This one from @Madhusudhan Matrubai catches people off guard:
“I asked Rovo to duplicate a Confluence page… and it recreated it in XML format.”
Let’s unpack what’s going on.
What happened
The request was straightforward:
- Duplicate a page
- Remove task items
- Rename it with a new date
Rovo:
- Created the page with the correct title
- But the content showed up as raw XML
Why this happens
This isn’t a permissions issue. It’s a formatting/rendering issue tied to how Confluence stores content. Confluence pages exist in different formats:
- Rendered view (what you see in the UI)
- Storage format (XML/structured content behind the scenes)
In this case:
Rovo pulled the storage-format version of the page instead of the rendered version. So instead of recreating readable content, it copied the underlying structure.
Why it feels inconsistent
Because it is.
Rovo is:
- Retrieving content
- Interpreting it
- Then rewriting it into a new page
Sometimes it:
- Uses rendered content (works as expected)
- Uses storage format (you get XML)
There’s no visible toggle controlling which path it takes.
What you can do today
If this happens:
1. Retry with a simpler prompt: Long or multi-step instructions increase the chance of format issues
2. Break the task into steps
- First: duplicate or summarize content
- Then: refine/remove sections
3. Paste specific content instead of referencing the whole page: This reduces ambiguity in retrieval
If it keeps happening
Capture:
- Timestamp
- Page URL
- Prompt used
Then open a Support ticket. This helps Atlassian trace:
- Which format was retrieved
- What happened during conversion
Champion takeaway
Rovo isn’t “duplicating” pages the way Confluence does natively. It’s:
- Reading content
- Reinterpreting it
- Rebuilding it
That works well for flexibility—but introduces variability.
When to use native duplication instead
If you need:
- Exact formatting
- Reliable structure
- No surprises
Use Confluence’s built-in [Copy page] feature.
Use Rovo when:
- You want to modify, summarize, or transform content
