Searching AEM Documentation

Overview

This skill helps you efficiently search the complete aem.live documentation (docs and blog posts) without wasting context on irrelevant pages. Use the provided search script to find relevant documentation pages, then fetch and read the full content of the most relevant results.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

You need information about an aem.live feature or concept
You've already looked at the project codebase for context
You've tried a basic web search but didn't find relevant aem.live documentation
You need technical guidance on implementing aem.live features
You're looking for best practices or examples from the official docs

Do NOT use this skill when:

You need reusable code snippets or block examples (use block-collection-and-party instead)
You already know the specific documentation URL
You're looking for general web development information (not aem.live specific)

How to Use This Skill

Step 1: Identify Keywords

Determine 1-3 specific keywords related to what you're searching for. Be specific rather than general.

Good keywords:

"block decoration"
"metadata"
"universal editor"
"sidekick plugin"

Poor keywords:

"aem" (too generic, filtered as stop word)
"how to build website" (too broad)
"the" (stop word)

Step 2: Run the Search Script

Execute the search script from the project root:

node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js [--all] <keyword1> [keyword2] [...]

Options:

--all: Return all matching results (default: limit to 10 most relevant)
Without --all: Returns top 10 results

Examples:

# Search for block decoration info
node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js block decoration

# Search for metadata with all results
node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js --all metadata

# Multi-word search
node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js universal editor blocks

Step 3: Review Search Results

The script returns JSON with the following structure:

[
  {
    "path": "/developer/markup-sections-blocks",
    "title": "Markup, Sections, Blocks, and Auto Blocking",
    "description": "To design websites and create functionality, developers use the markup and DOM...",
    "snippet": "Markup, Sections, Blocks, and Auto Blocking\n\nTo design websites...",
    "type": "doc",
    "deprecation": null,
    "relevanceScore": 141
  }
]

Field Explanations:

path: URL path to the documentation page
title: Page title
description: Brief summary (usually ~150 chars) - use this for quick context
snippet: Relevant excerpt from the page content showing keyword context
type: "doc" or "blog"
deprecation: Warning message if feature is deprecated (or null)
relevanceScore: Relevance score (higher = more relevant)

Important Notes:

Results are sorted by relevance (highest first)
Deprecated pages have reduced relevance scores but still appear in results
The description field provides the best quick summary of the page
The snippet shows keyword context but may not be comprehensive

Step 4: Fetch and Read Full Documentation

The search results give you an overview. To get detailed information, you must fetch and read the complete page content.

Target URL format:

https://www.aem.live{path}

How to retrieve: Use whatever method you have available to fetch the full HTML/text content:

Dedicated web fetching tools
Terminal commands (curl, wget, etc.)
Web browsing/scraping capabilities

Best Practice: Start with the top 2-3 most relevant results, read them fully, then decide if you need more. You may also follow links referenced in the documentation or conduct additional searches based on what you learn.

Step 5: Alert User to Deprecations

If any results have a deprecation field with content, inform the user that the feature is deprecated and include the deprecation message. Suggest they look at higher-ranked (non-deprecated) alternatives.

What Gets Searched

The search script searches documentation first (150+ pages). Blog posts are only searched if fewer than 5 doc results are found. If you need comprehensive coverage including blogs, use the --all flag.

Examples

Example 1: Finding Block Documentation

User Request: "How do I decorate blocks in aem.live?"

Good Approach:

Search: node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js block decoration
Review top 3 results
Fetch the most relevant: https://www.aem.live/developer/markup-sections-blocks
Read full content and provide answer

Poor Approach:

Using general web search instead (wastes time on irrelevant results)
Not using the search script (might miss the best documentation page)

Example 2: Learning About Metadata

User Request: "I need to add metadata to my pages"

Good Approach:

Search: node .claude/skills/docs-search/scripts/search.js metadata
Notice top result is "/docs/bulk-metadata" (score: 63)
Also see "/docs/metadata" (score: 30)
Fetch and read both to understand page-level vs bulk metadata
Provide comprehensive answer with both approaches

Poor Approach:

Only reading the first result and missing bulk metadata option
Not using --all when you need comprehensive coverage

Example 3: Deprecated Feature Warning

User Request: "How do I use folder mapping?"

Search Results:

[
  {
    "path": "/developer/authoring-path-mapping",
    "title": "Path mapping for AEM authoring",
    "relevanceScore": 51,
    "deprecation": null
  },
  {
    "path": "/developer/folder-mapping",
    "title": "Folder Mapping",
    "relevanceScore": 34.5,
    "deprecation": "Please contact us if you have a use case for folder mapping..."
  }
]

Good Response: "I found information about folder mapping, but this feature is deprecated. The deprecation notice says: 'Please contact us if you have a use case for folder mapping...'. The current recommended approach is Path mapping for AEM authoring (the top result). Let me read that documentation for you instead."

Poor Response:

Ignoring the deprecation warning and implementing the deprecated feature
Not mentioning the better alternative

Related Skills

block-collection-and-party: Use when you need reusable code examples or block implementations
building-blocks: Use when creating new blocks from scratch
content-modeling: Use when designing content models for blocks

Important Reminders

Always check for deprecation warnings and alert the user
Fetch and read full pages - search results are just for finding the right pages
Start with top 2-3 results before expanding search
The description field is your friend - it's usually well-written and concise
Don't rely solely on snippets - they're for context, not comprehensive information