| name | confluence |
| description | Use confluence-cli to read, search, create, update, move, delete, and convert Confluence pages and attachments from the terminal. |
| argument-hint | <pageId, URL, search query, or task description> |
| allowed-tools | ["Bash","Read","Write","Glob","Grep"] |
confluence-cli Skill
A CLI tool for Atlassian Confluence. Lets you read, search, create, update, move, delete, and convert pages and attachments from the terminal or from an agent.
Installation
npm install -g confluence-cli
confluence --version
Configuration
Preferred for agents — environment variables (no interactive prompt):
| Variable | Description | Example |
|---|
CONFLUENCE_DOMAIN | Your Confluence hostname | company.atlassian.net |
CONFLUENCE_API_PATH | REST API base path | /wiki/rest/api (Cloud) or /rest/api (Server/DC) |
CONFLUENCE_AUTH_TYPE | basic or bearer | basic |
CONFLUENCE_EMAIL | Email address (basic auth only) | user@company.com |
CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN | API token or personal access token | ATATT3x... |
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 legacy wiki | plain |
Global --profile flag (use a named profile for any command):
confluence --profile <name> <command>
Config resolution works in two stages:
- Direct env config: If both
CONFLUENCE_DOMAIN and CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN are set, they are used directly and the config file / profiles are not consulted.
- Profile-based config: Otherwise, a profile is selected in this order:
--profile flag > CONFLUENCE_PROFILE env > activeProfile in config > default.
For basic/bearer profiles that omit a stored token, the token falls back to a ~/.netrc entry matched by domain (and email for basic auth) — env/--token still take precedence. Override the path with NETRC.
Non-interactive init (good for CI/CD scripts):
confluence init \
--domain "company.atlassian.net" \
--api-path "/wiki/rest/api" \
--auth-type basic \
--email "user@company.com" \
--token "ATATT3x..."
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 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)
Scoped API token for agents (recommended):
export CONFLUENCE_DOMAIN="api.atlassian.com"
export CONFLUENCE_API_PATH="/ex/confluence/<your-cloud-id>/wiki/rest/api"
export CONFLUENCE_AUTH_TYPE="basic"
export CONFLUENCE_EMAIL="user@company.com"
export CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN="your-scoped-token"
Required classic scopes for scoped tokens:
- Read-only:
read:confluence-content.all, read:confluence-content.summary, read:confluence-space.summary, search:confluence
- Write: add
write:confluence-content, write:confluence-file, write:confluence-space
- Attachments:
readonly:content.attachment:confluence (download), write:confluence-file (upload)
Read-only mode (recommended for AI agents):
Prevents all write operations (create, update, delete, move, etc.) at the profile level. Useful when giving an AI agent access to Confluence for reading only.
confluence profile add agent --domain "company.atlassian.net" --token "xxx" --read-only
export CONFLUENCE_READ_ONLY=true
When read-only mode is active, any write command exits with an error:
Error: This profile is in read-only mode. Write operations are not allowed.
profile list shows read-only profiles with a [read-only] badge.
Page ID Resolution
Most commands accept <pageId> — a numeric ID or any of the supported URL formats below.
Supported formats:
| Format | Example |
|---|
| Numeric ID | 123456789 |
?pageId= URL | https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/viewpage.action?pageId=123456789 |
Pretty /pages/<id> URL | https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SPACE/pages/123456789/Page+Title |
Display /display/<space>/<title> URL | https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/display/SPACE/Page+Title |
confluence read 123456789
confluence read "https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/viewpage.action?pageId=123456789"
confluence read "https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MYSPACE/pages/123456789/My+Page"
Note: Display-style URLs (/display/<space>/<title>) perform a title-based lookup, so the page title in the URL must match exactly. When possible, prefer numeric IDs or /pages/<id> URLs for reliability.
