When should I use the Site Initializer client extension type?

• You're shipping a starter site (marketing template, product-specific tenant). • You want repeatable, checked-in site provisioning across environments.

How do I create a Site Initializer client extension?

1. Assemble your site export under the extension folder (structures, layouts, roles, content). 2. Ship a paired `oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer`. 3. Set the site's name + external reference code and deploy.

What fields are required on a Site Initializer client extension?

siteName (string): Site name on deploy. siteExternalReferenceCode (string): External reference code of the site. oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer (string): Ref code of the paired `oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer`.

Site Initializer

Bundle a whole site (content, structure, roles) and provision on deploy.

type: siteInitializer·Batch & Provisioning·Liferay docs →

at a glance

Site Initializer (type: siteInitializer) is a Liferay Client Extension in the Batch & Provisioning category. Packages a complete Liferay site — pages, structures, roles, content, settings, style-book, sample data — into a single extension. Deploying creates the site fully populated, in seconds, without any manual clicks. Site Initializer is how Liferay ships the demo sites you see in Liferay Learn tutorials, and it's the same mechanism used for repeatable multi-tenant provisioning. Because everything is checked into source, staging and production get identical starter sites; a bad edit can be rolled back by re-deploying an earlier version. The `overwrite: true` flag lets you re-provision an existing site on redeploy — useful in dev, dangerous in prod.

yaml type: siteInitializer
category: Batch & Provisioning
required fields: siteName, siteExternalReferenceCode, oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer
ships with: oauth-headless-server
liferay docs: learn.liferay.com →

# description

Packages a complete Liferay site — pages, structures, roles, content, settings, style-book, sample data — into a single extension. Deploying creates the site fully populated, in seconds, without any manual clicks. Site Initializer is how Liferay ships the demo sites you see in Liferay Learn tutorials, and it's the same mechanism used for repeatable multi-tenant provisioning. Because everything is checked into source, staging and production get identical starter sites; a bad edit can be rolled back by re-deploying an earlier version. The `overwrite: true` flag lets you re-provision an existing site on redeploy — useful in dev, dangerous in prod.

Bulk data import and full site provisioning on deploy.

# when to use

→You're shipping a starter site (marketing template, product-specific tenant).
→You want repeatable, checked-in site provisioning across environments.

# how to use

01Assemble your site export under the extension folder (structures, layouts, roles, content).
02Ship a paired oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer.
03Set the site's name + external reference code and deploy.

# required fields

field	type	description
`siteName`required	`string`	Site name on deploy.
`siteExternalReferenceCode`required	`string`	External reference code of the site.
`oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer`required	`string`	Ref code of the paired `oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer`.

# optional fields

field	type	description
`name`	`string`	Display name.
`overwrite`	`boolean`	Overwrite an existing site on redeploy.
`builtInTemplateKey`	`string`	Built-in site template key.
`builtInTemplateType`	`string`	Built-in site template type.
`membershipType`	`string`	Site membership: `open`, `restricted`, or `private`.
`parentSiteKey`	`string`	Parent site key for hierarchical sites.
`siteName_i18n`	`map(locale->string)`	Localized site name by locale.

# example

client-extension.yaml

starter-site:
    type: siteInitializer
    siteName: Starter
    siteExternalReferenceCode: STARTER_SITE
    oAuthApplicationHeadlessServer: my-oauth-headless
    overwrite: true

# related types

Usually shipped alongside Site Initializer:

❯OAuth Application (Headless Server)— Register a server-to-server OAuth application.

# more in batch & provisioning

❯Batchbatch

cd ..scaffold this type in VS Code →