How I Built My First Pega DX Custom Component (Without Losing My Mind)

A step-by-step tutorial for Pega developers who are done copy-pasting from scattered documentation

If you’ve ever tried building a Custom DX Component in Pega Infinity, you already know the drill: you open five documentation tabs, three community threads, and eventually give up and start writing everything down by hand — because apparently we’re still doing that in 2026.

That’s exactly what happened to me. So instead of losing the notes to a random notebook that’ll get shoved in a drawer forever, I turned the whole process into this guide. Consider it the tutorial I wish existed when I started.

Let’s get into it.

Why Build a Custom DX Component?

Pega’s Constellation Design System gives you a lot out of the box, but sooner or later you’ll hit a UI requirement that the standard components just can’t handle — a custom timer, a specialized widget, a layout that needs to talk directly to your case or page data. That’s where Custom DX Components come in, and Pega actually makes this more approachable than most people expect… once you know the sequence.

Prerequisites: Set This Up First

Before touching a terminal, make sure you have:

• An OAuth 2.0 Client Registration rule created in Pega — you’ll need to download the Client ID and Client Secret from it.
• Node.js installed on your machine.
• Pega’s official documentation open in a tab, for reference on project initialization.

Skip any of these and you’ll be backtracking within the first ten minutes. Ask me how I know.

Step 1: Initialize the DX Component Project

Open your terminal and run:

npx @pega/custom-dx-component@~26.1 init

Before you get too far into the CLI prompts, jump over to your Pega App / Pega Infinity instance and:

1. Create a Ruleset to hold your DX Component — for example, MyDXComp:01-01.
2. Inside your Application Definition, add that ruleset.

Now answer the CLI prompts:

Prompt	What to enter
Enter project name	My first component
Enter organisation name	My org
Description	Whatever description you want

Once this finishes, it creates a My first component project folder in your local file path.

Step 2: Configure tasks.config.json

Inside your new project folder, open tasks.config.json. This file is doing more heavy lifting than it looks like, so update these fields carefully:

1. Server — your Pega server details.
2. Ruleset Version Name — the ruleset you created in the App.
3. Grant Type — set this to Client Credentials.
4. Client Secret — from the OAuth 2.0 file you downloaded earlier.
5. Client ID — same OAuth 2.0 credentials.

Get this wrong and your component build will fail silently or throw authentication errors that don’t clearly point back here — so double-check it now.

Step 3: Create the Component

Back in the terminal:

npm run create

You’ll be asked to choose a type of component:

1. Field
2. Layout Template
3. Widget ← this is what we’re building
4. Presentation

Then a subtype:

1. Case
2. Page
3. Page & Case ← selected

Fill in the remaining prompts:

• Component name: Timer
• Comp label: Timer
• Description: Timer

This creates the Timer component — but it’s only a skeleton at this point. The actual logic has to be coded, and this is where you’ll want VS Code open.

You’ll find it at:

My first component → src → components → My first comp Timer

Step 4: Package It Into a Library (Not Optional!)

This step trips people up because it looks skippable. It isn’t — you need this to properly distribute and reuse your component.

In the terminal:

cd My first component
npm run createLib

You’ll be prompted for:

• Library Name: MFC
• Version #: 0.0.1

Once the library is created, authenticate it:

npm run authenticate

When asked for the Pega Server URL, provide the URL of your App.

Step 5: Code, Test in Storybook, and Publish

This is the final step — where your component actually comes to life.

Inside the Timer component folder:

• We push demoStories.tsx to Storybook before publishing.
• The real logic goes inside index.tsx — this is where you write your actual component code.

Once your code is ready, check the output:

npm run startStorybook

Happy with what you see? Publish it to your app:

npm run publish

Your DX Custom Component is now live inside your Pega Application.

Step 6: Add It in App Studio

The final click-through:

1. Go to App Studio.
2. Navigate to Library → DX Component.
3. Click Add to Application.

And that’s it — your custom component is now available for use across your Pega application.

Quick Command Reference

For when you just want the commands without the commentary:

npx @pega/custom-dx-component@~26.1 init
npm run create
cd My first component
npm run createLib
npm run authenticate
npm run startStorybook
npm run publish

Final Thoughts

Building a Custom DX Component in Pega isn’t actually hard — it’s just under-documented in a way that makes it feel hard the first time through. Once you’ve done it once, the whole flow takes maybe 30–40 minutes.

I’ll be dropping a full video walkthrough soon showing every one of these steps live — screen recording, real errors, real fixes included. Subscribe or check back on Wandermindset for that.

If you’re building on Pega Infinity and Constellation, bookmark this one. You’ll be back.