Unlocking Content Hub Extensibility

AEM Assets Content Hub serves as a centralised distribution hub for brand assets across marketing teams, agencies, and partners. It delivers fast search, curated collections, and governed asset delivery at scale. 

This blog explores how Content Hub’s extensibility model, powered by Adobe App Builder, enables organisations to embed custom workflows directly into the asset distribution experience. We’ll outline the business challenges and explain how extensibility works.

Business Problem: Last-Mile Workflows in Content Hub

For many organisations, Content Hub has become the go‑to portal for accessing brand assets across internal teams and external partners. While it excels at asset discovery and delivery, the “last mile” of work often happens outside the platform. 

Once an asset is found or downloaded, critical follow-up actions typically occur in disconnected systems, such as: 

• Task and ticket creation in project management or IT systems 

• Approvals in separate review tools 

• Rights and usage validation in legal or licensing platforms 

• Downstream actions like Send to Print or triggering fulfillments 

As a result, users frequently switch between Content Hub and multiple applications to complete what should be a single, cohesive workflow. 

Extensibility closes this gap by allowing these actions to be brought directly into Content Hub—enabling business users to complete end-to-end workflows in the same interface where they already work. 

Why This Matters

Disconnected workflows are more than minor inconveniences—they have a direct and measurable impact on marketing efficiency and brand governance. 

Key business impacts: 

• Reduced productivity 

Users spend valuable time switching between Content Hub, email, project management tools, to complete what should be a single, streamlined workflow. 

• Higher risk of manual errors 

Copying and pasting asset IDs, URLs, and specifications across systems increases the likelihood of mistakes.  

• User frustration and inconsistent adoption 

When simple tasks feel complex, users create workarounds—skipping approvals, using outdated or unapproved assets, or bypassing Content Hub entirely. This undermines governance and reduces the overall value of your DAM investment. 

Case Study: Governed Expiry Extension

The Challenge 

One of our customers faced challenges supporting downstream users when assets were close to expiration or had already expired. 

Agencies and partners had to manually reach out to administrators to request expiry extensions, often relying on manual, out-of-system requests that lack sufficient context.  This resulted in repeated follow-ups, ad-hoc approvals, and delays in campaign execution. 

The Solution 

Using Adobe Content Hub’s extensibility framework, the customer implemented a custom Extend Expiry panel that appears only for assets approaching expiration or already expired. The panel provides a structured, self-service workflow for requesting expiry extensions, while enforcing governance and approval of controls. 

The solution automatically captures relevant asset context and user input, submits the request through a secure backend workflow, and routes it to the appropriate approvers—eliminating manual coordination and ensuring consistency across teams. 

What users experience: 

1. Users see a dedicated “Extend Expiry” tab for eligible assets 

2. The panel automatically captures relevant asset and user context 

3. Users provide requested expiry extension period 

4. The request is submitted with a single click 

What happens behind the scenes: 

• A server-less App Builder Runtime action processes the extend expiration request 

• The system securely authenticates with the workflow system using IMS tokens 

• A workflow task is created with all relevant asset details and the requested extended expiry 

• The Content Hub asset is linked directly to the task for review and approval 

After the request is processed: 

Administrators can review and update the asset expiry date as part of the workflow 

The updated expiry information is reflected in near real time across Content Hub for end users 

The Result 

This approach delivers a governed, auditable expiry-extension workflow that feels fully native to Content Hub, while maintaining centralised control over asset lifecycles. 

Next Steps

Disconnected workflows have a direct impact on marketing efficiency. By bringing these actions inside Content Hub, you move from fragmented processes to integrated experiences. 

Ready to build this capability? We have prepared a detailed guide for your development team on how to implement these extensions using Adobe App Builder.