b2c-business-manager-extensions

Business Manager Extensions Skill

This skill guides you through creating Business Manager (BM) extension cartridges to customize the admin interface.

Overview

BM extensions add custom functionality to Business Manager through a single bm_extensions.xml descriptor plus a controller that renders ISML pages:

Extension Type	Purpose
Menu Items	Add a navigation section (a container in the Admin or a site's menu)
Menu Actions	Add a functional link/page under a menu item — wired to a controller node
Dialog Actions	Add buttons to existing BM pages at defined extension points
Form Extensions	Add fields to existing BM search forms (order/customer search)

⚠️ Schema essentials (read first)

These are the most common mistakes. The descriptor uses the bmmodules/2007-12-11 schema (bmext.xsd), not the extensibility/* namespace.

• Namespace is http://www.demandware.com/xml/bmmodules/2007-12-11.
• name, short_description, and description are child elements with a required xml:lang attribute — NOT attributes and NOT resource keys. Localize by repeating the element per language. There is no name="..." attribute.
• <icon> is a plain string element holding a path (<icon>icons/q.png</icon>), NOT <icon path="..."/>.
• position is ascending: lower numbers appear higher in the menu. Core BM items run 2000–12000, so custom items typically use a large number (e.g. 99999) to sit at the bottom, or -1 to float a "Home" action to the top.
• The dialog-action extension-point attribute is xp_ref (underscore), and dialog actions link to a menu action via a child <menuactions><menuaction-ref action-id="..."/></menuactions> element — there is no menuaction-ref attribute.
• Use the file encoding ISO-8859-1 to match platform samples.

To confirm any detail against the authoritative schema:

b2c docs schema bmext

File Structure

/bm_my_extension
    /cartridge
        bm_extensions.xml              # Extension definitions (required)
        bm_my_extension.properties     # Cartridge properties (required)
        /controllers
            MyExtension.js             # Controller for menu actions
        /templates
            /default
                /extensions
                    mypage.isml        # Custom BM pages
        /static
            /default
                /icons
                    my-icon.png        # Menu icons

bm_my_extension.properties is a standard cartridge marker file:

## cartridge.properties for cartridge bm_my_extension
demandware.cartridges.bm_my_extension.multipleLanguageStorefront=true
demandware.cartridges.bm_my_extension.id=bm_my_extension

Basic bm_extensions.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<extensions xmlns="http://www.demandware.com/xml/bmmodules/2007-12-11"
            xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
            xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.demandware.com/xml/bmmodules/2007-12-11 bmext.xsd">

    <!-- Menu Item: a container in the Administration menu (site="false") -->
    <menuitem id="acme_id01" position="99999" site="false">
        <name xml:lang="x-default">ACME Tools</name>
        <short_description xml:lang="x-default">ACME admin tools</short_description>
        <description xml:lang="x-default">Tools and utilities from the ACME team</description>
        <icon>icons/acme.png</icon>
    </menuitem>

    <!-- Menu Action: a page under the menu item, wired to a controller node.
         position="-1" floats it to the top of the section. -->
    <menuaction id="acme-home" menupath="acme_id01" position="-1" site="false">
        <name xml:lang="x-default">Home</name>
        <short_description xml:lang="x-default">ACME Home</short_description>
        <exec pipeline="ACME" node="Start"/>
        <sub-pipelines>
            <pipeline name="ACME-Start"/>
        </sub-pipelines>
        <icon>icons/acme.png</icon>
    </menuaction>
</extensions>

pipeline="ACME" resolves to the controller ACME.js; node="Start" resolves to its exported Start function (which must be marked Start.public = true).

Menu Items

Top-level navigation containers. site="false" places the item in the Administration menu; site="true" (the default) places it in a site menu.

<menuitem id="acme_id01" position="99999" site="false">
    <name xml:lang="x-default">ACME Tools</name>
    <name xml:lang="de">ACME Werkzeuge</name>
    <short_description xml:lang="x-default">ACME admin tools</short_description>
    <icon>icons/acme.png</icon>
</menuitem>

Attribute	Required	Default	Description
id	Yes	-	Unique identifier. Prefix to avoid collisions with core BM IDs.
site	No	true	true = site menu, false = Administration menu
position	No	-	Sort order — lower = higher. Use a large value to sit at the bottom.
type	No	BM	BM or CSC (Customer Service Center)

Child elements: name (required, localized), short_description, description (localized), icon (string path), sldsIconName (an SLDS utility icon name, preferred in the modern BM UI), exec.