Content Formats
| Format | Notes |
|---|
markdown | Recommended for agent-generated content. Automatically converted by the CLI. |
storage | Confluence XML storage format (default for create/update). Use for programmatic round-trips. |
html | Raw HTML. |
text | Plain text — for read/export output only, not for creation. |
Commands Reference
init
Initialize configuration. Saves credentials to ~/.confluence-cli/config.json.
confluence init [--domain <domain>] [--api-path <path>] [--auth-type basic|bearer] [--email <email>] [--token <token>] [--read-only]
All flags are optional; omitting any flag triggers an interactive prompt for that field. Provide all flags to run fully non-interactive. Use the global --profile flag to save to a named profile:
confluence --profile staging init --domain "staging.example.com" --auth-type bearer --token "your-token"
read <pageId>
Read page content. Outputs to stdout.
confluence read <pageId> [--format html|text|storage|markdown]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--format | text | Output format: html, text, storage, or markdown |
confluence read 123456789
confluence read 123456789 --format storage
confluence read 123456789 --format markdown
Markdown output resolves accessible Confluence page links, including links to pages in the same space, to absolute URLs while preserving custom link text and inline formatting.
Requires content with a storage body. Folders and other bodyless content return Page <id> has no readable body (it may be a folder or an unsupported content type).; use confluence info <id> to inspect their metadata.
info <pageId>
Get page metadata. Use --format json for machine-readable output.
confluence info <pageId> [--format text|json]
confluence info 123456789
confluence info 123456789 --format json
Works for folders and other bodyless content because it only reads metadata.
find <title>
Find a page by exact or partial title. Returns the first match.
confluence find <title> [--space <spaceKey>]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--space | Restrict search to a specific space key |
confluence find "Architecture Overview"
confluence find "API Reference" --space MYSPACE
search <query>
Search pages using a keyword or CQL expression.
confluence search <query> [--limit <number>] [--cql]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--limit | 10 | Maximum number of results |
--cql | false | Pass query as raw CQL instead of text search |
confluence search "deployment pipeline"
confluence search --cql 'siteSearch ~ "deployment pipeline" and space = "MYSPACE"' --limit 50
spaces
List accessible Confluence spaces (key and name).
confluence spaces
children <pageId>
List child pages of a page.
confluence children <pageId> [--recursive] [--max-depth <number>] [--format list|tree|json] [--show-id] [--show-url]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--recursive | false | List all descendants recursively |
--max-depth | 10 | Maximum depth for recursive listing |
--format | list | Output format: list, tree, or json |
--show-id | false | Show page IDs |
--show-url | false | Show page URLs |
confluence children 123456789
confluence children 123456789 --recursive --format json
confluence children 123456789 --recursive --format tree --show-id
create <title> <spaceKey>
Create a new top-level page or folder in a space.
confluence create <title> <spaceKey> [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown] [--type page|folder]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--content | — | Inline content string |
--file | — | Path to content file |
--format | storage | Content format |
--type | page | Content type — page (default) or folder. Folders have no body. |
Either --content or --file is required for pages. Folders take no content — passing --content or --file with --type folder is rejected.
confluence create "Project Overview" MYSPACE --content "# Hello" --format markdown
confluence create "Release Notes" MYSPACE --file ./notes.md --format markdown
confluence create "Engineering Docs" MYSPACE --type folder
Outputs the new page (or folder) ID and URL on success.
create-child <title> <parentId>
Create a child page or folder under an existing page. Inherits the parent's space automatically.
confluence create-child <title> <parentId> [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown] [--type page|folder]
Options are identical to create. Either --content or --file is required for pages; folders take no content.
confluence create-child "Chapter 1" 123456789 --content "Content here" --format markdown
confluence create-child "API Guide" 123456789 --file ./api.md --format markdown
confluence create-child "Sub-folder" 123456789 --type folder
update <pageId>
Update an existing page's title and/or content. At least one of --title, --content, or --file is required.
confluence update <pageId> [--title <title>] [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--title | — | New title |
--content | — | Inline content string |
--file | — | Path to content file |
--format | storage | Content format |
confluence update 123456789 --title "New Title"
confluence update 123456789 --file ./updated.md --format markdown
confluence update 123456789 --title "New Title" --file ./updated.xml --format storage
Title-only updates reuse the target's existing storage body. Folders and other bodyless content cannot be updated this way and return Page <id> has no readable body (it may be a folder or an unsupported content type)..
