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2 questions in relation to custom OAK indexes

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
April 30, 2025
1 reply
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1. How do I commit to my project code custom indexes for AEM 6.x? I've searched the net but nothing comes up.

2. Is there a way to easily translate a SQL2 to custom index XML? I found this site => https://oakutils.appspot.com/generate/index but the output available is JSON only. I'm wondering if XML output is available. I have not seen any Adobe guide or sample code where JSON is used to define a custom index.

Thanks for the help.

AmitVishwakarma

New Participant

Hi @jayv25585659 ,

1. Committing Custom Oak Indexes in Your AEM 6.x Project

Where to put it:
Your custom index definitions belong under /oak:index in your content package, not under /apps or /libs. In a typical multi-module AEM Maven project that looks like:

ui.content/
└── src/
    └── main/
        └── content/
            └── jcr_root/
                └── oak:index/
                    └── myCustomIndex/
                        └── .content.xml

Example .content.xml:
A Lucene index that indexes the text property across all pages under /content/mysite:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jcr:root
    xmlns:jcr="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/1.0"
    xmlns:nt="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/nt/1.0"
    jcr:primaryType="oak:QueryIndexDefinition"
    type="lucene"
    compatVersion="{Long}2"
    async="[async]"                            <!-- run index build asynchronously -->
    includedPaths="[/content/mysite]"         <!-- limit indexing to this path -->
    evaluatePathRestrictions="{Boolean}true"  <!-- honors ACLs in queries -->
    reindex="{Boolean}true">                  <!-- force a re-index on next startup -->

  <indexRules jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
    <nt:base jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
      <properties jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
        <text
            jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured"
            name="text"
            propertyIndex="{Boolean}true"
            nodeScopeIndex="{Boolean}true"
            analyzed="{Boolean}true" />
      </properties>
    </nt:base>
  </indexRules>
</jcr:root>

Deploy it:

cd ui.content 
mvn clean install -PautoInstallPackage

On startup AEM will pick up /oak:index/myCustomIndex, detect reindex=true, and build your index.

2.Turning a SQL2 Query into a Custom Index XML

AEM 6.x only consumes XML under /oak:index. There’s no built-in JSON→XML converter, but here are foolproof methods:

Option A: Manual Mapping via Oak Utils

Generate JSON from your SQL2 on https://oakutils.appspot.com/generate/index

Copy the JSON fields into the XML template above, mapping:

type → jcr:root/@type

async → jcr:root/@async

includedPaths → jcr:root/@includedPaths

evaluatePathRestrictions → jcr:root/@evaluatePathRestrictions

indexRules…properties → <indexRules>…<properties>…</properties></indexRules>

Save as myCustomIndex/.content.xml and re-deploy.

Option B: CRXDE-Lite + Content Package

In CRXDE Lite, right-click /oak:index → Create → Oak QueryIndexDefinition.

Fill in the dialogs (type, paths, props)…

Build a content package from /oak:index/yourIndex.

Unzip the package and copy the generated .content.xml into your ui.content module under jcr_root/oak:index/.

Option C: oak-run Tool (JSON → Manual XML)

If you prefer CLI, download the Oak standalone JAR and run:

java -jar oak-run.jar indexGenerator \
  --type lucene \
  --includedPaths /content/mysite \
  --properties name=text,propertyIndex=true,nodeScopeIndex=true,analyzed=true \
  --output index.json

Then convert that JSON output into the .content.xml structure shown above.

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