Menu Actions

Functional pages under a menu item. Wire each to a controller node via <exec> and register every controller node it uses in <sub-pipelines>.

<menuaction id="acme-export" menupath="acme_id01" position="20" site="false">
    <name xml:lang="x-default">Product Export</name>
    <short_description xml:lang="x-default">Export products to CSV</short_description>
    <exec pipeline="ACME" node="Export"/>
    <sub-pipelines>
        <pipeline name="ACME-Export"/>
        <pipeline name="ACME-Download"/>
    </sub-pipelines>
    <parameters>
        <parameter name="defaultFormat" value="csv"/>
    </parameters>
    <icon>icons/export.png</icon>
</menuaction>

Attribute	Required	Default	Description
id	Yes	-	Unique identifier
menupath	No	-	Parent menu item id (or a core BM menu/item id to attach to it)
site	No	true	Must match the parent menu item
position	No	-	Sort order (lower = higher; -1 floats to top)
extern	No	false	true opens the action in a new window

Key child elements: name (required), short_description, description, extended_description, exec, sub-pipelines, parameters, icon.

Note: <exec> takes only pipeline and node (both required) — there is no https attribute. The apis, scapis, and required-features elements in the schema are not supported for custom menu actions.

The NoPermissionCheck idiom

BM checks that the logged-in user has permission for the menu action whose sub-pipelines register the requested controller node. For endpoints that must work without a module permission check — keepalive pings, service workers, polling/AJAX endpoints called by your page's JavaScript — register their nodes under a dedicated action with the reserved id NoPermissionCheck and no <exec>:

<menuaction id="NoPermissionCheck" site="false">
    <name xml:lang="x-default">Dummy</name>
    <short_description xml:lang="x-default">Holds pipelines that do not require a permission check</short_description>
    <sub-pipelines>
        <pipeline name="ACME-Keepalive"/>
        <pipeline name="ACME-ServiceWorker"/>
        <pipeline name="ACME-Poll"/>
    </sub-pipelines>
</menuaction>

Without this, those nodes 403 for users who haven't been granted the module. Only register nodes here that are genuinely safe to expose to any authenticated BM user.

Dialog Actions

Add buttons to existing BM pages at a named extension point (xp_ref).

<dialogaction id="acme-order-sync" xp_ref="OrderPage-OrderDetails" position="100">
    <name xml:lang="x-default">Sync Order</name>
    <exec pipeline="ACME" node="OrderSync"/>
    <parameters>
        <parameter name="OrderNo"/>
    </parameters>
    <menuactions>
        <menuaction-ref action-id="acme-home"/>
    </menuactions>
</dialogaction>

Attribute	Required	Default	Description
id	Yes	-	Unique identifier
xp_ref	Yes	-	Extension point ID (note the underscore)
position	No	-	Sort order
class	No	-	Optional CSS class
extern	No	false	true opens in a new window

Child elements: name (optional, localized), exec (required), parameters, menuactions (one or more <menuaction-ref action-id="..."/> linking to the menu action that owns the permission check). Dialog actions do not take an icon child.

Common extension points: OrderPage-OrderDetails, ProductPage-General, ProductPage-Images, CustomerPage-Profile, ContentPage-General, CatalogPage-CategoryGeneral.

Form Extensions

Add fields to existing BM search forms (e.g. order or customer search).

<formextension id="order-search">
    <valueinput type="string" name="invoiceNumber">
        <label xml:lang="x-default">Invoice Number</label>
        <label xml:lang="de">Rechnungsnummer</label>
    </valueinput>
    <valueinput type="string" name="syncStatus" defaultvalue="">
        <label xml:lang="x-default">Sync Status</label>
        <option>All</option>
        <option>Synced</option>
        <option>Pending</option>
        <option>Failed</option>
    </valueinput>
    <valueinput type="int" name="minQuantity">
        <label xml:lang="x-default">Minimum Quantity</label>
    </valueinput>
</formextension>

id matches the target form (e.g. order-search, customer-search). valueinput requires type (string, int, or double) and name; defaultvalue is optional. Each valueinput has localized <label> children and optional <option> children for dropdowns.

Controller Example

Controllers live in controllers/ and export functions marked .public = true. Use */cartridge/... requires so logic can be shared, and gate page nodes on the BM session.