move <pageId_or_url> <newParentId_or_url>
Move a page to a new parent. Both pages must be in the same space.
confluence move <pageId_or_url> <newParentId_or_url> [--title <newTitle>]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--title | Rename the page during the move |
confluence move 123456789 987654321
confluence move 123456789 987654321 --title "Renamed After Move"
delete <pageIdOrUrl>
Delete (trash) a page by ID or URL.
confluence delete <pageIdOrUrl> [--yes]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--yes | Skip confirmation prompt (required for non-interactive/agent use) |
confluence delete 123456789 --yes
edit <pageId>
Fetch a page's raw storage-format content for editing locally.
confluence edit <pageId> [--output <file>]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--output | Save content to a file (instead of printing to stdout) |
confluence edit 123456789 --output ./page.xml
confluence update 123456789 --file ./page.xml --format storage
Only content with a storage body can be exported for editing. Folders and other bodyless content return Page <id> has no readable body (it may be a folder or an unsupported content type)..
export <pageId>
Export a page and its attachments to a local directory.
confluence export <pageId> [--format html|text|markdown] [--dest <directory>] [--file <filename>] [--attachments-dir <name>] [--pattern <glob>] [--referenced-only] [--skip-attachments]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--format | markdown | Content format for the exported file |
--dest | . | Base directory to export into |
--file | page.<ext> | Filename for the content file |
--attachments-dir | attachments | Subdirectory name for attachments |
--pattern | — | Glob filter for attachments (e.g. *.png) |
--referenced-only | false | Only download attachments referenced in the page content |
--skip-attachments | false | Do not download attachments |
confluence export 123456789 --format markdown --dest ./docs
confluence export 123456789 --format markdown --dest ./docs --skip-attachments
confluence export 123456789 --pattern "*.png" --dest ./output
Creates a subdirectory named after the page title under --dest.
attachments <pageId>
List or download attachments for a page.
confluence attachments <pageId> [--limit <n>] [--pattern <glob>] [--download] [--dest <directory>]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--limit | all | Maximum number of attachments to fetch |
--pattern | — | Filter by filename glob (e.g. *.pdf) |
--download | false | Download matching attachments |
--dest | . | Directory to save downloads |
confluence attachments 123456789
confluence attachments 123456789 --pattern "*.pdf" --download --dest ./downloads
attachment-upload <pageId>
Upload one or more files to a page. --file can be repeated for multiple files.
confluence attachment-upload <pageId> --file <path> [--file <path> ...] [--comment <text>] [--replace] [--minor-edit]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--file | File to upload (required, repeatable) |
--comment | Comment for the attachment(s) |
--replace | Replace an existing attachment with the same filename |
--minor-edit | Mark the upload as a minor edit |
confluence attachment-upload 123456789 --file ./report.pdf
confluence attachment-upload 123456789 --file ./a.png --file ./b.png --replace
attachment-delete <pageId> <attachmentId>
Delete an attachment from a page.
confluence attachment-delete <pageId> <attachmentId> [--yes]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--yes | Skip confirmation prompt |
confluence attachment-delete 123456789 att-987 --yes
comments <pageId>
List comments for a page.
confluence comments <pageId> [--format text|markdown|json] [--limit <n>] [--start <n>] [--location inline,footer,resolved] [--depth all] [--all]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--format | text | Output format: text, markdown, or json |
--limit | 25 | Maximum comments per page |
--start | 0 | Start index for pagination |
--location | — | Filter by location: inline, footer, resolved (comma-separated) |
--depth | — | Leave empty for root-only; all for all nested replies |
--all | false | Fetch all comments (ignores pagination) |
confluence comments 123456789
confluence comments 123456789 --format json --all
confluence comments 123456789 --location footer --depth all
comment <pageId>
Create a comment on a page (footer or inline).
