By Yamuno Team
12 May 2026
7 min read
Confluence out of the box is solid for general team documentation. For technical documentation specifically — API references, runbooks, architecture records, data science notebooks, engineering wikis — it has gaps. The native editor isn't built for developers, math rendering doesn't exist, and moving content in and out requires manual reformatting.
The Marketplace fills most of these gaps. This is a category-by-category look at which apps are worth installing for technical teams, covering markdown support, math/equations, HTML embeds, and attachment management.
Developers write in markdown. Confluence doesn't speak markdown natively. This creates a translation tax — content written in a repo, a README, or a docs-as-code workflow has to be manually reformatted when it enters Confluence.
The inverse is also true: documentation written in Confluence can't easily leave it. Export options produce mediocre HTML or PDFs, not clean markdown that can live in a Git repo.
Markdown Renderer for Confluence adds a macro to the Confluence editor that renders markdown inline. Paste markdown into the macro body, save the page, and it renders — tables, code blocks, math, task lists, all of it. No conversion step.
This is the right tool when you want to write and maintain markdown directly inside Confluence without migrating your workflow.
Good for: developers who prefer writing in markdown, teams embedding markdown content from other sources, documentation where the source needs to stay readable as plain text.
Markdown Importer for Confluence & Markdown Exporter handles bulk movement of content: import a ZIP of markdown files, a GitHub repository, or a single file — and export Confluence pages back to markdown.
It preserves hierarchy (folder structure becomes page tree), converts internal links, handles frontmatter, and exposes a REST API for CI/CD pipeline integration.
Good for: migrating documentation from GitHub, GitLab, Notion, or any markdown-native source into Confluence; maintaining docs-as-code workflows where Confluence is the published output.
Other options: There are a few other markdown import tools on the Marketplace. Most are Connect-based (externally hosted), which introduces data routing concerns for teams with strict data residency requirements. Markdown Importer is Forge-native — all processing happens inside Atlassian infrastructure.
Technical documentation for engineering, data science, and academic teams frequently needs equations. Confluence has no native math rendering. Your options without an app are: screenshots (bad for accessibility and editability), plain text approximations, or external image generators with manual embed.
LaTeX Math for Confluence adds a Forge-native LaTeX macro that renders equations server-side. Write standard LaTeX syntax, get rendered math on the page — both inline and display (block) modes supported.
\int_{0}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}
The macro handles the full LaTeX math environment: fractions, summations, integrals, matrices, Greek letters, operator names — anything in the standard math mode command set.
Good for: machine learning documentation, engineering specifications, scientific research, academic writing published to Confluence, or any technical content where equations need to be editable (not screenshots).
Other options: MathJax-based browser-side renderers exist on the Marketplace. They work, but rendering happens client-side — which can produce flash-of-unstyled-content issues and inconsistency across exported PDFs. Server-side rendering (Forge) is more reliable for documentation that needs to be exported or printed.
Architecture diagrams, flow charts, and sequence diagrams are core to technical documentation. They need to be editable by team members, not just the original author who exported a PNG from their laptop.
draw.io / Diagrams.net for Confluence is the dominant tool here. It's widely used, has good Confluence integration, and supports UML, BPMN, network diagrams, and general flowcharts. It's a Connect app (externally hosted by JGraph), which is worth knowing.
Gliffy is the other major option — similar capabilities, longer history in the Confluence ecosystem. Also Connect-based.
For code-based diagrams (Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz), there are several Forge-native apps emerging that let you write diagram definitions as text and render them inline. This fits well with docs-as-code workflows where diagrams should be version-controllable.
Yamuno doesn't currently publish a diagram app. The draw.io and Gliffy integrations are solid choices for general diagram needs.
Some technical documentation needs custom HTML — embedded interactive demos, styled tables that go beyond Confluence's native capabilities, custom callout boxes, or content migrated from an HTML-based documentation system.
Confluence strips raw HTML by default for security reasons. The native editor provides no HTML passthrough.
HTML Macro for Confluence adds a Forge-native macro that renders raw HTML on Confluence pages. Write or paste HTML into the macro body and it renders in-page.
This is useful for:
Security note: HTML rendering is controlled by Confluence admins. The macro respects Confluence's content security policies — scripts and external resource loading are subject to the same controls as the rest of the instance.
Technical documentation accumulates attachments — build artifacts, design files, exported reports, architecture diagrams, release packages. Over time, Confluence spaces fill with orphaned attachments, duplicate files, and files nobody can find because there's no organization layer.
The native Confluence attachment experience is minimal: files attached to pages, a basic list view, no folder structure, no bulk operations.
Advanced Attachment Manager for Confluence adds structured attachment management to Confluence pages — folder organization, version tracking, bulk upload/download, and better search across attachments.
Good for: teams that use Confluence pages to distribute files (release packages, build artifacts, design assets), engineering teams running design review or release management in Confluence, documentation spaces where attachments are first-class content.
Two things worth checking before installing any Marketplace app:
Forge apps run inside Atlassian's infrastructure. Your data never routes through an external server. This matters for teams with data residency requirements, SOC 2 compliance obligations, or strict network policies.
Connect apps (labeled "server" or with an external vendor hosting model) route data through the vendor's servers. This is fine for many teams but is worth understanding upfront — especially for apps that process documentation content.
All Yamuno apps are Forge-native. On any app's Marketplace listing, the hosting model is listed under the app details.
Check what Confluence and Jira permissions an app requests at install time. A diagram app that requests write access to your entire Confluence space should prompt questions. Most legitimate apps request narrow, sensible scopes — if something seems excessive, read the privacy policy and check the vendor's security documentation.
| Need | App |
|---|---|
| Write markdown in Confluence | Markdown Renderer for Confluence |
| Import/export markdown in bulk | Markdown Importer & Exporter for Confluence |
| LaTeX equations | LaTeX Math for Confluence |
| Diagrams | draw.io or Gliffy |
| Raw HTML embeds | HTML Macro for Confluence |
| Attachment organization | Advanced Attachment Manager for Confluence |
All Yamuno apps are available on the Atlassian Marketplace — free to try, Forge-native.
Questions? Reach out via our support portal.
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