🍰 Cheesecake Site — AEM Headless Architecture Portfolio Project

A production food vending website for Japanese cheesecake and cheese tarts, built on a stack that mirrors Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) headless architecture exactly — without an AEM license.

Live business: Selling Japanese cheesecake and cheese tarts at Ontario park events.
Engineering goal: Demonstrate AEM headless architecture, Sling/OSGi development, GraphQL content delivery, and Dispatcher configuration for the Canadian AEM job market.

📐 Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Browser / Client                       │
└─────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                      │ HTTP :3000
┌─────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│              Next.js Frontend                            │
│         Server-side fetch from Dispatcher                │
└─────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                      │ HTTP :80
┌─────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│           Apache httpd (Dispatcher layer)                │
│  • Reverse proxy via mod_proxy                           │
│  • Disk cache via mod_cache_disk                         │
│  • Security filtering via mod_rewrite                    │
└─────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                      │ HTTP :8080
┌─────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│              Apache Sling                                │
│  • OSGi bundle (MenuServlet, EventsServlet)              │
│  • JCR content nodes (menu items, events)                │
│  • GraphQL-style JSON endpoints                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

AEM Headless Mapping

This Project	AEM Equivalent
Apache Sling	AEM runtime (AEM is built on Sling)
JCR `nt:unstructured` nodes	AEM Content Fragments
Custom Sling servlet	AEM GraphQL API (`/graphql/execute.json`)
Apache httpd + mod_proxy/mod_cache	AEM Dispatcher
Next.js frontend	AEM headless frontend (same pattern)
FileVault content package	AEM content package deployment

🗂️ Project Structure

cheesecake-site-headless/
├── cheesecake-site/               # Maven multi-module project
│   ├── pom.xml                    # Parent POM — shared deps, Sling URL
│   ├── core/                      # OSGi bundle — Java servlets
│   │   ├── pom.xml
│   │   └── src/main/java/com/aakash/cheesecake/core/
│   │       └── servlets/
│   │           ├── MenuServlet.java    # /graphql/execute.json/cheesecake/menu
│   │           └── EventsServlet.java  # /graphql/execute.json/cheesecake/events
│   └── ui.content/                # FileVault content package — JCR nodes
│       ├── pom.xml
│       └── src/main/content/jcr_root/content/cheesecake/
│           ├── menu/
│           │   ├── japanese-cheesecake/.content.xml
│           │   └── cheese-tart/.content.xml
│           └── events/
│               └── scarborough-bluffs-june/.content.xml
├── dispatcher/                    # Apache httpd Dispatcher layer
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── httpd.conf
├── frontend/                      # Next.js frontend
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   ├── app/
│   │   ├── page.tsx               # Home page — fetches menu + events
│   │   └── layout.tsx
│   └── .env.local                 # API_URL for local dev
├── docker-compose.yml             # Full stack orchestration
└── README.md

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Docker Desktop
Node.js 22+
Java 17+
Maven 3.9+

Run the full stack

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/cheesecake-site-headless.git
cd cheesecake-site-headless

# Start all services
docker-compose up --build

Service	URL
Next.js frontend	http://localhost:3000
Dispatcher	http://localhost:80
Sling / Felix console	http://localhost:8080/system/console

Default Sling credentials: admin / admin

Install content and bundle (first run)

# Build and deploy OSGi bundle to Sling
cd cheesecake-site
mvn clean install sling:install -pl core

# Build content package
mvn clean install -pl ui.content

Then upload ui.content/target/cheesecake-site-content-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip via the Composum package manager at http://localhost:8080/bin/packages.html.

📡 API Endpoints

Both endpoints are registered via OSGi annotations and mirror AEM's persisted query URL pattern.

{
  "data": {
    "menuItems": [
      {
        "title": "Japanese Cheesecake",
        "price": "8.00",
        "description": "Light and fluffy Japanese-style cheesecake",
        "available": true
      },
      {
        "title": "Cheese Tart",
        "price": "3.00",
        "description": "Delicious Japanese style cheese tart with a buttery crust and creamy filling",
        "available": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

Events

GET /graphql/execute.json/cheesecake/events

{
  "data": {
    "events": [
      {
        "title": "Scarborough Bluffs Park",
        "location": "Scarborough Bluffs Park, Toronto",
        "date": "2026-06-14",
        "hours": "10:00 AM - 4:00 PM",
        "active": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

🧱 JCR Content Nodes

Content is defined as XML files under ui.content/ and deployed as a FileVault content package — the same mechanism used in AEM production deployments.

