Confluence Operations

Confluence Common Operations

Plain-language playbooks for everyday Confluence work, each driving the REST API v2. For exact method signatures and every field, open the api-reference skill's matching references/confluence/*.md file.

Before anything: ensure access

If ATLASSIAN_* aren't confirmed this session, run the setup skill first (one GET /wiki/api/v2/spaces?limit=1 call). Define these once:

CONF="${ATLASSIAN_SITE_URL%/}/wiki/api/v2"
AUTH=(-u "${ATLASSIAN_EMAIL}:${ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN}" -H "Accept: application/json")
JSON=(-H "Content-Type: application/json")

The golden rules (why workflows look the way they do)

1. /wiki/api/v2 base — the /wiki prefix is mandatory; omitting it is the usual cause of a 404.
2. Bodies carry a representation — {"representation":"storage","value":"<p>…</p>"} (XHTML) or atlas_doc_format (ADF JSON string).
3. Update = read-then-write. Fetch the current version.number, then PUT with number + 1. A stale number returns 409.
4. spaceId is numeric, not the space key — resolve the key first.
5. Cursor pagination — follow _links.next, don't compute offsets.
6. Confirm destructive actions — DELETE /pages/{id} (especially ?purge=true).

Workflow: resolve a space key → id, list its pages

SPACE_ID=$(curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${CONF}/spaces?keys=PROJ" | jq -r '.results[0].id')
curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${CONF}/pages?space-id=${SPACE_ID}&limit=25&sort=-modified-date" \
  | jq '.results[] | {id, title, status}'

(→ spaces.md, pages-blogposts.md)

Workflow: create a page

curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${JSON[@]}" -X POST "${CONF}/pages" -d "{
  \"spaceId\": \"${SPACE_ID}\",
  \"status\": \"current\",
  \"title\": \"Onboarding Guide\",
  \"body\": {\"representation\": \"storage\", \"value\": \"<h1>Welcome</h1><p>Start here.</p>\"}
}" | jq '{id, title, _links}'

Add "parentId":"<pageId>" to nest it under another page. (→ pages-blogposts.md)

Workflow: update a page safely (the #1 Confluence pitfall)

PAGE_ID=12345
# 1. Read the current version number (and title)
read VER TITLE < <(curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${CONF}/pages/${PAGE_ID}?body-format=storage" \
  | jq -r '"\(.version.number) \(.title)"')
# 2. Write with version.number + 1
curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${JSON[@]}" -X PUT "${CONF}/pages/${PAGE_ID}" -d "{
  \"id\": \"${PAGE_ID}\",
  \"status\": \"current\",
  \"title\": \"${TITLE}\",
  \"version\": {\"number\": $((VER+1)), \"message\": \"Updated via API\"},
  \"body\": {\"representation\": \"storage\", \"value\": \"<h1>Welcome</h1><p>Updated content.</p>\"}
}" | jq '{id, version: .version.number}'

Skipping the version bump → 409 Conflict. (→ pages-blogposts.md)

Workflow: create a space

curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${JSON[@]}" -X POST "${CONF}/spaces" \
  -d '{"key":"PROJ","name":"Project PROJ"}' | jq '{id, key, name}'

(→ spaces.md)

Workflow: comment on a page

curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${JSON[@]}" -X POST "${CONF}/footer-comments" -d "{
  \"pageId\": \"${PAGE_ID}\",
  \"body\": {\"representation\": \"storage\", \"value\": \"<p>Looks good — shipping.</p>\"}
}" | jq '{id}'

Reply by adding "parentCommentId":"<id>". (→ comments-attachments.md)

Workflow: add a label (v1 endpoint)

Label writes aren't in v2 — use the v1 REST API:

curl -s -u "${ATLASSIAN_EMAIL}:${ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN}" "${JSON[@]}" -X POST \
  "${ATLASSIAN_SITE_URL%/}/wiki/rest/api/content/${PAGE_ID}/label" \
  -d '[{"prefix":"global","name":"release-1-2"}]'

Read labels via v2: GET ${CONF}/pages/${PAGE_ID}/labels. (→ labels-content-properties.md)

Workflow: attach a file (v1 endpoint, multipart)

curl -s -u "${ATLASSIAN_EMAIL}:${ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "X-Atlassian-Token: nocheck" \
  -F "file=@./diagram.png" \
  "${ATLASSIAN_SITE_URL%/}/wiki/rest/api/content/${PAGE_ID}/child/attachment"

Read attachment metadata via v2: GET ${CONF}/pages/${PAGE_ID}/attachments. (→ comments-attachments.md)

Workflow: full-text search (v1 CQL)

v2 lists filter by space-id/title/status. For real search use CQL on v1:

curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" \
  "${ATLASSIAN_SITE_URL%/}/wiki/rest/api/search?cql=space=PROJ%20AND%20text~%22login%20error%22"

(→ pages-blogposts.md Notes)

When a call fails (400/401/403/404/409/429), switch to the troubleshoot skill.