confluence-markdown-exporter 4.0.1

A tool to export Confluence pages to Markdown

The confluence-markdown-exporter exports Confluence pages in Markdown format. This exporter helps in migrating content from Confluence to platforms that support Markdown e.g. Obsidian, Gollum, Azure DevOps (ADO), Foam, Dendron and more.

Features

• Converts Confluence pages to Markdown format.
• Uses the Atlassian API to export individual pages, pages including children, and whole spaces.
• Supports various Confluence elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and more.
• Retains formatting such as bold, italic, and underline.
• Converts Confluence macros to equivalent Markdown syntax where possible.
• Handles images and attachments by linking them appropriately in the Markdown output.
• Supports extended Markdown features like tasks, alerts, and front matter.
• Skips unchanged pages by default — only re-exports pages that have changed since the last run.
• Supports Confluence add-ons: draw.io, PlantUML, Markdown Extensions

Supported Markdown Elements

• Headings: Converts Confluence headings to Markdown headings.
• Paragraphs: Converts Confluence paragraphs to Markdown paragraphs.
• Lists: Supports both ordered and unordered lists.
• Tables: Converts Confluence tables to Markdown tables.
• Formatting: Supports bold, italic, and underline text.
• Links: Converts Confluence links to Markdown links.
• Images: Converts Confluence images to Markdown images with appropriate links.
• Code Blocks: Converts Confluence code blocks to Markdown code blocks.
• Tasks: Converts Confluence tasks to Markdown task lists.
• Alerts: Converts Confluence info panels to Markdown alert blocks.
• Front Matter: Adds front matter to the Markdown files for metadata like page properties and page labels.
• Mermaid: Converts Mermaid diagrams embedded in draw.io diagrams to Mermaid code blocks.
• PlantUML: Converts PlantUML diagrams to Markdown code blocks.

Usage

To use the confluence-markdown-exporter, follow these steps:

1. Installation

Install python package via pip.

pip install confluence-markdown-exporter

2. Exporting

Run the exporter with the desired Confluence page URL or space URL. Execute the console application by typing confluence-markdown-exporter and one of the commands pages, pages-with-descendants, spaces, orgs or config. If a command is unclear, you can always add --help to get additional information.

All export commands accept one or more URLs as space-separated arguments. Each command also has a singular alias (page, page-with-descendants, space, org) that behaves identically.

2.1. Export Page(s)

Export one or more Confluence pages by URL:

cme pages <page-url>
cme pages <page-url-1> <page-url-2> ...

# Singular alias (identical behaviour):
cme page <page-url>

Supported page URL formats:

• Confluence Cloud: https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SPACEKEY/pages/123456789/Page+Title
• Confluence Cloud (API gateway): https://api.atlassian.com/ex/confluence/CLOUDID/wiki/spaces/SPACEKEY/pages/123456789/Page+Title
• Confluence Server (long): https://company.atlassian.net/display/SPACEKEY/Page+Title
• Confluence Server (short): https://company.atlassian.net/SPACEKEY/Page+Title

2.2. Export Page(s) with Descendants

Export one or more Confluence pages and all their descendant pages by URL:

cme pages-with-descendants <page-url>
cme pages-with-descendants <page-url-1> <page-url-2> ...

# Singular alias (identical behaviour):
cme page-with-descendants <page-url>

2.3. Export Space(s)

Export all Confluence pages of one or more spaces by URL:

cme spaces <space-url>
cme spaces <space-url-1> <space-url-2> ...

# Singular alias (identical behaviour):
cme space <space-url>

Supported space URL formats:

• Confluence Cloud: https://company.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SPACEKEY
• Confluence Cloud (API gateway): https://api.atlassian.com/ex/confluence/CLOUDID/wiki/spaces/SPACEKEY
• Confluence Server (long): https://company.atlassian.net/display/SPACEKEY
• Confluence Server (short): https://company.atlassian.net/SPACEKEY

2.4. Export all Spaces of Organization(s)

Export all Confluence pages across all spaces of one or more organizations by URL:

cme orgs <base-url>
cme orgs <base-url-1> <base-url-2> ...

# Singular alias (identical behaviour):
cme org <base-url>

3. Output

The exported Markdown file(s) will be saved in the configured output directory (see export.output_path) e.g.:

output_path/
└── MYSPACE/
   ├── MYSPACE.md
   └── MYSPACE/
      ├── My Confluence Page.md
      └── My Confluence Page/
            ├── My nested Confluence Page.md
            └── Another one.md

Configuration

All configuration and authentication is stored in a single JSON file managed by the application. You do not need to manually edit this file.

Config Commands

Command	Description
cme config	Open the interactive configuration menu
cme config list	Print the full configuration as YAML
cme config get <key>	Print the value of a single config key
cme config set <key=value>...	Set one or more config values
cme config edit <key>	Open the interactive editor for a specific key
cme config path	Print the path to the config file
cme config reset	Reset all configuration to defaults

Interactive Menu

cme config

Opens a full interactive menu where you can:

• See all config options and their current values
• Select any option to change it (including authentication)
• Navigate into nested sections (e.g. auth.confluence)
• Reset all config to defaults

List Current Configuration

cme config list           # YAML (default)
cme config list -o json   # JSON

Prints the entire current configuration. Output format defaults to YAML; use -o json for JSON.

