aem-component

You receive a component name and produce a complete developer reference — every source file, AEM page, and dialog field for that component.

Performance target: ~10-15 tool calls total. No unnecessary agents or MCP calls.

1. Parse Input & Normalize

The argument is a component name. Accept any format and generate all search variations.

Step 1a: Extract base name

Strip resource type prefixes:

• project/components/content/hero → hero
• myapp/base/components/myapp-banner → myapp-banner

Read .ai/config.yaml for aem.component-prefix to know the project's naming prefix.

Step 1b: Generate search variations (enhanced with project.yaml)

From the base name, generate a regex pattern for grep that covers all naming conventions:

Given input {name}:

1. As-is: {name}
2. Remove hyphens/spaces: my-component → mycomponent
3. Add hyphens at word boundaries: mycomponent → my-component
4. Project prefix: <prefix>-{name} (from aem.component-prefix)
5. Strip prefixes: prefix-hero → also search hero

If .ai/project/project.yaml exists: Read platforms[].component-prefixes for additional prefix variations. For each prefix, generate {prefix}{name} as an additional variation. Example: prefixes [mycomp-, mycomp-bff-, canada-, corp-] → also search mycomp-{name}, mycomp-bff-{name}, canada-{name}, corp-{name}.

Build a single grep regex covering all variations.

If no argument provided, ask the user for the component name.

2. Search Local Docs (DIRECT — no agent)

Do NOT spawn an agent for this. Use direct Grep/Read calls — it's just 2-4 files.

Run these Grep calls in parallel (all variations in one regex pattern):

1. Grep .ai/project/component-index.md for all variations — the local repo component index (generated by /aem-init)
2. Grep .ai/project/component-index-project.md for all variations — the cross-repo enriched component catalog (if it exists)
3. Read .ai/config.yaml for project structure details — repos, component paths, SCM URLs

From component-index-project.md extract (if found):

• Platform column — Legacy, DXN, or both (determines which file patterns to use)
• FE column — B, C, B C, Yes, N/A (determines which FE repos/paths to search)
• Source Link — ADO URL containing the exact component path (critical for DXN base path extraction)
• Repo column — which repo the component lives in
• Notes — category info (BFF, Commerce, Form, etc.)

If Component Details section exists for this component in component-index-project.md: extract dialog fields, Java models, clientlib info. These serve as fallback when AEM MCP is unavailable.

3. Build Source File URLs

With file-patterns.yaml (preferred — data-driven resolution)

If .ai/project/file-patterns.yaml exists, spawn ONE aem-file-resolver agent with:

• component_name — the confirmed component name from step 2
• platform — detected platform(s) from the index match
• fe_locations — FE column value from component-index-project.md

The agent reads file-patterns.yaml, resolves all files per platform, and returns a structured file table with ADO URLs.

Multi-platform support: If the component exists on multiple platforms (e.g., both Legacy and DXN), the agent resolves files for EACH platform separately and returns separate Backend sections.

Without file-patterns.yaml (convention-based fallback)

Read .ai/config.yaml for:

• scm.org and scm.project — for building SCM URLs
• aem.component-path — component definition root
• aem.frontend-dir — frontend source root (if applicable)
• repos: — for cross-repo file resolution

SCM URL pattern — Build URLs from the SCM config. For ADO:

https://<scm.org>.visualstudio.com/<scm.project-url-encoded>/_git/<REPO>?path=/<FILE_PATH>

Or read ado.org from project.yaml:

https://{ado.org}/{ado-project}/_git/{repo}?path=/{FILE_PATH}

Apps files — Use aem.component-path to derive:

File	Derived Path
HTL template	<component-path>/<name>/<name>.html (or versioned: <name>/v1/<name>/<name>.html)
Dialog	<component-path>/<name>/_cq_dialog/.content.xml (or versioned path)
Component def	<component-path>/<name>/.content.xml

Verify with Glob — don't assume the exact path pattern. Glob for **/<name>/**/*.html and **/<name>/**/.content.xml to confirm.

Frontend files — Use aem.frontend-dir to locate JS/SCSS/config:

File	Pattern
JS	<frontend-dir>/**/components/<name>/*.<name>*.js
SCSS	<frontend-dir>/**/components/<name>/*.<name>*.scss
Config	<frontend-dir>/**/components/<name>/*.<name>*.config.js

Java/backend files — Grep for the component name in Java source:

Grep: {name}
path: <java-source-root>
glob: "*.java"

Only use ADO code search (mcp__ado__search_code) as a LAST RESORT — if a component isn't in the docs at all and conventions don't apply.

4. Find AEM Pages

With project.yaml (market-scoped search)

If .ai/project/project.yaml exists:

• Read active brands/markets from project.yaml to get AEM content paths
• Pass primary_language_only: true to aem-page-finder (reduces MCP calls)
• If the component has a market-specific prefix (e.g., canada-), scope the search to matching markets only

Without project.yaml (config-based search)

Read .ai/config.yaml aem.content-paths for configured content paths.

