---
title: "Link to another application with application links"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/MARKDOWN/72386349/Link%20to%20another%20application%20with%20application%20links"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (aura-html)

# <span style="color: #000000">Description</span>

<span style="color: #000000">This article illustrates the process of linking Confluence to other Atlassian products using </span>[<span style="color: #000000">application links</span>](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/integrating-confluence-with-other-applications-233148856.html)<span style="color: #000000"> </span>(<span style="color: #000000">sometimes called app links or AppLinks</span>). <span style="color: #000000">If a URL that contains the base URL of a linked application is given in the</span>* *<span style="color: #000000">*URL*</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">parameter of the macro editor, the macro recognizes the URL and directly renders the Markdown content on the Confluence page. After the initial verification, URLs to this linked application are treated as direct links and do not need any further authentication. </span><span style="color: #000000">Creating app links has many advantages, such as:</span>

- <u><span style="color: #000000">Security</span></u><span style="color: #000000">: </span><span style="color: #000000">is</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">only </span><span style="color: #000000">required to authenticate user credentials when an </span><span style="color: #000000">application link</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">is created</span><span style="color: #000000">.</span>
- <u><span style="color: #000000">Usability</span></u><span style="color: #000000">: </span><span style="color: #000000">Authentication is done only when the application link is created, thus, frequent prompts for user credentials are avoided</span><span style="color: #000000">.</span>
- <u><span style="color: #000000">Seamless access across the platform</span></u><span style="color: #000000">: </span><span style="color: #000000">Administrators have to configure</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">application link</span><span style="color: #000000">s only once for permitted users to access the app</span><span style="color: #000000">.</span>

> ℹ️ **Prerequisites for creating app links:**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">To link Confluence to another app, you should be an administrator for both the instances of the app. </span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">Atlassian recommends that you use OAuth with impersonation authentication if you select the </span><span style="color: #000000">*The servers have the same set of users*</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span><span style="color: #000000">option</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span><span style="color: #000000">when linking.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">You require a working link URL for the application to be linked with Confluence.</span>

# <span style="color: #000000">Steps</span>

1. <span style="color: #000000">Create the application link in Confluence administration as mentioned in the Confluence support page on</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>[<span style="color: #000000">application links</span>](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/linking-to-another-application-360677690.html)<span style="color: #000000">. Once the linking is successful, you can see the status as </span>*<span style="color: #000000">Connected</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> in green.</span>  
> Macro (inline-media-image)
2. <span style="color: #000000">Add a </span>*<span style="color: #000000">Markdown from a URL</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> macro on your Confluence page, or edit an existing macro to open the editor.</span>
3. <span style="color: #000000">Enter a raw, absolute URL of the Markdown file in the macro's </span>*<span style="color: #000000">URL</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> parameter. As an example, the following screenshot shows how you can enter an absolute URL that points to a linked Bitbucket instance:</span>> Macro (inline-media-image)

> ℹ️ **Points to remember**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">Administrators can link Confluence with other Atlassian applications such as Bitbucket or Jira.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">If a URL that contains the base URL of a linked application is given in the</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> </span>**<span style="color: #000000">URL</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">parameter</span><span style="color: #000000"> in the macro editor, it acts like a direct link to the required Markdown file. For example, if the URL used to link Bitbucket with Confluence is</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>*<span style="color: #000000">https://bitbucket.domain.com</span>*<span style="color: #000000">,</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">and the URL in a </span>*<span style="color: #000000">URL</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> parameter is </span>*<span style="color: #000000">https://bitbucket.domain.com</span>**<span style="color: #000000">/repository/file</span>*<span style="color: #000000">, the macro recognizes this link and directly renders the file content</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">on the Confluence page without asking for user credentials.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">Application links take precedence over profiles and other URLs when URLs are processed in macros. If an application has been linked with Confluence and a URL related to that application is given in any of the macros, these are processed first.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">After the links are created, user credentials are authenticated only once when an application linked URL is processed through a macro.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">Once user credentials have been verified through a macro, URLs given from a verified application link then works like an absolute path to the file location.</span>
> ℹ️ - <span style="color: #000000">Application links, if created, allow users to directly access the required file(s) through any of the macros. On the other hand, p</span><span style="color: #000000">rofiles are a means to access files in other external locations without exposing any sensitive information such as user credentials and so on.</span>