confluence comment <pageId> [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown] [--parent <commentId>] [--location footer|inline] [--inline-selection <text>] [--inline-original-selection <text>] [--inline-marker-ref <ref>] [--inline-properties <json>]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--content | — | Inline content string |
--file | — | Path to content file |
--format | storage | Content format |
--parent | — | Reply to a comment by ID |
--location | footer | footer or inline |
--inline-selection | — | Highlighted selection text (inline only) |
--inline-original-selection | — | Original selection text (inline only) |
--inline-marker-ref | — | Marker reference (inline only) |
--inline-properties | — | Full inline properties as JSON (advanced) |
Either --content or --file is required.
confluence comment 123456789 --content "Looks good!" --location footer
confluence comment 123456789 --content "See note" --parent 456 --location footer
Note on inline comments: Creating a brand-new inline comment requires editor highlight metadata (matchIndex, lastFetchTime, serializedHighlights) that is only available in the Confluence editor. This metadata is not accessible via the REST API, so inline comment creation will typically fail with a 400 error. Use --location footer or reply to an existing inline comment with --parent <commentId> instead.
comment-delete <commentId>
Delete a comment by its ID.
confluence comment-delete <commentId> [--yes]
| Option | Description |
|---|
--yes | Skip confirmation prompt |
confluence comment-delete 456789 --yes
copy-tree <sourcePageId> <targetParentId> [newTitle]
Copy a page and all its children to a new location.
confluence copy-tree <sourcePageId> <targetParentId> [newTitle] [--max-depth <depth>] [--exclude <patterns>] [--delay-ms <ms>] [--copy-suffix <suffix>] [--dry-run] [--fail-on-error] [--quiet]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--max-depth | 10 | Maximum depth to copy |
--exclude | — | Comma-separated title patterns to exclude (supports wildcards) |
--delay-ms | 100 | Delay between sibling creations in ms |
--copy-suffix | " (Copy)" | Suffix appended to the root page title |
--dry-run | false | Preview operations without creating pages |
--fail-on-error | false | Exit with non-zero code if any page fails |
--quiet | false | Suppress progress output |
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --dry-run
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 "Backup Copy"
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --exclude "Draft*,Archive*"
profile list
List all configuration profiles with the active profile marked.
confluence profile list
profile use <name>
Switch the active configuration profile.
confluence profile use <name>
confluence profile use staging
profile add <name>
Add a new configuration profile. Supports the same options as init (interactive, non-interactive, or hybrid).
confluence profile add <name> [--domain <domain>] [--api-path <path>] [--auth-type basic|bearer] [--email <email>] [--token <token>] [--protocol http|https] [--read-only]
Profile names may contain letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores only.
confluence profile add staging --domain "staging.example.com" --auth-type bearer --token "xyz"
profile remove <name>
Remove a configuration profile (prompts for confirmation). Cannot remove the only remaining profile.
confluence profile remove <name>
confluence profile remove staging
api <endpoint>
Make an authenticated request to a Confluence REST endpoint that the CLI does not wrap directly.
confluence api <endpoint> [-X <method>] [-f <key=value>] [-H <key:value>] [--input <file>] [--jq <expression>] [-i] [--silent]
Endpoint resolution:
- Relative paths use the configured
apiPath.
- Absolute paths starting with
/ bypass apiPath and resolve against the configured host.
- Full
http:// or https:// URLs are allowed only when they are same-origin with the configured host; cross-origin URLs and http:// downgrades from an https profile are refused before credentials are sent.
confluence api content/123456789/label
confluence api /wiki/api/v2/pages -f spaceKey=DEV -f limit=10 -X GET
confluence api content/123456789/label --jq '.results[].name'
Read-only profiles block write methods (POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE) while allowing GET and HEAD.
stats
Show local usage statistics.
confluence stats
convert
Convert between content formats locally without a Confluence server connection.