Spawn aem-page-finder

Spawn ONE aem-page-finder agent (model: haiku). Pass it:

• The exact component name(s) found in step 2
• The content paths (from project.yaml markets or config.yaml)
• The author URL (from project.yaml → defaults.qa-author-url or config.yaml → aem.author-url-qa)
• primary_language_only: true (from content-paths.yaml or default)

Run this agent in parallel with source file resolution (step 3).

5. Inspect Dialog (optional, if AEM available)

Primary: AEM MCP (live dialog)

If AEM MCP is reachable, read the dialog structure:

• Use mcp__plugin_dx-aem_AEM__getNodeContent on the _cq_dialog path with depth 6
• Extract: field names, field types, labels, default values
• Present as a compact table

Fallback: Component Details from index

If AEM is not reachable BUT Component Details section exists in component-index-project.md for this component (from step 2): display those dialog fields as fallback.

If neither source is available, note "Dialog fields not available — no AEM MCP and no Component Details in index".

6. Present Results

## Component: <name>

**Resource type:** `<resource-type>`
**Platform:** <Legacy | DXN | both>
**FE:** <B | C | B C | Yes | N/A>

---

### Source Files

**Backend — <repo> (<platform>)**
| File | Purpose | Link |
|------|---------|------|
| `<name>.html` | HTL template | [link](url) |
| `_cq_dialog/.content.xml` | Author dialog | [link](url) |
| `.content.xml` | Component definition | [link](url) |
| `<Name>Model.java` | Sling Model | [link](url) |
| `<Name>ModelTest.java` | Unit test | [link](url) |

<If multi-platform, show separate Backend sections per platform>

**Frontend — <repo> (<brand|core>)**
| File | Purpose | Link |
|------|---------|------|
| `<name>.js` | Component logic | [link](url) |
| `<name>.scss` | Styles | [link](url) |
| `<name>.hbs` | Template (Legacy only) | [link](url) |

### Dialog Fields
| Field | Type | Label | JCR Property |
|-------|------|-------|-------------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

<Note source: "(from AEM MCP)" or "(from Component Details fallback)">

### AEM Pages
| Page | Market | Author URL |
|------|--------|-----------|
| <page-name> | <market> | [link](url) |

<Group by market/language when market-scoped search was used>

### Notes
<Naming mismatches, shared FE, missing files, edge cases, category info>

---

**Save results to a file?** (suggested: `.ai/research/<name>.md`)

7. Save (if user confirms)

If the user says yes:

• Default location: .ai/research/<name>.md
• Create the .ai/research/ directory if it doesn't exist
• Confirm path after saving

Examples

Simple component lookup

/aem-component hero

Finds all source files for the hero component — HTL, dialog XML, Java model, JS, SCSS. Shows dialog fields from AEM MCP (or index fallback). Lists top AEM pages using it with author URLs.

With project prefix

/aem-component myprefix-banner

Strips the prefix, searches for both banner and myprefix-banner variations. Resolves files using file-patterns.yaml if available.

Multi-platform component

/aem-component card

If card exists on both Legacy and DXN platforms, shows separate Backend sections for each with platform-specific file paths and ADO links.

Troubleshooting

"Component not found in index"

Cause: Component is new (not yet in seed data) or uses an unexpected naming convention. Fix: Run /aem-refresh to update seed data. Or check the component name — try without prefix, with hyphens removed, or with different prefix variations.

No AEM pages found

Cause: Component isn't authored on any pages, or content paths in config don't cover the right site. Fix: Check .ai/config.yaml aem.content-paths covers the target site. The component may only exist in a market not listed in aem.active-markets.

Dialog fields show "not available"

Cause: AEM MCP server is not running or unreachable. Fix: Start AEM locally (http://localhost:4502). If AEM is unavailable, the skill falls back to Component Details from component-index-project.md if available.

Rules

• Docs first — always check both component-index.md AND component-index-project.md before any MCP call
• Data-driven when possible — use file-patterns.yaml via aem-file-resolver agent when available, fall back to convention-based Glob when not
• Every seed data file is optional — missing file = skip that capability gracefully, no errors
• TWO agents max — aem-file-resolver (if file-patterns.yaml exists) + aem-page-finder. Everything else is direct tool calls.
• Normalize names — handle hyphens, spaces, prefixes gracefully. Use project.yaml component-prefixes for additional variations.
• Multi-platform — if component exists on multiple platforms, resolve files for EACH platform separately. Present as separate Backend sections.
• Clickable links — all file paths as SCM/ADO URLs, all pages as AEM author URLs
• No guessing — if a file isn't found, say "Not found" not "probably exists at..."
• FE naming gotcha — if FE search returns nothing, check HTL data-component-name attribute; another component may share the FE code
• Dialog fallback — use Component Details from index when AEM MCP is unavailable
• Ask to save — always ask before writing files