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Sitecore CDP/Personalize

Insights

Below is the latest published content. I cover anything and everything that I love, which includes topics that are new and exciting including AI/ML, CI/CD and Infrastructure.

AI Friday: Building a Hosted MCP Client and Consuming a Remote MCP Server

Generative AI

This blog post discusses building a hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) client and utilizing a remote MCP server, focusing on the setup and configuration processes involved. It introduces an open-source application that allows users to leverage advanced AI capabilities through an API integration, emphasizing the importance of API tokens and remote server functionality.

45 min read

First Look: Sitecore Personalize Code Assistant

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

First look at a new feature to Sitecore CDP and Personalize, called Code Assistant, which is an AI-powered code assistant tool for creating specific types of coded assets in these products, including Audience Export, Conditions and Session Traits. Join me as I walk through this new feature and some of the use cases I ran through.

45 min read

Sitecore Hackathon 2025: Team DED - My Thoughts and Review My Contributions

Sitecore

I recently participated in the Sitecore Hackathon 2025, and in this post, I share my experience and talk a little bit about our contribution and where I’ll go next with it.

30 min read

Sitecore XM Cloud: The Correct Way to Resolve GraphQL Too Nested to Execute Issue

Sitecore XM Cloud

I will explore a recent challenge I had while building a complex component with Sitecore XM Cloud, and the steps that I went through to solve that challenge.

45 min read

Sitecore Symposium Recap 2024

Sitecore

This blog post provides an overview of the key insights and takeaways from the Sitecore Symposium in Nashville TN (2024). It highlights the sessions and key takeaways that were the most impactful for me.

1.5 Hours Read Time

Revolutionizing Sitecore Personalize: Unleashing the Power of Generative AI Function Calling

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

This blog post discusses the integration of Generative AI Function Calling with the Sitecore Personalize SDK to enhance user experience creation through a chat interface. It it introduces a new repository, the Sitecore Assistant, designed to enable users to interact with their Sitecore Cloud instance more effectively.

45 min read

Creating an Experience with the Sitecore Personalize SDK

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

This blog post provides a detailed overview of using the Sitecore Personalize SDK to create Experiences and Experiments, emphasizing the importance of understanding required fields and variations in data for different flow types. It guides readers through the process of initializing the SDK and offers code examples for creating a simple experience and a more complex use case involving decision models.

30 min read

Optimizely SaaS CMS vs Sitecore XM Cloud

Sitecore

Today I have a real treat for those that are curious how Optimizely’s new Headless CMS stacks up vs Sitecore XM Cloud. Alot of exploration and research went into today’s topic so I’m hopeful everyone enjoys this one.

45 min read

Create Web Template and Flow Integration Tests with Sitecore Personalize

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

This blog post explores the use of the Sitecore Personalize SDK to create automated integration tests for web templates, focusing on methods for testing both new and existing templates. It highlights the importance of these testing capabilities in ensuring the quality of personalization efforts within the Sitecore environment.

20 min read

Introduction to Sitecore Personalize SDK and Testing

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

This blog post introduces the Sitecore Personalize Tenant SDK, a JavaScript-based tool designed to simplify interactions with Sitecore Personalize's Management REST APIs. It discusses the SDK's potential applications for creating, managing, and testing various assets within the Sitecore Personalize ecosystem.

30 min read

Sitecore Personalize: The Secret of Writing Code in the Product

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In today’s blog post, I’ll cover writing functionality in Sitecore Personalize, and some useful tips for writing the flavor of code required and how Gen AI can assist with this process.

20 min read

AI Friday: Prompt Engineering Basics

Generative AI

In this weeks AI Friday episode, I’ll be covering a scenario where I wanted to have Generative AI create an output specific future additional development and the natural progression I went through to turn that into reality with the help of proper Prompt Engineering.

20 min read

Boost Your Sitecore MVP Journey: An Insiders Viewpoint

In this blog post I reflect on my recent role in Developer Advocacy at Sitecore, where I contributed content frequently. Now after Sitecore, I plan to continue contributing content and I wanted to share some of the ways I plan to do this moving forward.

15 min read

Comparing Personalization Options for Sitecore Personalize when Building with Sitecore

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In this blog post I’ll look at various options when wanting to personalize experiences with Sitecore Personalize. I’ll cover if you are using XM Cloud and then scenarios or options that are available to you if you are using XP/XM and then finally everyone else.

15 min read

Sitecore Search User Profile Personalization with Personalize

Sitecore Search

In this blog post I’ll look at how you can use the Sitecore Search User profile to access affinity scores and recent searches to help personalize the users experience on your site, using Sitecore Personalize.

45 min read

Enabling Sitecore Personalize Web Experiences on XM Cloud

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In this blog post we explore the changes needed to support Sitecore Personalize Web Experience/Experiments for XM Cloud. We’ll talk about the differences presented in JSS 21.6 and above as well as the changes needed for the Engage SDK.

15 min read

Achieving Behavioral Personalization (AKA XP Pattern/Profile Cards) with Sitecore Personalize

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

Learn how to use Sitecore Personalize to achieve XP-like pattern-profile-cards-with-any CMS, including XM Cloud.

35 minute read

Getting Started with Chat Copilot Generative AI Development

Generative AI

In this blog post, I will take a step back and provide an overview of the segments of functionality that make up most modern Generative AI Chat Copilot. I will also discuss popular options and terms that are useful when building your own chat copilot application.

20 min read

Create a Local Chat Assistant with Open AI and Microsoft Chat Copilot

Generative AI

In my latest blog this week, I’m going to talk about how you can start with the Microsoft Chat Copilot open source repository to start creating your own copilot application with Open AI locally on your own machine.

