confluence

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   # verify install

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

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.

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 (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.

# Via profile flag
confluence profile add agent --domain "company.atlassian.net" --token "xxx" --read-only

# Via environment variable (overrides config file)
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 API.
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|markdown]

Option	Default	Description
--format	text	Output format: html, text, or markdown

confluence read 123456789
confluence read 123456789 --format markdown

---

info <pageId>

Get page metadata (title, ID, type, status, space).

confluence info <pageId>

confluence info 123456789

---

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 all 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 in a space.

confluence create <title> <spaceKey> [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown]

Option	Default	Description
--content	—	Inline content string
--file	—	Path to content file
--format	storage	Content format

Either --content or --file is required.

confluence create "Project Overview" MYSPACE --content "# Hello" --format markdown
confluence create "Release Notes" MYSPACE --file ./notes.md --format markdown

Outputs the new page ID and URL on success.

---

create-child <title> <parentId>

Create a child page under an existing page. Inherits the parent's space automatically.

confluence create-child <title> <parentId> [--content <string>] [--file <path>] [--format storage|html|markdown]

Options are identical to create. Either --content or --file is required.

confluence create-child "Chapter 1" 123456789 --content "Content here" --format markdown
confluence create-child "API Guide" 123456789 --file ./api.md --format markdown

---

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

---

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
# Edit page.xml, then:
confluence update 123456789 --file ./page.xml --format storage

---

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

# Preview first
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --dry-run

# Copy with a custom title
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 "Backup Copy"

# Copy excluding certain pages
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --exclude "Draft*,Archive*"

---

profile list

List all configuration profiles with the active profile marked.

confluence profile list

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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

---

stats

Show local usage statistics.

confluence stats

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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.

# Markdown to Confluence storage format
confluence convert -i doc.md -o doc.xml --input-format markdown --output-format storage

# Pipe via stdin/stdout
echo "# Hello" | confluence convert --input-format markdown --output-format storage

# Storage format back to markdown
confluence convert -i page.xml --input-format storage --output-format markdown

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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)

# 1. Fetch raw storage XML
confluence edit 123456789 --output ./page.xml

# 2. Modify page.xml with your tool of choice

# 3. Push the updated content
confluence update 123456789 --file ./page.xml --format storage

Build a documentation hierarchy

# Create root page, note the returned ID (e.g. 111222333)
confluence create "Project Overview" MYSPACE --content "# Overview" --format markdown

# Add children under it
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

# Preview first
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 --dry-run

# Execute the copy
confluence copy-tree 123456789 987654321 "Backup Copy"

Offline format conversion

# Convert markdown to Confluence storage format (no server needed)
confluence convert -i doc.md -o doc.xml --input-format markdown --output-format storage

# Convert storage format to markdown for editing
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
# => ./local-docs/<page-title>/page.md + ./local-docs/<page-title>/attachments/

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

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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
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