Menu item node (`nt:unstructured`)

<jcr:root xmlns:jcr="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/1.0"
          jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured"
          jcr:title="Japanese Cheesecake"
          description="Light and fluffy Japanese-style cheesecake"
          price="8.00"
          size="small"
          inches="4"
          available="{Boolean}true"/>

In AEM this would be a Content Fragment backed by a Content Fragment Model. On plain Sling, nt:unstructured nodes with typed properties serve the same structural role.

Adding a new menu item

Create a new folder under ui.content/src/main/content/jcr_root/content/cheesecake/menu/
Add .content.xml with item properties
Rebuild and reinstall the content package — no servlet code changes needed

mvn clean install -pl ui.content
# Upload new ZIP via Composum package manager

⚙️ Dispatcher Configuration

The Dispatcher layer (dispatcher/httpd.conf) replicates AEM Dispatcher's core responsibilities using native Apache httpd 2.4 modules.

Module responsibilities

Module	Role
`mod_proxy` + `mod_proxy_http`	Reverse proxy to Sling
`mod_cache` + `mod_cache_disk`	Disk-based JSON response caching
`mod_rewrite`	Security filtering
`mod_unixd`	Unix privilege dropping

Security filtering (dual-layer)

# Layer 1 — RewriteRule returns 403 immediately
RewriteRule ^/system/console(.*)$ - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^/bin/(.*)$           - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^/etc/(.*)$           - [F,L]

# Layer 2 — ProxyPass exclusion (never proxied even if RewriteRule fails)
ProxyPass /system/console !
ProxyPass /bin/           !
ProxyPass /etc/           !

Cache configuration

# Cache only GraphQL endpoints
CacheEnable disk /graphql/execute.json/
CacheRoot /var/cache/apache2/proxy
CacheDefaultExpire 300       # 5 min TTL when no Cache-Control header
CacheMaxExpire 300           # 5 min ceiling regardless of backend headers
CacheIgnoreNoLastMod On      # Cache even without Last-Modified header
CacheIgnoreHeaders Set-Cookie Cookie  # Strip session data from cache

In a licensed AEM environment, mod_dispatcher.so and dispatcher.any replace this configuration. The architectural role — reverse proxy, disk cache, security filter — is identical.

🔧 OSGi Servlet Registration

Servlets are registered with Sling's OSGi container via annotations — no XML descriptors required.

@Component(service = Servlet.class)
@SlingServletPaths("/graphql/execute.json/cheesecake/menu")
public class MenuServlet extends SlingSafeMethodsServlet {

    @Override
    protected void doGet(SlingHttpServletRequest request,
                         SlingHttpServletResponse response)
                         throws ServletException, IOException {

        Resource menuResource = request.getResourceResolver()
                .getResource("/content/cheesecake/menu");

        if (menuResource == null) {
            response.sendError(404, "Menu content not found");
            return;
        }

        // Build JSON via Jackson — safe string escaping
        ObjectNode root = MAPPER.createObjectNode();
        // ... iterate children, read ValueMap properties
    }
}

Key design decisions:

SlingSafeMethodsServlet — read-only servlet, auto-rejects POST/DELETE
ResourceUtil.getValueMap() — never returns null, safe alternative to adaptTo()
ObjectMapper — Jackson handles JSON serialisation and escaping, no StringBuilder concatenation
Null check on getResource() — returns 404 cleanly if content path missing

🐳 Docker Compose

services:
  sling:
    image: apache/sling:latest
    ports: ["8080:8080"]
    volumes:
      - sling-launcher:/opt/sling/launcher  # Persists JCR across restarts

  dispatcher:
    build: ./dispatcher
    ports: ["80:80"]
    depends_on: [sling]
    volumes:
      - dispatcher-cache:/var/cache/apache2
      - dispatcher-logs:/var/log/apache2

  frontend:
    build: ./frontend
    ports: ["3000:3000"]
    depends_on: [dispatcher]
    environment:
      - API_URL=http://dispatcher  # Container name resolves on shared network

All three services share cheesecake-network — containers communicate directly by service name. This mirrors AEM cloud topology where Dispatcher and publish instance are on the same private network.