35 min read

Sitecore Personalize: New Developer Focused API Keys

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

Today a project that has been in the works for a few months, which is to improve the developer experience with developer-generated tokens for Sitecore Personalize have been released, and I’ll talk through this release and some of the things it means for Developers.

Part Two: Using Extended View Event Data in a Sitecore Personalize Decision Model

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In my next blog post on Sitecore CDP/Personalize, I look into building upon my recent content on how to capture additional arbitrary information about the pages that my users are viewing, but in this post I will explore how to then use that information in a decision model which we will then use for a Web Experience.

Capturing Additional Data in a View Event in Sitecore CDP/Personalize

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In my latest blog post on Sitecore CDP/Personalize, I explore the different approaches to track arbitrary information in CDP, so that we can then use Sitecore Personalize in a later blog post to create a Decision Model and a Unique Web Experience based on the content the user is viewing for my blog.

20 minute read

Introducing Sitecore CDP/Personalize Serializer/CLI Tool

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

I walk the user through a PoC that I introduced to the community at Sitecore Symposium 2022 in Chicago, on a New Developer experience for Sitecore CDP/Personalize, including the journey to create this PoC and what’s next for this project.

20 min read

Sitecore Personalize: How to Recover an Archived/Deleted Experience or Experiment

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In this article I walk the user through the different authentication types for OAuth and working with Sitecore CDP/Personalize. Once I’ve covered authentication, I take the user through the exercise of using the APIs to recover an archive/deleted experience/experiment.

15 min read

How to Change the Node Version for Netlify Builds

Backend Development

In this article we take a look at how to use the package.json to specify a node/npm engine for our local development. We then explore the .nvmrc file and how this applies to a Netlify build to enforcing netlify to build with a specific version.

Closing a Session in Sitecore CDP with the Stream API Using Postman

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In my latest video for Discover Sitecore, I am going through a flow with Postman, one topic from that video that I wanted to cover deeper, is how to use the Stream or Real Time API’s in Postman to end/kill a session.

Building Your First Node JS CLI

Backend Development

In this article, I take the reader on the journey as I explore how to create a Node-based CLI. I talk a little bit about how to run a CLI using NPM or NPX and then cover the code I used to create one.

First Look at Github CoPilot - AI Powered Programming

Developer Experience

First Look into AI Powered Programming. Should we worry about losing our jobs or will this just increase Developer efficiency. This article is my first initial thoughts on Github Copilot with less than 24 hours of usage.

Getting the GuestRef in the Browser with Sitecore CDP/Personalize

Sitecore CDP/Personalize

In this blog post, I discovered something as I continue to explore the APIs, and thought it might create the same ah hah moment for others as they try to understand the different IDs in the browser vs the Guests List in your CDP/Personalize tenant.

Introduction to the Git CLI - Simple Commands

Developer Experience

Exploring the basic commands to getting started with the Git CLI, for those more familiar with GUI interfaces working with Git source control. This constitutes a nice refresher into Git commands for the CLI and terminology explaining the basics of Git and Source Control.

Become a VSCode Power User while using Project Code Snippets

Developer Experience

Sharing my latest recommendation to improve developer efficiency within VS Code, while building you into a VSCode Power User.

Configuration of 301 Redirects with Netlify and Next.Js

Backend Development

My recent 301 redirect journey with Netlify, to redirect Sitecoremaster.com to Dylanyoung.dev. Might be helpful to those new to Netlify/Next.js.

The Journey to Building a Blog in Next.Js and Sanity.io

JAM Stack

A short look into the elements of my new blog and the custom development needed to build it using Next.js and Sanity.io

Developer Avocado

Venturing Into the World of #DevRel

Developer Relations

A brief look at my new journey into the life of a #DevRel Professional.

Introduction to the Basic Structure of an ARM Template

Cloud Development

Learn about the Basic structure of an ARM template when trying to create infrastructure for any project in Azure.

How to Use Leprechaun to Auto Generate Glass Mapper Models when using Unicorn

Sitecore Platform DXP

Learn how to use the Open Source tool Leprechaun to automatically generate Glass Mapper model files.

Sitecore MVP Reflection

A retrospective analysis of why I was giving back to the community back in 2017, when at that time I had never become an MVP before. This is interesting because 7 years later, I had been MVP for 5 years and have created an impressive audience and will now get back to contributions for the community again.

15 min

Entering the World of Gulp and NPM

Frontend Development

Learn a little about my exploration into NPM and Gulp and why they are important.

Reading Items - CRUD operations with Sitecore (Sitecore Item API) - Part Two

In this blog post I'll explore simple CRUD operations with the Sitecore Item API, specifically reading items. This was one of my earliest blog posts since it was only 1.5 to 2 years after I learned Sitecore.

35 min

Sitecore Symposium - Day One - Developer Training on Habitat & Helix

This was a recap of the 2016 Sitecore Symposium (Day One) in New Orleans. I talk a little about my journey into learning Helix and about the Habitat project, which I found was useful for multiple projects in the future.

15 min read

Working with SEO in Sitecore

In this blog post I explore Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) and what considerations should be reviewed when working with it and Sitecore. This is a blog post from the older days of Sitecore and even though alot of this information should be considered, some of it has also changed.

45 min read

Customizing Html Caching with Sitecore XM with MVC

Sitecore Platform DXP

Learn about best practices when working with the Sitecore Platform DXP, including how to handle customizations to HTML caching.

True Dynamic Placeholders in MVC

Sitecore Platform DXP

In this blog post I explore a different way to handle dynamic placeholders that can be done from the Content Editor. This was a fun exploration from my past, but over time found several issues with this approach and it should not be used in an actual implementation

40 min read

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