Get a Single Value

cme config get export.log_level
cme config get connection_config.max_workers

Prints the current value of the specified key. Nested sections are printed as YAML.

Set Values

cme config set export.log_level=DEBUG
cme config set export.output_path=/tmp/export
cme config set export.skip_unchanged=false

Sets one or more key=value pairs directly. Values are parsed as JSON where possible (so true, false, and numbers work as expected), falling back to a plain string.

[!Note] For auth keys that contain a URL (e.g. auth.confluence.https://...), use cme config edit auth.confluence instead — the interactive editor handles URL-based keys correctly.

Edit a Specific Key Interactively

cme config edit auth.confluence
cme config edit export.log_level

Opens the interactive editor directly at the specified config section, skipping the top-level menu.

Show Config File Path

cme config path

Prints the absolute path to the configuration file. Useful when CME_CONFIG_PATH is set or when locating the file for backup/inspection.

Reset to Defaults

cme config reset
cme config reset --yes   # skip confirmation

Resets the entire configuration to factory defaults after confirmation.

Configuration Options

All options can be set via the config file (using cme config set) or overridden for the current session via environment variables. ENV vars take precedence over stored config and are not persisted. ENV var names use the CME_ prefix and __ as the nested delimiter (matching the key in uppercase).

export.*

export.log_level

Controls output verbosity: DEBUG (every step), INFO (key milestones), WARNING (warnings/errors only), ERROR (errors only).

• Default: INFO
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__LOG_LEVEL

export.output_path

The directory where all exported files and folders will be written. Used as the base for relative and absolute links.

• Default: ./ (current working directory)
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__OUTPUT_PATH

export.page_href

How to generate links to pages in Markdown. Options: relative (default) or absolute.

• Default: relative
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__PAGE_HREF

export.page_path

Path template for exported pages.

• Default: {space_name}/{homepage_title}/{ancestor_titles}/{page_title}.md
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__PAGE_PATH

export.attachment_href

How to generate links to attachments in Markdown. Options: relative (default) or absolute.

• Default: relative
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__ATTACHMENT_HREF

export.attachment_path

Path template for attachments.

• Default: {space_name}/attachments/{attachment_file_id}{attachment_extension}
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__ATTACHMENT_PATH

export.attachment_export_all

Export all attachments, not only those referenced by a page. Note: exporting large or many attachments increases export time.

• Default: False
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__ATTACHMENT_EXPORT_ALL

export.page_breadcrumbs

Whether to include breadcrumb links at the top of the page.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__PAGE_BREADCRUMBS

export.filename_encoding

Character mapping for filename encoding.

• Default: Default mappings for forbidden characters.
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__FILENAME_ENCODING

export.filename_length

Maximum length of filenames.

• Default: 255
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__FILENAME_LENGTH

export.include_document_title

Whether to include the document title in the exported markdown file.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__INCLUDE_DOCUMENT_TITLE

export.enable_jira_enrichment

Fetch Jira issue data to enrich Confluence pages. When enabled, Jira issue links include the issue summary. Requires Jira auth to be configured.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__ENABLE_JIRA_ENRICHMENT

export.skip_unchanged

Skip exporting pages that have not changed since last export. Uses a lockfile to track page versions.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__SKIP_UNCHANGED

export.cleanup_stale

After export, delete local files for pages removed from Confluence or whose export path has changed.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__CLEANUP_STALE

export.lockfile_name

Name of the lock file used to track exported pages.

• Default: confluence-lock.json
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__LOCKFILE_NAME

export.existence_check_batch_size

Number of page IDs per batch when checking page existence during cleanup. Capped at 25 for self-hosted (CQL).

• Default: 250
• ENV Var: CME_EXPORT__EXISTENCE_CHECK_BATCH_SIZE

connection_config.*

connection_config.backoff_and_retry

Enable automatic retry with exponential backoff.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__BACKOFF_AND_RETRY

connection_config.backoff_factor

Multiplier for exponential backoff.

• Default: 2
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__BACKOFF_FACTOR

connection_config.max_backoff_seconds

Maximum seconds to wait between retries.

• Default: 60
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS

connection_config.max_backoff_retries

Maximum number of retry attempts.

• Default: 5
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__MAX_BACKOFF_RETRIES

connection_config.retry_status_codes

HTTP status codes that trigger a retry.

• Default: [413, 429, 502, 503, 504]
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__RETRY_STATUS_CODES

connection_config.timeout

Timeout in seconds for API requests. Prevents hanging on slow or unresponsive servers.

• Default: 30
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__TIMEOUT

connection_config.verify_ssl

Whether to verify SSL certificates for HTTPS requests.

• Default: True
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__VERIFY_SSL

connection_config.use_v2_api

Enable Confluence REST API v2 endpoints. Supported on Atlassian Cloud and Data Center 8+. Disable for self-hosted Server instances.

