Documentation

Auto-relation of dependencies in AEM Assets

Last update: Fri Aug 22 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5, assets ingested into the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system automatically generate dependencies based on embedded metadata. These dependencies appear in the metadata’s basic tab and reflect technical relationships between assets, such as references found in XMP manifests. To fix this, review the source file metadata and understand how AEM interprets these relationships.

Description description

Environment

  • Product: Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Managed Services/On-prem
  • Version: AEM 6.5
  • Relevant Features: Asset Auto-relation

Issue/Symptoms

  • A new dependencies  field appears under the metadata’s basic tab when assets are ingested into the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.
  • These dependencies cannot be manually unlinked or removed via the user interface, even with admin privileges.
  • The behavior is consistent with out-of-the-box AEM functionality and is influenced by metadata embedded in source files (e.g., XMP manifests).

Resolution resolution

The auto-relation of dependencies in AEM is a built-in feature that identifies technical relationships between assets based on embedded metadata. Follow these steps to understand and manage this behavior:

  1. Dependencies originate from metadata embedded in the source file, such as XMP manifests. For example, files created with Adobe Illustrator may include references that AEM interprets as dependencies.
  2. Inspect the raw file’s XMP metadata and manifest details to verify the origin of dependencies. Use tools like Adobe Bridge or other metadata viewers to analyze these details outside of AEM.
  3. System-generated dependencies can’t be manually unlinked or removed via the AEM user interface. These relationships reflect technical associations and are part of standard AEM behavior.
  4. To replicate and understand this behavior, upload assets with known references into AEM and observe how dependencies are created.
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