Does Smart Links require an underline Application Links connection set up?

[Kate Stryhunivska]

I'm exploring the App Link connection and came across Smart Links in Confluence, and I'm trying to connect the dots between App Links and Smart Links. It seems both are related, but I can't find any Atlassian documentation to confirm. Any pointers will be much appreciated.

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Hello and welcome to the Community @Kate Stryhunivska 

Smart Links and Application Links are related ideas, but they are not the same thing. Smart Links are the newer link-preview/embed experience when you paste supported URLs into Confluence or Jira. Atlassian’s Cloud docs describe that as a built-in platform feature, not something where you first have to go and manually create an AppLink just to make normal Smart Links work.

Where Application Links still come in is more in the background integration cases, for example linking Atlassian products more deeply, or especially Cloud ↔ Data Center scenarios. So if someone says “Smart Links use AppLinks underneath”, that may be true in some setups, but I would not describe Smart Links in Cloud as simply “Application Links with a new name.”

[Kate Stryhunivska]

Thank you,  @Arkadiusz Wroblewski that's useful. Are there any prerequisites prior to Smart Links being available/enabled (e.g. in Confluence/Jira admin settings configuration)? Is all Jira/Confleunce users have access to Smart Links? 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Kate Stryhunivska 

No there´s no extra Switch "On" for that.

Smart Links are part of the editor experience, and most pasted links automatically convert into Smart Links.

Regular users can use them when editing pages. What usually matters is whether the link type is supported and whether the user is authenticated and has access to the linked content. For some non-Atlassian sources, users may need to sign in once before the Smart Link can resolve properly.

[Kate Stryhunivska]

@Arkadiusz Wroblewski I can see now, because I was trying to link non-Atlassian sources it has required me to sign in the app and that's where I've been asked to get an approval (on the recipient app side), that what prompted me to mix up Smart Links with App Links. Just to clarify, each time a new user adds a smart link for non-Atlassian source it would require an approval? Even thought approval has been granted in the past for the other users? Does it make sence 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Kate Stryhunivska 

1. Yes, a user may need to sign in the first time for a non-Atlassian source
2. Sometimes, the external provider also needs a one-time admin approval first, depending on the source
3. after that, other users would usually still need to authenticate themselves, but not necessarily trigger a fresh admin approval each time