AEM HTTP Foundation

A shared, supportable default for outbound HTTP in AEM as a Cloud Service.

Use it when your AEM project calls internal, external, or Adobe APIs and you do not want to rebuild the same transport and auth glue in every codebase.

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Why not just use raw Apache HttpClient

You can — but most AEM projects then end up re-implementing:

• pooling
• retries
• TLS handling
• token acquisition
• token caching
• request interceptors

Why use this

AEM HTTP Foundation turns those recurring concerns into a shared default, so projects can focus on API-specific logic instead of rebuilding transport and auth mechanics.

It was extracted from recurring outbound HTTP and authentication needs across multiple AEMaaCS projects and is intended to make that pattern reusable across teams. It is especially useful for:

• general outbound HTTP to internal or external APIs
• Adobe server-to-server integrations using IMS / OAuth client_credentials
• consistent request customization such as bearer auth and Adobe-specific headers

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When to use it

Use AEM HTTP Foundation if your AEM project:

• calls internal or external APIs
• needs connection pooling, retries, or TLS customization
• uses OAuth client_credentials
• calls Adobe APIs with recurring IMS and header wiring

If your AEM project calls external or Adobe APIs, this is the default worth trying.

When not to use it

You probably do not need this if:

• your project makes no outbound HTTP calls
• you only need a one-off local experiment
• you want a full API client framework rather than shared transport infrastructure

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Quick start

Choose your path

I want to call...	Use
A public or internal API with no special auth	HttpClientProvider
A non-Adobe API using OAuth client_credentials	OAuthClientCredentialsTokenSupplier + bearer customizer
An Adobe API using IMS / Adobe headers	AdobeIntegrationConfiguration
Something custom	your own HttpClientCustomizer

1. Add the Maven dependency

Use the current released version shown in the Maven Central badge above.

2. Deploy the bundle

Deploy aem-http-foundation.core once to your AEM environment, typically via the all package.

3. Inject and call

For the simplest path, inject HttpClientProvider, create or retrieve a pooled client once, and execute requests with it.

@Component(service = HealthcheckService.class)
public class HealthcheckServiceImpl implements HealthcheckService {

    @Reference
    private HttpClientProvider httpClientProvider;

    private CloseableHttpClient httpClient;

    @Activate
    void activate() {
        httpClient = httpClientProvider.provide("healthcheck-api");
    }

    @Override
    public String ping() throws IOException {
        HttpGet request = new HttpGet("https://httpbin.org/get");
        try (CloseableHttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(request)) {
            return EntityUtils.toString(response.getEntity(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
        }
    }
}

Important: do not call close() on CloseableHttpClient instances returned by the foundation. The bundle manages the client lifecycle. Only close the CloseableHttpResponse.

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Documentation

Document	Purpose
Integration	Setup, Deployment, Verification, and Recommended Integration Paths
Examples	Recommended Usage Patterns and Troubleshooting
Technical Reference	Architecture, Public API, and Configuration Reference

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License

Apache License, Version 2.0