DOCX and PDF Export

DOCX and PDF Export

Export Confluence pages to Microsoft Word (DOCX) with customizable templates, or use the browser extension to create a tagged PDF with the built-in atlcli document design.

On this page

• Browser extension: PDF export
• CLI: DOCX quick start
• Rendering engines
• Templates
• Table of contents
• Template variables
• Troubleshooting

Browser extension: PDF export

The PDF path is additive: Export to Word and its template upload continue to work as before. On a loaded Confluence page, select Export to PDF. The extension prepares attachments and diagrams, compiles the page in a background worker, validates the result, and downloads <page-title>.pdf.

The completion report separates preparation, compilation, and download time. Preparation includes authenticated attachment fetching, so image-heavy pages can be distinguished from a slow compiler without enabling debug logging.

PDF currently uses one built-in standard design. It includes a cover, computed table of contents, promoted heading hierarchy, running header, page-number footer, callouts, status badges, syntax-highlighted code, tables, images and vector Mermaid diagrams. Custom PDF template upload is not available yet.

PDF support and limits

Area	Behavior
PDF profile	Tagged PDF; no PDF/UA or PDF/A conformance claim
Fonts	Bundled Source Serif 4, Source Sans 3 and Source Code Pro; no system-font or CDN dependency
Attachments	PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP and safe SVG; 25 MB per file, 50 MB total
External images	Not fetched; exported as a readable fallback with a report note
Mermaid	Supported diagrams remain vector SVG; failures become readable source code
Job storage	64 MB per input/output and 128 MB total temporary browser storage
Compiler timeout	60 seconds; the compiler worker is terminated and recreated

The extension validates image magic bytes, rejects active or externally loaded SVG content, and validates that the compiled PDF has pages, tags and embedded fonts before download. Compilation, the template and fonts are fully local. Network requests during PDF export are limited to the active *.atlassian.net tenant and authenticated attachment redirects to api.media.atlassian.com.

The generated PDF is tagged by default, but tagged output is not the same as certified PDF/UA. The pinned browser compiler does not expose PDF/UA-1 profile selection, so atlcli does not make that claim.

Prerequisites

• Authenticated profile (atlcli auth login)
• Space permission: View permission on pages to export
• Word-compatible template file (.docx or .docm)

Quick Start

# Export a page using a template
atlcli wiki export 12345678 --template corporate --output ./report.docx

# Export using space:title format
atlcli wiki export "DOCS:Architecture Overview" -t report -o ./arch.docx

Page Reference Formats

Format	Example	Description
Page ID	12345678	Numeric Confluence page ID
Space:Title	DOCS:My Page	Space key and page title
URL	https://...	Full Confluence page URL

Options

Option	Description
--template, -t	Template name or path (required)
--output, -o	Output file path (required)
--no-images	Don’t embed images from attachments
--include-children	Include child pages in export
--no-merge	Keep children as separate array for template loops
--no-toc-prompt	Disable TOC update prompt in Word
--engine	Rendering engine: python (default) or ts (see Rendering Engines)
--profile	Use a specific auth profile

Rendering Engines

atlcli wiki export can render through two engines:

Engine	Templates	Requirements	Feature scope
python (default)	Jinja2 variables ({{ title }}, …)	Python 3.12+ with atlcli-export	Images, children, content-by-label
ts	Scroll placeholders ($scroll.title, $scroll.content, …)	None (runs in-process)	Single page; embeds PNG/JPEG/GIF images (SVG not yet)

The ts engine is the isomorphic @atlcli/docx export engine — the exact same code the atlcli browser extension uses for its “Export to Word” button, driven here with filesystem adapters. Pick it when you have a Scroll-Word-Exporter-style template and want an export with no Python dependency:

atlcli wiki export 12345678 --template scroll-corporate.docx --output out.docx --engine ts

The JSON result includes an export report: how many placeholders resolved, which are unsupported (rendered empty), and how many images were embedded or skipped. Attachment and external images embed inline at their intrinsic size (or the page-set width), capped to the content width; an image that cannot be fetched or decoded becomes a warning note instead of failing the export. --no-images disables embedding for this engine too.

Mermaid diagrams

The ts engine renders fenced ```mermaid code blocks into real vector drawings (SVG with an automatic PNG fallback for older Word versions) — in the CLI and in the browser extension alike. Six diagram types are supported: flowchart, state, sequence, class, ER, and XY chart. Any other type (Gantt, Pie, Mindmap, …) and any diagram that fails to render exports as a readable source code block with a report note naming the reason — never a broken image. The diagram source is carried as the drawing’s alt text.

The CLI rasterizes the PNG fallback with a bundled WebAssembly build of resvg and bundled Inter and JetBrains Mono fonts (the families the diagrams use), so rendering works identically on every platform with no browser, system fonts, or other runtime dependencies — including the Homebrew and standalone binaries. If the rasterizer cannot be loaded, the export still succeeds: mermaid blocks degrade to source code blocks and the report says so in a note.

