Content Compare

Find out why something works on one environment (e.g. UAT) but not another (e.g. PROD) by comparing their Sitecore content side by side.

Two files:

File	What it does	Where it runs
Export-Content.ps1	Reads content from Sitecore and downloads it as a .json file. Read-only. It changes nothing.	Inside Sitecore (PowerShell ISE)
compare.html	Compares two of those files and lists the differences.	Your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Before you start

• Check with your tech lead that it's OK to run a read-only script on PROD. Some teams want to know before anything is run there.
• Run it outside busy hours if you're reading a large part of the content tree.

Step 1: Export from the working environment (e.g. UAT)

1. Log in to the UAT CM and open the Launchpad.
2. Click PowerShell ISE.
3. Open Export-Content.ps1 in Notepad, copy everything, and paste it into the ISE.
4. At the top, under SETTINGS, change:
   • $EnvironmentName to "UAT"
   • $RootPaths to the part of the site with the issue, e.g. "/sitecore/content/<YourSite>/Home"
   • Leave $Database = "master" for now.
5. Click Execute. If Sitecore asks for your password again, that's normal.
6. A file such as content-UAT-master-20261012-1530.json downloads.

Step 2: Export from the environment with the issue (e.g. PROD)

Repeat Step 1 on the PROD CM with $EnvironmentName = "PROD" and the same paths.

Step 3: Compare

1. Double-click compare.html to open it in your browser.
2. Drop the UAT file in box 1 and the PROD file in box 2.
3. Click Compare.

You'll see counts at the top. Click one to filter, then click any item to see exactly which fields differ. Download CSV gives you a list to share with the team.

To see what the page looks like first, click Try with demo data.

Useful comparisons

Box 1	Box 2	What it finds
UAT master	PROD master	Content that differs between environments
UAT web	PROD web	Differences in what the live sites actually show
PROD master	PROD web	Content edited on PROD but not published. This is a very common cause.

To export the published content, set $Database = "web".

What the results mean

Result	Meaning
Missing in target	The item exists in box 1 but not box 2
Language version missing	The item exists, but not in that language
Only in target	The item exists only in box 2
Field values differ	The same item has different content. __Renderings / __Final Renderings differences mean the page layout (components) differs.
Path differs	The item was moved or renamed
Template differs	The item is built on a different template
Same path, different ID	The item was created separately in each environment, so anything linking to it by ID can break

XM Cloud: no export needed

Open compare.html and pick what you want to check:

Option	What it finds	What you need
Unpublished changes	Content edited in the CMS but not published, templates never published, deletions not published	The Preview and Live Context IDs of one environment
Two environments	Differences between e.g. UAT and Prod	One Context ID per environment, both Live or both Preview

Context IDs are in XM Cloud Deploy → your environment → Developer settings (use the Preview/Live switch). Treat them like passwords: don't commit them or paste them into chats.

Then enter the start path. Use the site item, e.g. /sitecore/content/<Collection>/<Site>, so Home, Data and Presentation are all included. Click Compare.

Click See an example to try the page with made-up data first.

Save your projects so you don't paste IDs every time

Open the page through the local server (http://localhost:8765/compare.html). Then:

1. In the Projects sidebar, click + Add project.
2. Enter the project name, start path and languages. For each environment (DEV, UAT, PROD are pre-filled, so add or remove as needed), paste its Preview and Live Context IDs. Leave blank any you don't have.
3. Click Save project.

Next time, just click the project in the sidebar. Choose the environment(s) and the IDs fill in for you. The dots next to each environment show what's saved: ● both IDs, ◐ only one.

Where it's saved: in this browser, on this computer only. Clearing the browser's site data removes it.

• Export downloads your projects as projects.local.json (for backup or a new laptop). Import loads one back.
• Remove all deletes every saved project and ID from the browser.
• A projects.local.json file in this folder is also picked up automatically and shown with a "file" tag.

Keep the IDs safe: they're credentials.

• Don't email or commit the exported file. It's already in .gitignore.
• Always start the server with -a 127.0.0.1, so only your own computer can reach it.

Reading the results

• The headline says how many items differ and where to start.
• The cards group results by what to do (e.g. Needs publishing, Templates not on Live, Removed but still live). Click one to filter.
• Open an item to see a plain-English explanation, highlighted text changes and, for pages, a component table showing which components were added, removed or changed.
• Copy ID copies the ID with { } brackets, ready to paste into Content Editor search.
• Copy summary gives you a short text version for Teams or Jira; Download CSV gives the full list.

Keep edge-core.js in the same folder as compare.html; the page needs it.

If the page says the browser blocked the request

Browsers can block pages opened by double-clicking (a file:// address) from calling Experience Edge.

Option 1 (easiest): open the page through a small local server instead. In a terminal in this folder:

npx http-server -p 8765 -c-1 -a 127.0.0.1

Then open http://localhost:8765/compare.html. Press Ctrl+C in the terminal when you're done.

Option 2: run the fallback script (needs Node.js) in PowerShell, from this folder, once for each side:

$env:EDGE_CONTEXT_ID = "<Preview Context ID>"
node edge-export.mjs --name preview --path "/sitecore/content/<Collection>/<Site>/Home"

$env:EDGE_CONTEXT_ID = "<Live Context ID>"
node edge-export.mjs --name live --path "/sitecore/content/<Collection>/<Site>/Home"

Then drop the preview file in box 1 and the live file in box 2.

Important

• The suggested changes are for investigation only. Any change to PROD, whether content, publishing or config, needs approval from the technical owner before it's made.
• The export skips Sitecore's housekeeping fields (dates, "updated by", revision numbers) because they always differ. It keeps layout, publishing and workflow fields.
• It compares content only. If the content matches, the cause may be code, config or cache. Raise that with the backend team.