fix: render external Markdown links as standard anchors

README.md

@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ The stats file (`stats.json`) follows the same resolution and lives alongside `c
 
 **Custom domains on Confluence Cloud:**
 
-If your Confluence Cloud instance uses a custom domain (e.g., `wiki.example.org` instead of `*.atlassian.net`), the CLI may misidentify it as a Server/Data Center instance and produce broken link formats. Set `CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD=true` to override the automatic detection:
+If your Confluence Cloud instance uses a custom domain (e.g., `wiki.example.org` instead of `*.atlassian.net`), the CLI may identify it as a Server/Data Center instance and use standard links instead of Cloud smart links. Set `CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD=true` to override the automatic detection:
 
 ```bash
 export CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD=true
@@ -283,9 +283,9 @@ Or add `"forceCloud": true` to your profile in the config file (see [Config file
 }
 ```
 
-**Link rendering on Cloud (`linkStyle`):**
+**Link rendering (`linkStyle`):**
 
-Some Cloud instances — particularly custom-domain Cloud setups — fail to render smart links (`<a data-card-appearance="inline">`) and show "Cannot handle: DefaultLink" errors instead. If you hit this, set `linkStyle` to `plain` to emit simple `<a href>` tags, which render reliably everywhere:
+External links use Cloud smart links (`<a data-card-appearance="inline">`) on Cloud and standard `<a href>` tags on Server/Data Center and local conversions. Some Cloud instances — particularly custom-domain Cloud setups — fail to render smart links and show "Cannot handle: DefaultLink" errors instead. If you hit this, set `linkStyle` to `plain`:
 
 ```bash
 export CONFLUENCE_LINK_STYLE=plain
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ Or per-profile:
 }
 ```
 
-Valid values: `smart` (Cloud smart links), `plain` (simple `<a href>`), `wiki` (Server/DC `ac:link`). When unset, the CLI picks `smart` for Cloud and `wiki` for Server/DC — existing behavior is unchanged.
+Valid values: `smart` (Cloud smart links), `plain` (standard `<a href>`), and `wiki` (legacy `ac:link` + `ri:url` output for explicit backward compatibility). When unset, the CLI picks `smart` for Cloud and `plain` for Server/Data Center and local conversions. New configurations should not use `wiki` for external links.
 
