DocumentationExperience Cloud KCS

AEM performance degradation from large asset folders and high ingestion rates

Last update: June 27, 2026

AEM performance degrades when a single folder contains a large number of assets or when ingestion requests occur at high rates. Large folders slow UI rendering, impact search performance, and increase workflow processing time. High ingestion rates introduce throttling or processing delays, further affecting system responsiveness. These issues commonly occur during bulk migrations or automated ingestion processes.

Description description

Environment

  • Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS)
  • AEM Managed Services
  • AEM 6.5
  • Developer App Builder

Issue/Symptoms

  • Slow loading of asset folders containing large numbers of items.
  • Delayed metadata updates or replication processing.
  • Throttled or blocked ingestion API requests during high request rates.
  • Slow search response when browsing large folders.
  • Backlog in asset processing workflows during bulk ingestion.

Cause

Performance degradation occurs when a folder contains many direct child nodes, increasing indexing pressure and slowing repository operations. High ingestion request rates increase load on indexing and workflow systems, leading to throttling and queue saturation.

Resolution resolution

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

  1. Check the number of assets in the affected folder. Go to Assets > Browse and select the folder, then confirm whether it contains more than approximately 1,000 direct assets. If the UI hangs, check the count using Query Builder or CRX/DE Lite.
  2. Reorganize oversized folders using a bucketing approach. Create subfolders by SKU prefix, hash, or alphabetical bucket (for example, /content/dam/products/01/, /02/, /03/) so that no single folder contains more than approximately 1,000 direct assets.
  3. For large-scale restructuring, move assets in batches of 450–500 items at a time and check Workflow Instances and Replication Queues for normal throughput. If backlogs appear, reduce the batch size to 200–300 assets per move.
  4. When importing new assets, limit the ingestion rate to approximately 300 requests per minute. If throttling or rate-limit warnings occur, reduce concurrency or add delays (for example, 100–150 requests per minute).
  5. For large migrations on AEM as a Cloud Service, use the AEM Bulk Import Tool instead of sending thousands of parallel API calls, and track progress in Cloud Manager > Bulk Import.
  6. Optimize workload processing per Adobe performance guidelines: disable unnecessary sub asset generation, use transient workflows, and tune workflow queues. Schedule ingestion during off-peak hours if needed.
  7. Validate the result. Confirm that previously slow DAM folders load quickly, the DAM Update Asset workflow queue shows steady throughput, searches return promptly, and API requests are no longer throttled.
  8. If problems persist, contact Adobe Support with the total number of assets and folders involved, the ingestion API rate, workflow backlog screenshots, and the exact paths of the affected folders.
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