Diagram theming follows the export’s brand colors when configured; the default is a neutral light theme matching the code-block styling. Theme colors should be hex values (#RRGGBB).

Templates

Template Resolution

Templates are resolved in order (first match wins):

1. Direct file path (if exists)
2. Project: .atlcli/templates/confluence/<name>.docx
3. Profile: ~/.atlcli/profiles/<profile>/templates/confluence/<name>.docx
4. Global: ~/.atlcli/templates/confluence/<name>.docx

atlcli supports both .docx and .docm (macro-enabled) templates.

Template Management

# List available templates
atlcli wiki export template list

# Save a template
atlcli wiki export template save corporate --file ./template.docx --level global

# Delete a template
atlcli wiki export template delete old-template --confirm

Template Levels

Level	Location	Use Case
project	.atlcli/templates/confluence/	Project-specific templates
profile	~/.atlcli/profiles/<name>/templates/confluence/	Instance-specific templates
global	~/.atlcli/templates/confluence/	Shared across all projects

Table of Contents

Confluence TOC Macro

When a Confluence page contains a :::toc macro, it’s converted to a Word-native TOC field:

:::toc
:::

The exported TOC:

• Uses Word’s built-in TOC functionality
• Includes heading levels 1-3 with hyperlinks
• Shows placeholder text until updated in Word

TOC Update Behavior

By default, Word prompts to update fields when opening the document:

“This document contains fields that may refer to other files. Do you want to update the fields in this document?”

Click Yes to populate the TOC with correct entries and page numbers.

Disabling the Prompt

Use --no-toc-prompt to disable the update prompt:

atlcli wiki export 12345 -t report -o out.docx --no-toc-prompt

When using this option:

• Word opens without prompting
• TOC shows placeholder text
• Update manually: right-click TOC, select “Update Field”

Template Variables

Templates use Jinja2 syntax. Available variables:

Page Content

Variable	Description
{{ title }}	Page title
{{ content }}	Page content (as Word subdocument)
{{ pageId }}	Confluence page ID
{{ pageUrl }}	Full page URL
{{ tinyUrl }}	Short page URL

Author Information

Variable	Description
{{ author }}	Creator’s display name
{{ authorEmail }}	Creator’s email
{{ modifier }}	Last modifier’s display name
{{ modifierEmail }}	Last modifier’s email

Dates

Variable	Description
{{ created }}	Creation date (ISO format)
{{ modified }}	Last modified date (ISO format)
{{ exportDate }}	Export timestamp

Use the date filter for formatting: {{ modified | date('YYYY-MM-DD') }}

Space Information

Variable	Description
{{ spaceKey }}	Space key (e.g., “DOCS”)
{{ spaceName }}	Space name
{{ spaceUrl }}	Space URL

Collections

Variable	Description
{{ labels }}	List of page labels
{{ attachments }}	List of attachments
{{ children }}	Child pages (with --include-children --no-merge)

Examples

Basic Export

atlcli wiki export 12345678 --template basic --output ./page.docx

Export with Children

# Merge children into single document
atlcli wiki export 12345 -t book -o book.docx --include-children

# Keep children separate for template loops
atlcli wiki export 12345 -t book -o book.docx --include-children --no-merge

Export without Images

atlcli wiki export 12345 -t report -o report.docx --no-images

Suppress TOC Prompt

atlcli wiki export 12345 -t report -o report.docx --no-toc-prompt

Scroll Word Exporter Compatibility

atlcli supports templates created for Scroll Word Exporter. With the default python engine, Scroll placeholders ($scroll.title, $scroll.content, etc.) are automatically converted to the equivalent atlcli variables. With --engine ts, Scroll placeholders are resolved natively — the template is scanned, supported placeholders are filled, unsupported ones are emptied and listed in the export report, and the page body is injected at $scroll.content. The logo placeholders $scroll.spacelogo and $scroll.globallogo embed the space logo as an image (optionally sized via .(height,width) in px); on Confluence Cloud the global logo is not separately fetchable, so $scroll.globallogo also resolves to the space logo (noted in the report). Default Cloud space logos are SVGs, which are not embedded yet — upload a custom PNG/JPEG logo to the space for logo embedding.

Troubleshooting

Word Can’t Open the File

• Ensure the template is a valid .docx or .docm file
• Check that the template was created in Word 2007 or later
• Try opening the template itself to verify it’s not corrupted

TOC Not Updating

• Click inside the TOC
• Right-click and select “Update Field”
• Choose “Update entire table”

Images Not Appearing

• Verify images are attached to the Confluence page
• Check that --no-images flag is not set
• Embedded images use the template’s image placeholder styling

Related Topics

• Pages - Page operations and finding page IDs
• Attachments - Managing page attachments for export
• Templates - Page templates (different from export templates)
• DOCX Export Engine - The reusable @atlcli/docx engine behind --engine ts
• PDF Export Engine - Browser compiler, assets and verification