Invalid External Link in Text component - AEM as Cloud

[tejaswi_aem]

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. 

[ShivamKumar]

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_ · Accepted solution]

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]

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]

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