The docmd 0.7.6 release introduces a unified URL normalisation engine that eliminates 301 redirects, enforces trailing-slash URLs for SEO, and brings consistent link handling across every surface.

✨ Highlights

Unified URL Normalisation

All URL handling now routes through a single resolveHref() function in @docmd/parser. Trailing-slash enforcement, index.md stripping, and double-slash prevention are applied consistently across Markdown links, button containers, navigation, and menubar.

• Eliminate 301 Redirects: URLs like /configuration/overview resolve to 200 directly at /configuration/overview/.
• No Path Artefacts: No /index remnants or .md extensions in any rendered link.
• Hreflang Accuracy: Alternate tags now correctly strip locale prefixes from page paths.

See the Linking & Referencing guide for the full URL translation table.

Universal external: and raw: Prefixes

We’ve introduced two new magic prefixes to give you total control over link behaviour across all docmd components.

• external: — Force New Tab: Add this to any link (Markdown, Buttons, Menubar) to force it to open in a new tab.
• raw: — Bypass Normalisation: Use this when you need to link to a file (like template.md) without the engine stripping its extension.

[Open in new tab](external:./configuration/overview.md)
::: button "API Docs" external:./api/node-api.md
[Download Template](raw:templates/starter.md)

Behaviour change: HTTP/HTTPS links no longer auto-open in a new tab. Use external: explicitly when you want that behaviour.

Centralised URL API for Plugins

A new URL utility layer in @docmd/parser is re-exported via @docmd/api. Plugins no longer need to parse outputPath manually — the engine pre-computes clean URLs for every page:

import { outputPathToSlug, sanitizeUrl } from '@docmd/api';

export async function onPostBuild({ pages }) {
  for (const page of pages) {
    page.urls.slug;      // "guide/"
    page.urls.canonical; // "https://example.com/guide/"
    page.urls.pathname;  // "/guide/"
  }
}

See the Plugin Development guide for the full API reference.

🔧 Developer Experience

Silent Plugin Warnings in Dev Mode

Previously, a missing or misconfigured plugin would print a warning on every file change during docmd dev. These warnings are now printed once per dev session and suppressed on subsequent rebuilds to keep your terminal clean.

↻ Change in docs/en/guide.md... ⚠️  Could not load plugin: @docmd/plugin-math
Done.

SPA Hash Navigation Fixed

In SPA mode, clicking a #heading anchor on the current page now scrolls smoothly to the target element. Browser back/forward through hash history (via popstate) also scrolls correctly.

[Jump to Configuration](#configuration)  <!-- now working in SPA mode -->

🚀 SEO Improvements

• Trailing Slashes: All internal URLs rendered with trailing slashes to eliminate 301 redirect chains.
• Clean paths: Canonical and hreflang <link> tags use correct normalized paths.
• Zero Artefacts: No .md extensions or /index fragments in production HTML.

Migration Guide

Update with npm update @docmd/core or pnpm update @docmd/core. No configuration changes required.