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Interpreting PLACE COPY and DOWNLOAD actions in Adobe Asset Link access logs for AEM Assets

Last update: August 18, 2026

When you use Adobe Asset Link with Experience Manager Assets, PLACE COPY and DOWNLOAD activity appears in the AEM access logs as similar asset-fetch requests. You can’t reliably distinguish these actions from the log entries alone. To fix this reporting limitation, filter the logs for the Adobe Asset Link request pattern and interpret matching GET requests as general asset fetch or download activity.

Description description

Environment

Experience Manager Assets configured with Adobe Asset Link

Access to the AEM access.log file

Issue/Symptoms

When you use Adobe Asset Link with Experience Manager Assets, you can review asset activity in the AEM access logs. However, PLACE COPY and DOWNLOAD actions generate similar log entries, which prevents you from reliably distinguishing between them from the log data alone.

  • Adobe Asset Link activity appears in requests for assets under /content/dam/.
  • The User-Agent contains both AdobeAssetLink and PHXS.
  • The request query string includes configid=ims.
  • Checkout actions appear as POST requests that end with .checkout.json.
  • Asset fetch or download activity, including both PLACE COPY and DOWNLOAD, appears as GET requests with configid=ims.
  • No separate access-log pattern reliably identifies whether a matching GET request represents PLACE COPY or DOWNLOAD.

Resolution resolution

Follow these steps to review and interpret Adobe Asset Link activity in the AEM access logs:

  1. Open the AEM access.log file for the environment that you want to review.

  2. Filter the log entries to identify Adobe Asset Link activity.

    • Filter for a User-Agent that contains both AdobeAssetLink and PHXS.
    • Filter for request paths that start with /content/dam/.
    • Filter for request query strings that include configid=ims.

  3. Filter for checkout actions by identifying POST requests that end with .checkout.json.

  4. Filter for asset fetch or download activity by identifying GET requests that include configid=ims.

  5. Interpret matching GETrequests as general Adobe Asset Link asset fetch or download activity.

    • Note: The access logs don’t reliably distinguish PLACE COPY from DOWNLOAD. Don’t classify a matching GET request as one specific action based on the access-log entry alone.

  6. Review the current Adobe Experience Manager release notes on Experience League for future changes to Adobe Asset Link logging or download tracking.

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