Written by Viktor Lazar, Adobe Champion and Adobe Certified Master

CX Enterprise atlas / Brand Visibility | Content management

A component content management system (CCMS) that adds native DITA support to Adobe Experience Manager. Documentation, support and training teams author structured topics and maps, review, translate and version them, and publish from a single source to AEM Sites, PDF, HTML5, knowledge bases and other channels. Available as a Cloud Service and for on-premise or Managed Services AEM.

• Product page
• Documentation
• Release notes
• Licensing (Adobe product description)

73 entries, last checked 2026-09-29, element 007 (Gd) of the atlas

Integrates with 2

• Adobe Experience Manager Sites
• Adobe CX Enterprise Coworker

Integrated by 2

• Adobe Experience Manager Assets: AEM Guides on Assets
• Adobe Learning Manager

Contains 9 parts, 73 entries

• Deployment options# Collection

  Guides is installed on Adobe Experience Manager, either as a Cloud Service with scheduled automatic updates or as versioned packages for on-premise and Adobe Managed Services AEM.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Experience Manager Guides as a Cloud Service# Edition

    Also known as AEM Guides as a Cloud Service

    Guides on AEM as a Cloud Service, updated automatically in numbered releases (2026.09.0 in September 2026) and deployed with Cloud Manager. Several newer features, including AI Assistant, are Cloud Service only.

    Built on: Experience Manager as a Cloud Service

    Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Microservice-based publishing# Capability

      Cloud publishing architecture that runs output generation in scalable microservices outside the AEM instance, authenticated with OAuth or JWT.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Experience Manager Guides on-premise and Managed Services# Edition

    Also known as AEM Guides on-premise

    Versioned Guides packages (5.x; 5.2.0 SP1 is the latest line) installed on AEM 6.5 on-premise or on Adobe Managed Services, with its own upgrade and configuration steps.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Content migration and ingestion# Capability

    Moving existing DITA and non-DITA content (Word, HTML, InDesign, custom XML) into Guides with conversion to DITA, bulk upload tools, UUID migration and on-premise to Cloud Service migration.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Custom DITA-OT and DITA specialization# Capability

    Support for custom DITA Open Toolkit plug-ins and specialized DITA document types in authoring and publishing.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• Authoring# Collection

  Ways to create DITA and related content in Guides: the built-in web editors, desktop XML tools and imports from other sources. The editors support DITA 1.2, DITA 1.3 and Lightweight DITA.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Editor# Application

    Also known as Guides Web Editor, AEM Guides Editor

    Browser-based XML editor for DITA topics and maps with Author, Source, Preview and side-by-side views, file locking and check-in, reusable content and keys, and panels for repository, conditions and properties.

    Documentation

    Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Editor 2.0# Capability

      Also known as Guides New Editor

      Redesigned editor released in 2026.05.0 with dark theme, quick-insert menu, XML comments, attribute display in tag mode, side-by-side mode, better tables and faster handling of large topics.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Schematron validation# Capability

      Validates topics against Schematron rule files, with results grouped as fatal, error, warning or info.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Markdown authoring# Capability

      Create, upload, edit and preview Markdown topics alongside DITA and reference them from maps.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Citations# Capability

      Adds and formats bibliographic citations, including the AMA style added in 2026, for PDF and AEM Sites output.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Find and replace# Capability

      Repository-wide search and replace over visible text or, in source mode, over XML elements and attributes, with a CSV report.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Document states# Capability

      Administrator-defined lifecycle states (for example Draft, In-Review, Approved, Done) and allowed transitions for each file.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Map Editor# Application

    Also known as Advanced Map Editor

    Editor for DITA maps and bookmaps: build and reorder topic references, keys and relationship tables, create maps from templates, preview a map (also as of a baseline) and run health checks.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • DITAVAL editor# Application

    Editor for DITAVAL files that include or exclude conditional content at publish or review time.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Topic and map templates# Capability

    Administrator-configured DITA topic and map templates offered when authors create new files.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Desktop authoring tools# Collection

    Desktop XML editors that connect to the Guides repository for authoring, versioning and publishing.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Adobe FrameMaker connector# Integration

      Built-in AEM connector in Adobe FrameMaker for authoring, reviewing and searching Guides content and uploading DITA, .book and .fm files; Guides can publish FrameMaker documents directly.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Oxygen XML connector# Integration