• Default: False
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__USE_V2_API

connection_config.max_workers

Maximum number of parallel workers for page export. Set to 1 for serial/debug mode. Higher values improve performance but may hit API rate limits.

• Default: 20
• ENV Var: CME_CONNECTION_CONFIG__MAX_WORKERS

auth.*

[!Note] Auth credentials use URL-keyed nested dicts (e.g. auth.confluence["https://company.atlassian.net"]) and cannot be mapped to flat ENV var names. Use cme config edit auth.confluence or cme config set for auth configuration.

auth.confluence.url

Confluence instance URL.

• Default: ""

auth.confluence.username

Confluence username/email.

• Default: ""

auth.confluence.api_token

Confluence API token.

• Default: ""

auth.confluence.pat

Confluence Personal Access Token.

• Default: ""

auth.confluence.cloud_id

Atlassian Cloud ID for the Confluence instance. When set, API calls are routed through the Atlassian API gateway (https://api.atlassian.com/ex/confluence/{cloud_id}), which enables the use of scoped API tokens.

For Atlassian Cloud instances (.atlassian.net) this is fetched and stored automatically on first connection. You can also set it manually — see How to retrieve your Atlassian Cloud ID.

• Default: ""

auth.jira.url

Jira instance URL.

• Default: ""

auth.jira.username

Jira username/email.

• Default: ""

auth.jira.api_token

Jira API token.

• Default: ""

auth.jira.pat

Jira Personal Access Token.

• Default: ""

auth.jira.cloud_id

Atlassian Cloud ID for the Jira instance. Works identically to auth.confluence.cloud_id above, routing API calls through https://api.atlassian.com/ex/jira/{cloud_id}.

For Atlassian Cloud instances this is fetched and stored automatically on first connection.

• Default: ""

You can always view and change the current config with the interactive menu above.

Configuration for Target Systems

Some platforms have specific requirements for Markdown formatting, file structure, or metadata. You can adjust the export configuration to optimize output for your target system. Below are some common examples:

Obsidian

Run the following command to configure the exporter for Obsidian:

cme config set export.include_document_title=false export.page_breadcrumbs=false

Obsidian natively renders the document title and page breadcrumbs, so both are disabled to avoid redundant output.

Azure DevOps (ADO) Wikis

Run the following command to configure the exporter for ADO Wikis:

cme config set \
  export.attachment_href=absolute \
  'export.attachment_path=.attachments/{attachment_file_id}{attachment_extension}' \
  'export.filename_encoding={" ":"-","\"":"%22","*":"%2A","-":"%2D",":":"%3A","<":"%3C",">":"%3E","?":"%3F","|":"%7C","\\":"_","#":"_","/":"_","\u0000":"_"}' \
  export.filename_length=200

ADO Wikis require absolute attachment links and expect attachments in a specific .attachments/ folder. Filenames are sanitized to match ADO's restrictions: spaces become dashes, dashes are percent-encoded, and other forbidden characters are replaced with underscores. The filename length is capped to stay within ADO's limits.

Custom Config File Location

By default, configuration is stored in a platform-specific application directory. You can override the config file location by setting the CME_CONFIG_PATH environment variable to the desired file path. If set, the application will read and write config from this file instead. Example:

export CME_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/your/custom_config.json

Running in CI / Non-Interactive Environments

The exporter automatically detects CI environments and suppresses rich terminal formatting (colors, spinner animations, progress bar redraws) so that log output is clean and readable in CI logs.

Detection is based on two standard environment variables:

Variable	Effect
CI=true	Disables ANSI color codes and live terminal output
NO_COLOR=1	Same effect (follows the no-color.org convention)

Most CI platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Jenkins, etc.) set CI=true automatically.

You can control output verbosity via the CME_EXPORT__LOG_LEVEL env var or the export.log_level config option:

# Enable verbose debug logging for a single run (not persisted):
CME_EXPORT__LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG cme pages <page-url>

# Reduce verbosity permanently:
cme config set export.log_level=WARNING

# Or for the current session only:
CME_EXPORT__LOG_LEVEL=WARNING cme pages <page-url>

This is useful for using different log levels for different environments or for scripting.

Update

Update python package via pip.

pip install confluence-markdown-exporter --upgrade

Compatibility

This package is not tested extensively. Please check all output and report any issue here. It generally was tested on:

• Confluence Cloud 1000.0.0-b5426ab8524f (2025-05-28)
• Confluence Server 8.5.20

Known Issues and Limitations

1. Missing Attachment File ID on Server: For some Confluence Server version/configuration the attachment file ID might not be provided (https://github.com/Spenhouet/confluence-markdown-exporter/issues/39). In the default configuration, this is used for the export path. Solution: Adjust the attachment path in the export config and use the {attachment_id} or {attachment_title} instead.
2. Connection Issues when behind Proxy or VPN: There might be connection issues if your Confluence Server is behind a proxy or VPN (https://github.com/Spenhouet/confluence-markdown-exporter/issues/38). If you experience issues, help to fix this is appreciated.

Contributing

If you would like to contribute, please read our contribution guideline.

License

This tool is an open source project released under the MIT License.