📸 Screenshots

1. Frontend — full stack rendering live JCR data

http://localhost:3000 — Next.js renders menu cards and events fetched through the Dispatcher from Sling JCR nodes.

2. Felix OSGi Console — bundle active

http://localhost:8080/system/console/bundles — com.aakash.cheesecake.core in Active state, confirming the OSGi bundle deployed and resolved all dependencies.

3. Felix OSGi Console — servlet components registered

http://localhost:8080/system/console/components — search cheesecake — both MenuServlet and EventsServlet shown as satisfied Declarative Services components with their @SlingServletPaths properties visible.

4. JCR Content Browser (Composum) — content nodes

http://localhost:8080/bin/browser.html/content/cheesecake — /content/cheesecake/menu and /content/cheesecake/events nodes with properties expanded, equivalent to AEM Content Fragments.

5. Dispatcher — cached JSON response with headers

http://localhost/graphql/execute.json/cheesecake/menu via DevTools Network tab — JSON response served through the Dispatcher (port 80) with cache response headers visible.

6. Dispatcher — security filtering (403 on blocked path)

http://localhost/system/console — Dispatcher returns 403 Forbidden, proving the dual-layer RewriteRule + ProxyPass security filtering is active.

🎯 AEM JD Alignment

This project directly addresses the following requirements from AEM Developer roles:

JD Requirement	How this project demonstrates it
AEM headless CMS, content fragments, APIs	JCR nodes as Content Fragment equivalent, custom GraphQL-style API
Apache Sling, Apache Felix, OSGi	OSGi bundle with servlet registered via DS annotations
AEM Dispatcher caching, routing, security	Full httpd config with mod_cache, mod_proxy, mod_rewrite
Next.js headless frontend collaboration	Server-side Next.js fetching from Dispatcher-cached JSON
JCR	Content nodes defined as XML, deployed via FileVault
RESTful APIs, JSON	Two JSON endpoints at AEM persisted query URL pattern
Git-based workflows	Conventional Commits, module-level commits per layer
Debugging across AEM and infrastructure	Diagnosed Docker networking, cache scoping, OSGi module dependencies

🗺️ What Would Change in Licensed AEM

This project	Licensed AEM equivalent
`nt:unstructured` nodes	Content Fragments with Content Fragment Models
Custom Sling servlet	AEM's built-in GraphQL API (auto-generated from CF Models)
`mod_proxy` + `mod_cache`	`mod_dispatcher.so` + `dispatcher.any`
Manual cache TTL	Flush agent triggered on content publish
`admin:admin` credentials	IMS authentication, service users
Local Docker	AEM as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) on Azure

🏗️ Built With

Apache Sling — content framework
Apache Felix — OSGi container
Apache httpd 2.4 — Dispatcher layer
Next.js 16 — React frontend framework
Jackson — JSON serialisation
FileVault — JCR content packaging
Docker Compose — multi-container orchestration
Tailwind CSS — utility-first styling

👨‍💻 Author

Aakash — AEM Developer candidate
2+ years Java/Android (Accenture AEM 6.5, Zoho)
AEM Sites Developer Professional certification in progress (AD0-E123)
Based in Scarborough, Ontario 🇨🇦

This project was built as a real production website for a food vending business while simultaneously serving as a portfolio demonstration of AEM headless architecture — without an AEM license.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 9 Commits
cheesecake-site		cheesecake-site
dispatcher		dispatcher
docs/screenshots		docs/screenshots
frontend		frontend
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml

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🍰 Cheesecake Site — AEM Headless Architecture Portfolio Project

📐 Architecture Overview

AEM Headless Mapping

🗂️ Project Structure

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Run the full stack

Install content and bundle (first run)

📡 API Endpoints

Menu

Events

🧱 JCR Content Nodes

Menu item node (nt:unstructured)

Adding a new menu item

⚙️ Dispatcher Configuration

Module responsibilities

Security filtering (dual-layer)

Cache configuration

🔧 OSGi Servlet Registration

🐳 Docker Compose

📸 Screenshots

1. Frontend — full stack rendering live JCR data

2. Felix OSGi Console — bundle active

3. Felix OSGi Console — servlet components registered

4. JCR Content Browser (Composum) — content nodes

5. Dispatcher — cached JSON response with headers

6. Dispatcher — security filtering (403 on blocked path)

🎯 AEM JD Alignment

🗺️ What Would Change in Licensed AEM

🏗️ Built With

👨‍💻 Author

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