confluence convert [--input-file <path>] [--output-file <path>] --input-format <format> --output-format <format>
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--input-file, -i | stdin | Input file path |
--output-file, -o | stdout | Output file path |
--input-format | — | Input format: markdown, storage, html (required) |
--output-format | — | Output format: markdown, storage, html, text (required) |
Supported conversions: markdown→storage, markdown→html, markdown→text, html→storage, html→text, html→markdown, storage→markdown, storage→html, storage→text.
confluence convert -i doc.md -o doc.xml --input-format markdown --output-format storage
echo "# Hello" | confluence convert --input-format markdown --output-format storage
confluence convert -i page.xml --input-format storage --output-format markdown
install-skill
Copy the Claude Code skill documentation into your project's .claude/skills/ directory so Claude Code can learn confluence-cli automatically.
confluence install-skill [--dest <directory>] [--yes]
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
--dest | ./.claude/skills/confluence | Target directory |
--yes | false | Skip overwrite confirmation |
confluence install-skill
Common Agent Workflows
Read → Edit → Update (round-trip)
confluence edit 123456789 --output ./page.xml
confluence update 123456789 --file ./page.xml --format storage
Requires content with a storage body; folders and other bodyless content should be inspected with confluence info <id> instead.
Build a documentation hierarchy
confluence create "Project Overview" MYSPACE --content "# Overview" --format markdown
confluence create-child "Architecture" 111222333 --content "# Architecture" --format markdown
confluence create-child "API Reference" 111222333 --file ./api.md --format markdown
confluence create-child "Runbooks" 111222333 --content "# Runbooks" --format markdown
Copy a full page tree
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --dry-run
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 "Backup Copy"
Offline format conversion
confluence convert -i doc.md -o doc.xml --input-format markdown --output-format storage
confluence convert -i page.xml -o page.md --input-format storage --output-format markdown
Export a page for local editing
confluence export 123456789 --format markdown --dest ./local-docs
Process children as JSON
confluence children 123456789 --recursive --format json | jq '.[].id'
Search and process results
confluence search --cql 'siteSearch ~ "release notes" and space = "MYSPACE"' --limit 20
Agent Tips
- Always use
--yes on destructive commands (delete, comment-delete, attachment-delete) to avoid interactive prompts blocking the agent.
- Prefer
--format markdown when creating or updating content from agent-generated text — it's the most natural format and the API converts it automatically.
- Use
--format json on children and comments for machine-parseable output.
- ANSI color codes: stdout may contain ANSI escape sequences. Pipe through
| cat or use NO_COLOR=1 if your downstream tool doesn't handle them.
- Page ID vs URL: when you have a Confluence URL, extract
?pageId=<number> and pass the number. Do not pass pretty/display URLs — they are not supported.
- Cross-space moves:
confluence move only works within the same space. Moving across spaces is not supported.
- Multiple instances: Use
--profile <name> or CONFLUENCE_PROFILE env var to target different Confluence instances without reconfiguring.
- Read-only mode: Set
CONFLUENCE_READ_ONLY=true or use --read-only when creating profiles to prevent accidental writes. This is enforced at the CLI level — all write commands will be blocked.
Error Patterns
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|
No configuration found | No config file and no env vars set | Set env vars or run confluence init |
Cross-space moves are not supported | move used across spaces | Copy with copy-tree instead |
| 400 on inline comment creation | Editor metadata required | Use --location footer or reply to existing inline comment with --parent |
File not found: <path> | --file path doesn't exist | Check the path before calling the command |
At least one of --title, --file, or --content must be provided | update called with no content options | Provide at least one of the required options |
Page <id> has no readable body (it may be a folder or an unsupported content type). | read, edit, or title-only update targeted a folder or other bodyless content | Use info for metadata, or target a page with a storage body |
Profile "<name>" not found! | Specified profile doesn't exist | Run confluence profile list to see available profiles |
Cannot delete the only remaining profile. | Tried to remove the last profile | Add another profile before removing |
This profile is in read-only mode | Write command used with a read-only profile | Use a writable profile or remove readOnly from config |