Content request discrepancies in usage metrics
Content request totals appear higher or inconsistent when reviewing usage metrics due to misunderstanding of how different request types are counted. Requests such as SPA navigation, JSON APIs, Sling Dynamic Includes, and CDN-routed calls create confusion about their contribution to licensed usage.
Description description
Environment
- AEM as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS)
- AEM Sites
- AEM Managed Services
Issue/Symptoms
- Higher than expected content request counts in license dashboard.
- Uncertainty about whether JSON, SPA, or SDI requests are counted.
- Confusion about CDN-proxied or external API traffic impact.
- Lack of clear error messages while reviewing metrics.
Cause
Content request counting follows strict rules where only HTML or JSON responses served by AEM count. Misunderstanding which requests qualify, especially with SPA behavior, CDN routing, and dynamic includes, leads to incorrect assumptions.
Resolution resolution
To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
- Identify if the request returns HTML or JSON by reviewing response headers.
- Confirm whether the request originates from AEM or an external service.
- Count HTML responses from AEM as one content request per page view.
- Count JSON responses from AEM as API calls where five calls equal one content request.
- Exclude static assets such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files from counting.
- Exclude Experience Fragment requests when served from the same domain.
- Include Sling Dynamic if they return HTML or JSON from AEM.
- Count JSON responses from search or auto-suggest features as API calls when served by AEM.
- Exclude external API calls that are routed through CDN and do not reach AEM.
- Ensure only production environment traffic contributes to licensed usage metrics.
Related reading
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