdowns, improving reusability and performance.

On-Deploy Scripts ensure configuration consistency across environments, reducing manual setup errors that could impact speed or availability.

Q25. How do you monitor performance issues in AEM environments?

Sample Answer:
Performance monitoring combines log analysis, system metrics, and third-party tools. We track slow rendering components via request.log and error.log. GC logs help detect memory leaks or heap issues.

Tools like New Relic or Dynatrace offer visual dashboards for thread usage, CPU spikes, or slow response times. On AEM Cloud, Adobe Cloud Manager shows code quality scores and provides performance testing during deployments.

Regular audits are done to clean up oversized JCR nodes, stale workflows, and to validate dispatcher cache invalidation logic.

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Scenario-Based and Tricky AEM Interview Questions

Q26. How would you handle a sudden increase in page load times in a live AEM site?

This is a common real-world challenge. If page load times spike unexpectedly, your first step is to isolate whether the issue is front-end, back-end, or infrastructure related. Check for recent code or content deployments, evaluate dispatcher and CDN caching, and profile AEM logs for slow queries or long-running components.

Sample Answer:
I’d begin by profiling using AEM’s built-in tools like Page Performance Testing and CRXDE logs. I’d validate if caching is working effectively — both at dispatcher and component level. If a component is identified as slow (e.g. looping over large JCR nodes), I’d optimise it or consider async rendering. I’d also check for any recent bundle updates or workflow triggers that may be affecting response times.

Q27. What would you do if a client requests personalisation at scale but performance becomes an issue?

This tests your ability to balance business needs with platform capabilities. AEM offers several ways to personalise content (using ContextHub, Adobe Target, or custom logic), but doing so across all components or for every user group can hurt performance.

Sample Answer:
I’d first segment personalisation to critical content areas only. Then, I’d use ContextHub with rules based on geolocation or login status. For high-traffic pages, I’d pre-render personalised content variants and cache them using dispatcher filters. If needed, I’d evaluate Adobe Target or Edge Delivery Services to offload real-time decisions.

Q28. A team accidentally published a DAM asset version with sensitive data. How would you resolve this?

This question gauges your familiarity with asset governance and rollback strategies in AEM. Accidental publishing of sensitive content can lead to reputational and compliance risks.

Sample Answer:
First, I’d immediately deactivate the asset and purge it from dispatcher and CDN caches. Next, I’d use AEM’s versioning to roll back to a safe version. I’d also ensure replication agents are triggered correctly to remove the asset from publishers. Finally, I’d investigate why the sensitive asset was approved and reinforce DAM governance rules and review workflows.

Q29. What would you do if an OSGi bundle fails to activate in production after a deployment?

This scenario checks your debugging and deployment knowledge. A bundle failing to activate could be due to missing dependencies, incorrect configurations, or class-loading issues.

Sample Answer:
I’d check the system/console to verify the bundle state and read the error stack trace. Most often, the issue is due to unsatisfied references or version conflicts. I’d check for dependency resolution errors or config binding issues. If it’s a service component, I’d inspect its immediate and reference annotations and verify any required configurations exist in the correct runmode folders.

Q30. How would you debug an issue where content is showing differently across author and publisher environments?

This often happens due to replication mismatches, cache inconsistencies, or runmode-specific configurations.

Sample Answer:
First, I’d check if the content is replicated properly. I’d use the Replication Queue to confirm successful publishing. Next, I’d clear dispatcher cache and confirm the latest rendering logic is deployed. I’d also compare OSGi configs between author and publisher to spot runmode discrepancies, especially in filters, context paths, or custom components.

FAQs on AEM Interviews