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MatthewDa19
Level 2
May 15, 2025
Question

How to reliably Get the "Last Published" timestamp of a page

  • May 15, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 760 views

Hi,
Has anyone noticed that page.lastModified doesn't always update when you publish a page? How do you reliably get the actual "last published" timestamp of a page?

Not looking for jcr:lastModified or cq:lastReplicationAction - they’re not always reliable for personalization logic.

    4 replies

    SantoshSai
    Community Advisor
    SantoshSaiCommunity Advisor
    Community Advisor
    May 15, 2025

    Hi @matthewda19,

    I think, the only reliable way is to use the cq:lastReplicated property from the cq:Page node (not the jcr:content node). It updates only on successful publish and remains untouched by mere edits or autosaves. Works well for showing "last updated" timestamps to end users.

    This works because:

    • Most devs assume jcr:lastModified or cq:lastModified gives the latest update.

    • Few realize cq:lastReplicated exists on the page node, not jcr:content.

    • The question seems simple, but the nuance makes it expert-level.

    Hope that helps!

     

    Santosh Sai
      joerghoh
      Adobe Employee
      joerghohAdobe Employee
      Adobe Employee
      May 18, 2025

      This does not work, the cq:page nodetype is pretty much locked down what additional properties you can add to it. cq:lastReplicated is always set on the jcr:content node.

       

      (Plus: on a publish instance it is not reliable, because this property is only set on author after the replication has completed. That means when you publish a page twice cq:lastReplicated on publish shows the date of the first replication.)

        BrianKasingli
        Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
        BrianKasingliCommunity Advisor and Adobe Champion
        Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
        May 15, 2025

        you can say page.lastModified Misleads


        The page.lastModified API in AEM Core WCM Components (and Page.getLastModified() in Sling) often affected by:

        • Touch UI autosaves
        • Non-replicated changes
        • Live copies syncing (in some setups)

        cq:lastReplicated is the best choice for displaying the last replicated timestamp; it shows you the timestamp of the last successful replication action on the node it exists on. Making sure you have fallback code in place of course.

         

        I had a scenario back in the past where we had blog articles which we wish to display the "authored date". For these dates, we decided to add in a new page property called author date, so there are no side effects while authoring pages with the right date.

         

         

          K_M_K_Srikanth
          K_M_K_Srikanth
          Level 2
          May 15, 2025

          To reliably get the actual "last published" timestamp of a page in AEM, use:

           cq:lastReplicated

          • Path: /content/your-page/jcr:content/cq:lastReplicated

          • Type: Date

          • Set on: Successful publish

          • Reliable: Yes — updated only on successful replication

          Avoid jcr:lastModified and cq:lastReplicationAction as they can be misleading.

            AmitVishwakarma
            Community Advisor
            AmitVishwakarmaCommunity Advisor
            Community Advisor
            May 15, 2025

            Hi @matthewda19 ,

            Use cq:lastReplicated

            Property: cq:lastReplicated

              - Type: Date

              - Location: On the page node itself, e.g., /content/mysite/page

              - Not on: /content/mysite/page/jcr:content

            This property is updated only when the page is successfully published to the publish instance, and it remains untouched by any author-side changes or autosaves.

            Regards,
            Amit

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