'use strict';

var ISML = require('dw/template/ISML');
var URLUtils = require('dw/web/URLUtils');
var Logger = require('dw/system/Logger');

var log = Logger.getLogger('bm', 'ACME');

/**
 * Render the dashboard. Wired to <exec pipeline="ACME" node="Start"/>.
 */
function Start() {
    // BM nodes should only be reachable in an authenticated BM session
    if (!session.userAuthenticated) {
        response.setStatus(403);
        return;
    }

    ISML.renderTemplate('extensions/acme/dashboard', {
        stats: getStats()
    });
}
Start.public = true;
module.exports.Start = Start;

/**
 * Process an action, then redirect back to the dashboard.
 */
function Process() {
    var action = request.httpParameterMap.action.stringValue;
    try {
        performAction(action);
        response.redirect(URLUtils.url('ACME-Start', 'message', 'Done'));
    } catch (e) {
        log.error('Action failed: {0}', e.message);
        response.redirect(URLUtils.url('ACME-Start', 'error', e.message));
    }
}
Process.public = true;
module.exports.Process = Process;

/**
 * Lightweight endpoint called by page JS — registered under NoPermissionCheck.
 */
function Keepalive() {
    response.setContentType('application/json');
    response.writer.print('{"ok":true}');
}
Keepalive.public = true;
module.exports.Keepalive = Keepalive;

Every node referenced by <exec> or <sub-pipelines> must be exported and .public = true, or BM returns 403.

Template Example

BM templates render under templates/default/extensions/. Reference the node via URLUtils.url('Controller-Node', ...).

<isdecorate template="application/MenuFrame">
    <isinclude template="inc/Modules"/>
    <div class="acme-dashboard">
        <h1>ACME Dashboard</h1>

        <isif condition="${request.httpParameterMap.message.submitted}">
            <div class="success">${request.httpParameterMap.message.stringValue}</div>
        </isif>

        <table class="data">
            <thead><tr><th>Metric</th><th>Value</th></tr></thead>
            <tbody>
                <isloop items="${pdict.stats}" var="stat">
                    <tr><td>${stat.label}</td><td>${stat.value}</td></tr>
                </isloop>
            </tbody>
        </table>

        <a href="${URLUtils.url('ACME-Process', 'action', 'refresh')}" class="button">
            Refresh
        </a>
    </div>
</isdecorate>

Decorating with application/MenuFrame (and including inc/Modules) gives the page the standard BM chrome. A plain HTML document also works if you want a fully custom page (the modern qlabs-style approach mounts a single-page app into a container template).

Attaching to Existing BM Menus

Instead of a new menu item, point a menu action's menupath at a core BM menu id. The full list of core ids is in the reference; the most useful:

Menu	id	site
Site Preferences	site-prefs	true
Merchant Tools › Products and Catalogs	prod-cat	true
Merchant Tools › Ordering	orders	true
Administration › Operations	operations	false
Administration › Site Development	studio	false
Administration › Global Preferences	global-prefs	false

<menuaction id="acme-pref" menupath="site-prefs" position="2000" site="true">
    <name xml:lang="x-default">ACME Preferences</name>
    <exec pipeline="ACME" node="Preferences"/>
    <sub-pipelines>
        <pipeline name="ACME-Preferences"/>
    </sub-pipelines>
</menuaction>

Reusing a core BM id for your own menuitem/menuaction hides your extension. Always use unique, prefixed ids and only reference core ids via menupath.

Enabling the Extension

1. Add the cartridge to the Business Manager site's cartridge path:
   • Administration › Sites › Manage Sites › Business Manager › Settings
   • Add the cartridge id (e.g. bm_my_extension) to the cartridge path.
2. Grant the module to roles:
   • Administration › Organization › Roles › (role) › Business Manager Modules
   • Enable the custom module (it appears once the extension is on the path).
   • Nodes registered under NoPermissionCheck are reachable without this grant.

Best Practices

1. Validate against the XSD with b2c docs schema bmext whenever unsure.
2. Prefix all ids to avoid colliding with (and accidentally hiding behind) core BM ids.
3. Register every node a page uses in sub-pipelines, or it 403s.
4. Use NoPermissionCheck only for endpoints that are safe for any authenticated BM user (keepalive, service workers, polling).
5. Keep BM cartridges separate from storefront cartridges.
6. Gate page nodes on session.userAuthenticated.
7. Test with a non-admin role to confirm your permission boundaries.

Detailed Reference

• Extensions XML Reference — complete schema, every element/attribute, the NoPermissionCheck pattern, and the full core BM menu-id table.