diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5a5a4cb3..1ccd8037 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -223,3 +223,16 @@ $RECYCLE.BIN/
 dist/
 **/aem/home/
 !pkg/instance/resource
+
+
+# VSCode
+.vscode/*
+!.vscode/settings.json
+!.vscode/tasks.json
+!.vscode/launch.json
+!.vscode/extensions.json
+!.vscode/*.code-snippets
+!*.code-workspace
+
+# Built Visual Studio Code Extensions
+*.vsix
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d90c716b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{
+    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
+    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
+    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
+    "version": "0.2.0",
+    "configurations": [
+        {
+            "name": "Print help",
+            "type": "go",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "mode": "auto",
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/cmd/aem",
+            "args": ["--help"],
+            "env": {},
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Replicate node",
+            "type": "go",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "mode": "auto",
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/cmd/aem",
+            "args": ["repl", "activate", "-A", "--path", "/content/projects/jcr:content"],
+            "env": {},
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
+        }
+    ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/repl.go b/pkg/repl.go
index 8cc40884..391aedcf 100644
--- a/pkg/repl.go
+++ b/pkg/repl.go
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@ package pkg
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cast"
 	"github.com/wttech/aemc/pkg/replication"
 	"github.com/wttech/aemc/pkg/sling"
-	"io"
 )
 
 type Replication struct {
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ func (r Replication) Deactivate(path string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// replicate a path to a specific agent; respect response format (older AEM uses HTML, newer uses JSON)
 func (r Replication) replicate(cmd string, path string) error {
 	response, err := r.instance.http.Request().
 		SetFormData(map[string]string{
@@ -63,16 +66,27 @@ func (r Replication) replicate(cmd string, path string) error {
 	} else if response.IsError() {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s > cannot do replication command '%s' for path '%s': %s", r.instance.IDColor(), cmd, path, response.Status())
 	}
-	htmlBytes, err := io.ReadAll(response.RawBody())
+
+	responseBytes, err := io.ReadAll(response.RawBody())
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s > cannot read replication command '%s' response for path '%s': %w", r.instance.IDColor(), cmd, path, err)
 	}
-	htmlData, err := sling.HtmlData(string(htmlBytes))
+
+	contentType := response.Header().Get("Content-Type")
+	responseBody := string(responseBytes)
+
+	var responseData sling.ResponseData
+	if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(contentType), "application/json") ||
+		(strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(responseBody), "{") && strings.HasSuffix(strings.TrimSpace(responseBody), "}")) {
+		responseData, err = sling.JsonData(responseBody)
+	} else {
+		responseData, err = sling.HtmlData(responseBody)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s > cannot parse replication command '%s' response for path '%s': %w", r.instance.IDColor(), cmd, path, err)
 	}
-	if htmlData.IsError() {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s > cannot do replication command '%s' for path '%s': %s", r.instance.IDColor(), cmd, path, htmlData.Message)
+	if responseData.IsError() {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s > replication command '%s' failed for path '%s': %s", r.instance.IDColor(), cmd, path, responseData.GetMessage())
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/sling/html_response.go b/pkg/sling/html_response.go
index bdc61031..03176e98 100644
--- a/pkg/sling/html_response.go
+++ b/pkg/sling/html_response.go
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 package sling
 
 import (
+	"strings"
+
 	"github.com/PuerkitoBio/goquery"
 	"github.com/spf13/cast"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 type HTMLData struct {
@@ -34,7 +35,11 @@ func HtmlData(html string) (data HTMLData, err error) {
 }
 
 func (d HTMLData) IsError() bool {
-	return d.Status <= 0 || d.Status > 399
+	return d.Status < 200 || d.Status >= 400
+}
+
+func (d HTMLData) GetMessage() string {
+	return d.Message
 }
 
 func htmlElementText(doc *goquery.Document, selector string, defaultValue string) string {
diff --git a/pkg/sling/json_response.go b/pkg/sling/json_response.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d1642f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/sling/json_response.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package sling
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cast"
+)
+
+type JSONData struct {
+	Status        int
+	Message       string
+	Path          []string
+	StatusMessage string
+	StatusCode    int
+}
+
+func JsonData(jsonStr string) (data JSONData, err error) {
+	var rawData map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonStr), &rawData); err != nil {
+		return data, err
+	}
+
+	data.Path = cast.ToStringSlice(rawData["path"])
+	data.StatusMessage = cast.ToString(rawData["status.message"])
+	data.Message = data.StatusMessage
+	data.StatusCode = cast.ToInt(rawData["status.code"])
+	data.Status = data.StatusCode
+
+	return data, nil
+}
+
+func (d JSONData) IsError() bool {
+	return d.Status < 200 || d.Status >= 400
+}
+
+func (d JSONData) GetMessage() string {
+	return d.Message
+}
diff --git a/pkg/sling/response.go b/pkg/sling/response.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18395c85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/sling/response.go
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package sling
+
+type ResponseData interface {
+	IsError() bool
+	GetMessage() string
+}