 **Read-only mode** (recommended for AI agents):
 ```bash

lib/config.js

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ const AUTH_CHOICES = [
 
 const AUTH_TYPES = ['basic', 'bearer', 'mtls', 'cookie', 'none'];
 
-const { VALID_LINK_STYLES } = require('./macro-converter');
+const { VALID_LINK_STYLES } = require('./link-style');
 
 const normalizeLinkStyle = (rawValue, source) => {
   if (rawValue === undefined || rawValue === null || rawValue === '') {

lib/html-to-storage.js

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 // attributes preserved.
 
 const { parseDocument } = require('htmlparser2');
+const { resolveLinkStyle } = require('./link-style');
 
-const VALID_LINK_STYLES = ['smart', 'plain', 'wiki'];
 // Hard cap on input HTML nesting to keep the recursive walker off the JS
 // stack ceiling for pathological / malicious input.
 const DEFAULT_MAX_DEPTH = 256;
@@ -459,9 +459,7 @@ function dispatchTag(node, ctx) {
 
 function htmlToStorage(html, options = {}) {
   const isCloud = !!options.isCloud;
-  const linkStyle = VALID_LINK_STYLES.includes(options.linkStyle)
-    ? options.linkStyle
-    : (isCloud ? 'smart' : 'wiki');
+  const linkStyle = resolveLinkStyle({ isCloud, linkStyle: options.linkStyle });
   const ctx = {
     linkStyle,
     depth: 0,

lib/link-style.js

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+const VALID_LINK_STYLES = ['smart', 'plain', 'wiki'];
+
+function resolveLinkStyle({ isCloud = false, linkStyle = null } = {}) {
+  if (VALID_LINK_STYLES.includes(linkStyle)) {
+    return linkStyle;
+  }
+  return isCloud ? 'smart' : 'plain';
+}
+
+module.exports = { VALID_LINK_STYLES, resolveLinkStyle };

lib/macro-converter.js

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 const MarkdownIt = require('markdown-it');
 const { StorageWalker } = require('./storage-walker');
 const { htmlToStorage } = require('./html-to-storage');
+const { VALID_LINK_STYLES, resolveLinkStyle } = require('./link-style');
 
-const VALID_LINK_STYLES = ['smart', 'plain', 'wiki'];
 const CALLOUT_MARKERS = ['info', 'warning', 'note'];
 // U+E000 (Unicode Private Use Area) is used as the stash placeholder
 // delimiter. Declared as an explicit escape so the byte is visible in source
@@ -35,9 +35,7 @@ class MacroConverter {
     this._isCloud = isCloud;
     this.webUrlPrefix = webUrlPrefix;
     this.buildUrl = buildUrl || ((pathOrUrl) => pathOrUrl);
-    this.linkStyle = VALID_LINK_STYLES.includes(linkStyle)
-      ? linkStyle
-      : (isCloud ? 'smart' : 'wiki');
+    this.linkStyle = resolveLinkStyle({ isCloud, linkStyle });
     this.markdown = new MarkdownIt();
     this.setupConfluenceMarkdownExtensions();
   }

plugins/confluence/skills/confluence/SKILL.md

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ confluence --version   # verify install
 | `CONFLUENCE_PROFILE` | Named profile to use (optional) | `staging` |
 | `CONFLUENCE_READ_ONLY` | Block all write operations when `true` | `true` |
 | `CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD` | Force Cloud link format for custom domains | `true` |
-| `CONFLUENCE_LINK_STYLE` | Override link rendering: `smart`, `plain`, or `wiki` | `plain` |
+| `CONFLUENCE_LINK_STYLE` | Override link rendering: `smart`, `plain`, or legacy `wiki` | `plain` |
 
 **Global `--profile` flag (use a named profile for any command):**
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ confluence init \
 
 **Cloud vs Server/DC:**
 - Atlassian Cloud (`*.atlassian.net`): use `--api-path "/wiki/rest/api"`, auth type `basic` with email + API token
-- Atlassian Cloud (custom domain): if your Cloud instance uses a custom domain (e.g., `wiki.example.org`), set `CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD=true` or add `"forceCloud": true` to your profile in `~/.confluence-cli/config.json`. Without this, links will render incorrectly.
+- Atlassian Cloud (custom domain): if your Cloud instance uses a custom domain (e.g., `wiki.example.org`), set `CONFLUENCE_FORCE_CLOUD=true` or add `"forceCloud": true` to your profile in `~/.confluence-cli/config.json` to enable Cloud smart-link rendering.
 - Atlassian Cloud (scoped token): use `--domain "api.atlassian.com"`, `--api-path "/ex/confluence/<your-cloud-id>/wiki/rest/api"`, auth type `basic` with email + scoped token. Get your Cloud ID from `https://<your-site>.atlassian.net/_edge/tenant_info`. Recommended for agents (least privilege).
 - Self-hosted / Data Center: use `--api-path "/rest/api"`, auth type `bearer` with a personal access token (no email needed)
 

tests/confluence-client.test.js

@@ -860,17 +860,16 @@ describe('ConfluenceClient', () => {
       expect(result).not.toContain('<ac:link>');
     });
 
-    test('should convert links to ac:link format on Server/Data Center instances', () => {
+    test('should convert links to standard anchor format on Server/Data Center instances', () => {
       const serverClient = new ConfluenceClient({
         domain: 'confluence.example.com',
         token: 'test-token'
       });
       const markdown = '[Example Link](https://example.com)';
       const result = serverClient.markdownToStorage(markdown);
 
-      expect(result).toContain('<ac:link>');