      Plug-in for Oxygen XML Author and Editor to open and edit Guides topics and maps; enabled on request.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Git connector# Integration

    Imports content from Git repositories into Guides and re-fetches updates with change detection, keeping topic and map GUIDs stable. Added in 2026.08.0.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Data source connectors# Capability

    Pull data from systems of record into topics as content snippets or generated topics. Out of the box: Jira, SQL databases, Adobe Commerce, Elasticsearch, generic REST and JSON files; the Cloud Service adds open-source Salsify, Akeneo and Azure DevOps connectors.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Home page and Repository# Capability

    Starting page with recent files, collections, tasks and a searchable, filterable tabular Repository of all folders and files.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• Review and collaboration# Collection

  Collaboration between authors, reviewers and project managers inside and around Guides.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Web-based review# Capability

    Also known as Guides review

    Review tasks on one or more topics or maps within a DITA project: reviewers comment, annotate, mark topics done and delegate; authors address comments, request re-review and track tasks in the Review Dashboard, with automated reminders and DITAVAL-filtered views.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Adobe Workfront integration# Integration

    Also known as Workfront integration with Experience Manager Guides

    Create, assign and track Workfront tasks for authoring, review, translation and publishing from the Guides Home page, with Workfront notifications and project dashboards.

    Integrates with: Workfront

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Review and AEM Inbox sync# Capability, beta

    Keeps review task completion in sync between the Guides Review UI and AEM Inbox.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• Content management# Collection

  Managing DITA content at scale: maps, versions and baselines, conditions, metadata, reports and asset processing.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Map console# Application

    Also known as Map dashboard

    Per-map workspace for output presets, baselines, reports, translation and publishing; it replaces the older Map dashboard.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Version management# Capability

    Versions, labels and version history for topics, maps and assets, including reverting and version reports.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Baselines# Capability

    Named snapshots of the topic and asset versions in a map, used to publish, translate or review a specific release.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

    • New baseline experience# Capability, beta

      Redesigned baseline architecture with better performance on large maps, filtering and dependency views; enabled on request in the Cloud Service and by configuration on-premise.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Conditional content# Capability

    Also known as Condition presets

    Profiling attributes on DITA elements filtered at publish time through condition presets or DITAVAL files, producing audience, product or region variants from one source.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Metadata and tagging# Capability

    AEM metadata and tags on DITA content, bulk tagging from maps, and propagation of metadata into output for personalized delivery.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Reports# Capability

    Publishing-readiness reports: DITA map report (missing topics, broken links, review and translation status), content reuse, conversion status and reverted-version history.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Content health check# Capability

    Reusable presets that check a map or baseline for broken links, duplicate IDs and Schematron errors before publishing. Added in 2026.08.0.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Asset processing# Capability

    Post-processing of uploaded DITA files that resolves references and indexes content, configurable per folder.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Global and folder profiles# Capability

    Configuration scopes that set templates, output presets, editor settings and AI options for all content or for a folder.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• Translation# Capability

  Also known as Guides content translation

  Human and machine translation of maps and topics through AEM translation projects and connectors, with translation status, translation of only modified topics, language copies and custom project folders.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

• Publishing and output# Collection

  Output generation from DITA maps through configurable output presets, with conditions, baselines, incremental publishing, post-generation workflows and bulk activation.

  Documentation

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Output presets# Collection

    The output types a map can be published to; presets can be shared through profiles or applied as templates.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

    • AEM Sites output# Capability

      Publishes DITA directly as AEM Sites pages using Sites templates and composite component mapping of DITA elements to AEM components, with incremental topic-level updates.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Native PDF# Capability

      Also known as Native PDF publishing

      Built-in PDF engine with visual PDF templates for page layouts, styles, variables, language variables, barcodes and change bars. Native PDF engine v2 was added in 2026.06.0.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • DITA-OT PDF# Capability

      PDF output generated with the DITA Open Toolkit and its plug-ins.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Knowledge Base output# Capability

      Publishes selected topics as knowledge-base articles to an AEM knowledge base site, Salesforce or ServiceNow.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

      • Salesforce Knowledge publishing# Integration

        Publishes Guides topics as Salesforce knowledge articles.

        Last checked 2026-09-29

      • ServiceNow knowledge base publishing# Integration

        Publishes Guides topics as articles in a ServiceNow knowledge base.

