Use case: Improve Code Traceability with acc CLI and prettier for Adobe Campaign

Track every change in your Adobe Campaign instance by exporting configuration and adding version control.

Using the acc CLI tool, you can download all Adobe Campaign source codes, and commit changes to Git for full traceability including schemas, forms, workflows, and JavaScript libraries.

acc combined with Github for an Adobe Campaign git diff

Demo of File difference: after each pull, Git highlights exactly what changed in your schemas and workflows. Green lines were added, red lines were removed (git diff).

acc combined with Github for an Adobe Campaign git blame

Demo of File history: with each commit, every line of your code is annotated with its author and date (git blame).

Preparation

What will be downloaded:

Schemas, input forms, and JavaScript codes as .xml and .js files
Workflows, delivery templates, and typologies as .xml files
Personalization blocks as .html and .txt files

Requirements:

acc installed and authenticated. Refer to Getting started.
a Git client, such as Github Desktop
a folder initiated as a repository with git init

Walkthrough

First pull & commit

Pull configuration from Adobe Campaign instance:
```
acc instance pull --alias staging
```

Commit the first files:

git add .
git commit -m "Init all metadata"

That’s it! Your instance is backed up in two commands.

Push it to a private repository on Github to get the Languages distribution: JavaScript for JS/JSSP/Typology Rules, HTML for Deliveries, CSS for Form Rendering, SQL for SQL Scripts…

acc combined with Github to show the Adobe Campaign languages

Daily process

Re-using the same process on a recurring basis will then generate file differences, and have them accessible through the file hierarchy:

acc with Github to browse Adobe Campaign files in the Web UI

Going further

Modern approach: acc CLI + prettier + Git

As Adobe Campaign Classic configuration relies a lot on XML, many files will be pulled as 1-liner, such as:

Workflows
Deliveries
Typologies
…

Follow the below process to format these files at scale and identify unitary changes:

Initialize your project folder with prettier by following the prettier introduction with acc article. Mandatory files include:
```
package.json
.prettierrc
```
Format files with prettier for consistent formatting:
```
npx prettier --write "**/*.meta.xml"
```

Track future changes by running the pull and format commands, then committing:

acc instance pull && npx prettier --write "**/*.meta.xml"
git add .
git commit -m "Updated [...]"

Examples of commits you’ll generate:

feat: added promotional code in the broadLogRcp table
refacto: removed debug logs from the library
fix: updated the javascript function to search for recipients

Validation & troubleshooting

How do I know if something changed?

Run git status after acc instance pull. Git tracks changes at the file level — no md5 comparison needed. A modified workflow appears as a changed .xml file; a new JavaScript code appears as an untracked .js file.

acc instance pull && npx prettier --write . && git status

Does this scale to large instances?

Use the schemas filter in acc.config.json to scope the pull to specific namespaces or object types. Pulling everything on a large instance is slow and generates noisy diffs — filter to what your team owns. Refer to Configuration How-to and Configuration reference.

Legacy content

acc replaces 2 previous processes created at Myrosblog:

Data Package + Scheduled Workflow (2018)
- an on-premise spec.GenerateDoc() in a scheduled AC workflow => as the backup is on the same server as the instance, which if risky. The filesystem can run a cleanup or lose files after an instance upgrade (2019/06/version-control-adobe-campaign)
Data Package + node CLI tool (2020)
- a remote package download with adobe-campaign-sync =>