-      expect(result).toContain('ri:value="https://example.com"');
-      expect(result).toContain('Example Link');
+      expect(result).toContain('<a href="https://example.com">Example Link</a>');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('<ac:link>');
       expect(result).not.toContain('data-card-appearance');
     });
 

tests/html-to-storage.test.js

@@ -342,12 +342,24 @@ describe('htmlToStorage', () => {
         .toBe('<ac:link><ri:url ri:value="https://example.com" /><ac:plain-text-link-body><![CDATA[link]]></ac:plain-text-link-body></ac:link>');
     });
 
-    test('default linkStyle is `wiki` for server (isCloud:false) and `smart` for cloud', () => {
+    test('default linkStyle is `plain` for server (isCloud:false) and `smart` for cloud', () => {
       const a = '<a href="x">y</a>';
-      expect(htmlToStorage(a, { isCloud: false })).toContain('<ac:link>');
+      expect(htmlToStorage(a, { isCloud: false })).toBe(a);
       expect(htmlToStorage(a, { isCloud: true })).toContain('data-card-appearance="inline"');
     });
 
+    test('server default safely escapes quotes in external link attributes', () => {
+      const html = '<a href=\'https://example.com/?q="x"&a=1\'>quoted</a>';
+      expect(htmlToStorage(html, { isCloud: false })).toBe(
+        '<a href="https://example.com/?q=&quot;x&quot;&a=1">quoted</a>'
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('server default preserves rich external link bodies', () => {
+      const html = '<a href="https://example.com"><strong>bold</strong> text</a>';
+      expect(htmlToStorage(html, { isCloud: false })).toBe(html);
+    });
+
     test('anchor link (`#id`) becomes ac:link with ac:anchor regardless of linkStyle', () => {
       const html = '<a href="#section">jump</a>';
       const expected = '<ac:link ac:anchor="section"><ac:plain-text-link-body><![CDATA[jump]]></ac:plain-text-link-body></ac:link>';

tests/macro-converter.test.js

@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ describe('MacroConverter', () => {
       expect(converter.linkStyle).toBe('smart');
     });
 
-    test('defaults to "wiki" when isCloud is false and no linkStyle is passed', () => {
+    test('defaults to "plain" when isCloud is false and no linkStyle is passed', () => {
       const converter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: false });
-      expect(converter.linkStyle).toBe('wiki');
+      expect(converter.linkStyle).toBe('plain');
     });
 
     test('explicit "smart" is used even when isCloud is false', () => {
@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ describe('MacroConverter', () => {
     test('invalid linkStyle silently falls back to the isCloud-based default', () => {
       // Config-level validation is the user-facing guardrail; the converter is
       // lenient so direct library consumers cannot break the pipeline.
-      const converter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: true, linkStyle: 'garbage' });
-      expect(converter.linkStyle).toBe('smart');
+      const cloudConverter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: true, linkStyle: 'garbage' });
+      const serverConverter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: false, linkStyle: 'garbage' });
+      expect(cloudConverter.linkStyle).toBe('smart');
+      expect(serverConverter.linkStyle).toBe('plain');
     });
   });
 
@@ -50,14 +52,21 @@ describe('MacroConverter', () => {
       expect(result).not.toContain('<ac:link>');
     });
 
-    test('"wiki" emits the Server/DC ac:link + ri:url storage macro', () => {
+    test('explicit legacy "wiki" emits the ac:link + ri:url storage macro', () => {
       const converter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: false, linkStyle: 'wiki' });
       const result = converter.markdownToStorage(markdown);
       expect(result).toContain('<ac:link>');
       expect(result).toContain('ri:value="https://example.com"');
       expect(result).toContain('<![CDATA[Example]]>');
       expect(result).not.toContain('data-card-appearance');
     });
+
+    test('Server/DC default emits a standard anchor for external Markdown links', () => {
+      const converter = new MacroConverter({ isCloud: false });
+      const result = converter.markdownToStorage('**My external link:** [My Link Text](https://test.com)');
+      expect(result).toBe('<p><strong>My external link:</strong> <a href="https://test.com">My Link Text</a></p>\n');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('<ac:link>');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('VALID_LINK_STYLES', () => {
@@ -220,9 +229,7 @@ describe('MacroConverter markdownToStorage marker conventions', () => {
         '[Jump](#my-section) and [External](https://example.com)'
       );
       expect(result).toContain('ac:anchor="my-section"');
-      // External link should get the ac:link + ri:url storage format, not be
-      // double-wrapped by the anchor replacement.
-      expect(result).toContain('ri:value="https://example.com"');
+      expect(result).toContain('<a href="https://example.com">External</a>');
       expect(result).not.toContain('ac:anchor="https');
     });
   });