AEM as a Cloud Service: ‘Invalid content fragment’ error when publishing Content Fragments in new editor

This article explains how to resolve intermittent i nvalid content fragment  errors when publishing Content Fragments using the new editor in Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service.

Description description

Environment


Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (all versions)

Issue/Symptoms


When publishing Content Fragments using the new editor in AEM as a Cloud Service, the following symptoms may occur:

  • Intermittent errors appear with the message invalid content fragment.
  • Affected Content Fragments appear to publish successfully but remain in the Modified state.
  • Logs indicate the publish workflow treats the fragment as invalid and removes it from the publish tree.
  • Publishing the same Content Fragments using the old editor works without issue.

Example error message:

Invalid content fragment

Publishing is disrupted for multiple product Content Fragments, impacting product page updates.

Resolution resolution

Follow these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Use the Content Fragment API to check the validationStatus of the affected Content Fragment (For example: GET /adobe/sites/cf/fragments/< UUID> ).

  2. Review the AEM author logs for details on why the fragment is marked as invalid.

  3. Inspect Rich Text fields (such as mtPrintControllerFonts) within the Content Fragment for invalid HTML, such as:

    • Incorrect tag structure
    • Unescaped special characters
  4. Correct any invalid HTML in the affected fields:

    • Fix tag nesting and structure.
    • Properly escape special characters as needed.
  5. Save the Content Fragment and attempt to publish again using the new editor.

  6. Confirm that the Content Fragment publishes successfully and no longer remains in the Modified state.

Cause

Invalid HTML in a Rich Text field (For example: mtPrintControllerFonts) causes the Content Fragment to be marked as invalid by the new editor’s validation process, preventing successful publishing.

recommendation-more-help
experience-cloud-kcs-help-kbarticles