        Last checked 2026-09-29

    • HTML5 output# Capability

      Static HTML5 help output generated through DITA-OT.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • EPUB output# Capability

      EPUB e-book output for readers such as Kindle.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • JSON output# Capability

      JSON representation of maps and topics for headless delivery to apps, chatbots and other systems.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

    • Custom output# Capability

      Output produced by a customer-supplied DITA-OT plug-in.

      Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Content and Experience Fragment publishing# Capability

    Publishes a topic or its elements into AEM Content Fragments or Experience Fragments through configured mappings.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Edge Delivery Services publishing# Capability

    Publishes DITA content to AEM Edge Delivery Services through a GitHub-based publish profile and the aem-guides-boilerplate repository, styled with Edge Delivery blocks.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • FrameMaker document publishing# Capability

    Generates PDF, HTML5 and EPUB from FrameMaker .book and .fm files stored in Guides, using FrameMaker Publishing Server.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Map collections# Capability

    Groups of maps published together in batches; the new map collection (2026.08.0, enabled on request) combines map, preset, generation and publishing history management in one interface.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Publish Dashboard# Capability

    Central view of running and completed output generation tasks.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Bulk activation# Capability

    Activates generated output and DITA source assets to AEM publish instances in bulk through activation map collections.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Post-generation workflows# Capability

    AEM workflows that run automatically after output generation, for example to deliver or process the output.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• Product Training and Learning content# Capability

  Also known as Guides learning content

  Course authoring in Guides, introduced in 2026: template-driven courses with lessons, interactive widgets and H5P content, quizzes and question banks, review and translation, published as SCORM or PDF.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Quizzes and question banks# Capability

    Assessments and knowledge checks built from reusable question banks.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • SCORM output# Capability

    SCORM packages with configurable learner experience, per-topic-type layouts and optional PDF download.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Adobe Learning Manager publishing# Integration

    Uploads generated SCORM courses directly to Adobe Learning Manager through a publish profile.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• AI Assistant in Experience Manager Guides# Capability, beta

  Also known as Guides AI Assistant

  Generative AI panel for Guides as a Cloud Service, labelled beta, that runs in one of two modes chosen by administrators in Workspace settings.

  Documentation

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Agentic mode# Capability, limited availability

    Uses the Smart Tagging skill of CX Enterprise Coworker to recommend tags from the organization's taxonomy for one or more topics. Available from 2026.09.0 for organizations onboarded to Coworker, on request.

    Integrates with: CX Enterprise Coworker

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Smart Help# Capability

    Standard-mode chat that answers questions about using Guides from its documentation.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • AI authoring and smart suggestions# Capability

    Standard-mode help for authors: suggestions to reuse existing content from the repository, rewriting, translation and quality improvements on selected content.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

• APIs and extensibility# Collection

  Interfaces for integrating Guides with other systems and extending its interface and workflows.

  Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Guides REST APIs# API / SDK

    REST endpoints for output management, DITA maps, conditional attributes, data source connectors, conversion to DITA, packages, translation projects and bulk asset processing, with Swagger-described asset, translation and publishing APIs added in 2026.08.0.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Guides Java APIs# API / SDK

    Java service APIs, distributed as the aem-dox-sdk-api Maven artifact, for building custom plug-ins and workflow extensions.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Event handlers# API / SDK

    Events fired when post-processing, conversion or bulk activation finishes, for downstream automation.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Experience Manager Guides MCP server# API / SDK

    Also known as AEM Guides MCP server

    Remote Model Context Protocol server that lets MCP clients such as Claude or Cursor work with topics, maps, baselines, reports and system diagnostics under the user's AEM permissions. Added in 2026.08.0.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Guides Extension Framework# Capability

    Framework for customizing the Editor and Review interfaces with custom buttons, context menus, panels, dialogs and widgets.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

  • Workflow customization# Capability

    Configuration of the AEM workflows behind review, translation and publishing in Guides.

    Last checked 2026-09-29

Sources 5

• business.adobe.com/products/experience-manager/guides/aem-guides.html
• experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-guides/using/overview
• experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-guides/using/user-guide/about-aemg/aemg-works-features/intro-dxml-features
• experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-guides
• helpx.adobe.com/legal/product-descriptions/aem-cloud-service.html