/create-site

name: create-site
description: Use this when a user wants to create a brand-new AEM Edge Delivery site from scratch and no GitHub repository or DA content exists yet — triggers include 'set up a new site', 'create a new EDS project', or 'onboard a new site'. Covers creating the GitHub repo from the boilerplate, installing aem-code-sync, seeding initial DA content (nav, footer, homepage), and returning a live preview URL. For importing or migrating existing pages use page-import; for building blocks on an existing site use content-driven-development.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  version: "1.1.0"

Create a New AEM Edge Delivery Site

This skill walks through the full onboarding flow for a new AEM Edge Delivery site. It handles everything that can be automated and clearly signals the steps that require human action.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• A user wants to create a brand-new AEM Edge Delivery site from scratch
• A user asks to "set up a new site", "create a new EDS project", or "onboard a new site"
• No GitHub repository or DA content exists yet for the project

**Do NOT use this skill for:**

• Importing or migrating existing pages (use **page-import** skill)
• Building or modifying blocks on an existing site (use **content-driven-development** skill)

Prerequisites

• A GitHub account with permission to create repositories in the target org
• An Adobe IMS account with access to DA (da.live)
• `gh` CLI authenticated (`gh auth status`) or a GitHub personal access token with `repo` scope
• Node.js (for DA token management via da-auth-helper)

Related Skills

• **page-import** — Import existing pages into the newly created site
• **content-driven-development** — Build and modify blocks once the site exists
• **building-blocks** — Implement new block code

---

Step 0: Create TodoList

Create a checklist to track progress (use your agent's task-tracking tool if available):

1. **Gather inputs** — org, repo name, site name collected 2. **Create GitHub repository** — repo created from boilerplate template 3. **Install aem-code-sync** *(human action)* — GitHub App installed on repo 4. **Authenticate with DA** — valid IMS token obtained 5. **Create initial content in DA** — nav, footer, index created 6. **Trigger preview** — all three paths return 200/201 7. **Hand off** — preview URL and DA links delivered to user

---

Step 1: Gather Inputs

Ask the user for the following. Do not proceed until all required inputs are provided.

1. **GitHub org** — the GitHub organization or username where the repo will be created (e.g. `my-org`) 2. **Project name** — the repository name, lowercase, hyphens only (e.g. `my-site`) 3. **Site name** — the human-readable name used in content (e.g. `My Site`). If not provided, derive it from the project name.

Store as: `{{ORG}}`, `{{REPO}}`, `{{SITE_NAME}}`

---

Step 2: Create GitHub Repository

Create a new repository using the `adobe/aem-boilerplate` template.

**Option A — GitHub CLI (preferred, handles auth automatically):**

gh repo create {{ORG}}/{{REPO}} \
  --template adobe/aem-boilerplate \
  --description "{{SITE_NAME}} — AEM Edge Delivery site" \
  --public

Check if `gh` is available with `gh auth status`. If not authenticated, run `gh auth login` first.

**Option B — GitHub API (if `gh` CLI is not available):**

POST https://api.github.com/repos/adobe/aem-boilerplate/generate
Authorization: Bearer {{GITHUB_TOKEN}}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "owner": "{{ORG}}",
  "name": "{{REPO}}",
  "description": "{{SITE_NAME}} — AEM Edge Delivery site",
  "private": false,
  "include_all_branches": false
}

To obtain a token: https://github.com/settings/tokens/new — scope: `repo`.

**Success:** HTTP 201 (API) or exit code 0 (CLI). The repo is now live at `https://github.com/{{ORG}}/{{REPO}}`.

---

Step 3: Install aem-code-sync *(human action required)*

The aem-code-sync GitHub App connects the repository to AEM's content delivery pipeline. This step cannot be automated — the user must complete it in the browser.

Tell the user:

> **Action required:** Install the AEM Code Sync app on your new repository. > > 1. Open this URL: https://github.com/apps/aem-code-sync/installations/new > 2. Under "Repository access", select **Only select repositories** > 3. Choose **{{ORG}}/{{REPO}}** from the list > 4. Click **Save** > > Reply "done" when complete.

Wait for confirmation before proceeding.

**Verify:** After confirmation, check that `https://admin.hlx.page/status/{{ORG}}/{{REPO}}/main/` returns a valid JSON response (not 404). If it does, the app is correctly installed.

---

Step 4: Authenticate with DA

DA requires Adobe IMS authentication. Choose the appropriate path:

**Option A — da-auth-helper (preferred)**

`da-auth-helper` (https://github.com/adobe-rnd/da-auth-helper) caches IMS tokens at `~/.aem/da-token.json`. Always check the cache first before triggering a new OAuth flow.

1. Check for a valid cached token:

node -e "
  const fs = require('fs');
  const p = process.env.HOME + '/.aem/da-token.json';
  if (!fs.existsSync(p)) { console.log('No cache'); process.exit(1); }
  const t = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p));
  console.log('Valid:', t.expires_at > Date.now());
  console.log('Expires:', new Date(t.expires_at).toISOString());
"

2. If valid, capture the token and skip to Step 5:

DA_TOKEN=$(node -e "const t = require(process.env.HOME + '/.aem/da-token.json'); process.stdout.write(t.access_token);")

3. If missing or expired, install da-auth-helper from GitHub (it is not published to npm) and refresh:

npm install -g github:adobe-rnd/da-auth-helper
da-auth-helper token

This opens a browser for Adobe IMS login and writes the new token to `~/.aem/da-token.json`. Then capture it as in step 2.

**Option B — DA MCP is configured**

If the DA MCP server is available, trigger the authentication tool to start the OAuth flow and share the authorizatio