Open external links in a new tab

@nera-static/plugin-link-attributes post-processes your rendered HTML and adds attributes to outbound links — so every external link opens in a new tab, safely, without you touching the Markdown.

1. Install

npm install @nera-static/plugin-link-attributes

No template to publish — this plugin only transforms content. Its one setting lives in a config file.

2. Configure

config/link-attributes.yaml lists the attributes to add. The quick way to get it is the plugin's own command, which writes the defaults shown below:

npx nera-link-attributes

An existing file is left alone, so re-running never overwrites your edits; npx nera-link-attributes --force replaces it with a fresh copy. You can also write the file by hand:

attributes:
    - target="_blank"
    - rel="noopener noreferrer"

Without any attributes the plugin leaves your pages unchanged — no file, no new tabs.

The plugin targets only links whose href starts with http or www, so your internal links (/docs/...) are left alone, and an attribute a link already has is never overwritten. The rel="noopener noreferrer" is worth keeping — it closes the tab-nabbing hole that bare target="_blank" opens.

3. The one gotcha: layout links

The plugin rewrites links inside your Markdown content, not links you write directly in Pug layouts (a header "GitHub" button, a footer link). Add the same attributes to those by hand:

a.site-header__cta(href=app.repo_url, target="_blank", rel="noopener noreferrer") GitHub

Render, and every outbound link — in content and in your layout — opens in a new tab. This site does exactly this; try any GitHub link.