Invalid External Link in Text component - AEM as Cloud | Community
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tejaswi_aem
Level 2
May 2, 2025
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Invalid External Link in Text component - AEM as Cloud

  • May 2, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 730 views

In AEM text component, where there is a option to add link, can we add links which has authentication requirements ?

I have tried adding one, for normal external links it is working fine, when I add a link which requires authentication, AEM link checker is showing it as invalid and it is showing up as broken link on page in Edit mode. 

How can we bypass this and give that link on page ?
one solution is to add this domain in Link checker service config to bypass, for that we have to add multiple domains. 
Please let me know if there are any other solutions. 

    Best answer by Asutosh_Jena_

    Hi @tejaswi_aem 

    You can refer the document here:
    https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-cloud-kcs/kbarticles/ka-17468

    Since you're working on the text component, Option 1 may not be suitable in your case, as you likely won’t have access to the link required to add the skip option.

    You can consider Option 3 if the links follow a specific regex pattern. Otherwise, you may need to disable link checking on the Author instance—however, this approach is generally not recommended.

    In my opinion, if the broken link warnings are appearing only for authenticated URLs, and you're confident that the links are correct, it's reasonable to proceed as is, especially since link checking is disabled on the Publish environment anyway. This should be acceptable as it affects only a few URLs, not the majority.
    Thanks,

    Asutosh

    4 replies

    S
    ShivamKumar
    Level 4
    May 2, 2025

    Hi @tejaswi_aem ,

    You can try adding attribute x-cq-linkchecker like this:- 

    <a href="https://secure.example.com" x-cq-linkchecker="skip">Secure Link</a>

     

    This tells AEM to skip validating the link in author mode, the link won’t show up as broken, even if it requires authentication or is blocked by a firewall.

     

    Try this and let me know if it works.

      Asutosh_Jena_
      Community Advisor
      Asutosh_Jena_Community AdvisorAccepted solution
      Community Advisor
      May 2, 2025

      Hi @tejaswi_aem 

      You can refer the document here:
      https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-cloud-kcs/kbarticles/ka-17468

      Since you're working on the text component, Option 1 may not be suitable in your case, as you likely won’t have access to the link required to add the skip option.

      You can consider Option 3 if the links follow a specific regex pattern. Otherwise, you may need to disable link checking on the Author instance—however, this approach is generally not recommended.

      In my opinion, if the broken link warnings are appearing only for authenticated URLs, and you're confident that the links are correct, it's reasonable to proceed as is, especially since link checking is disabled on the Publish environment anyway. This should be acceptable as it affects only a few URLs, not the majority.
      Thanks,

      Asutosh

        AmitVishwakarma
        Community Advisor
        AmitVishwakarmaCommunity Advisor
        Community Advisor
        May 4, 2025

        Hi @tejaswi_aem ,

        When adding external links that require authentication in the AEM Text component, the Link Checker in Author mode marks them as invalid or broken, even though they are valid in production (Publish). This happens because the link checker can't access authentication-protected URLs.

        To bypass link validation for such URLs safely and effectively, add the attribute x-cq-linkchecker="skip" to your anchor (<a>) tag.
        This tells AEM to skip checking this link in Author.

        Example:

        <a href="https://secure.example.com" x-cq-linkchecker="skip">Secure Link</a>

         

        Why This Works

          - AEM’s Link Checker runs only in Author, not in Publish.

          - This attribute is officially supported by Adobe for skipping link checks.

          - It ensures the link does not appear broken in the authoring interface while still functioning normally in Publish.

          - No need to modify OSGi configs or whitelist domains globally.

        For Rich Text Editor (RTE) Components

        If you're using an RTE and don’t see the option to edit HTML directly:

        Ensure the sourceedit plugin is enabled in the dialog’s configuration so authors can manually add the attribute:

        <uiSettings jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured"> <rtePlugins jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured"> <edit jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*"/> </rtePlugins> </uiSettings>

        Use this approach only for known secure and valid URLs. This method is non-invasive, does not affect end-users, and is future-proof with AEM as a Cloud Service.

        Regards,
        Amit

          kautuk_sahni
          Community Manager
          kautuk_sahniCommunity Manager
          Community Manager
          June 17, 2025

          @tejaswi_aem Did you find the suggestion helpful? If you need more information, please let us know. If a response resolved your issue, kindly mark it as correct to help others in the future. Alternatively, if you discovered a solution on your own, we'd appreciate it if you could share it with the community. Thank you.

          Kautuk Sahni
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