Use Confluence AI to Draft and Improve Pages
What This Does
Confluence's built-in AI (Atlassian Intelligence) drafts new documentation pages from a brief description, summarizes existing long pages, and rewrites content for clarity — all without leaving your wiki.
Before You Start
- Access to a Confluence workspace (Cloud version — AI features aren't available in Data Center/Server)
- Atlassian Intelligence enabled on your workspace (admins enable this in Settings > Atlassian Intelligence)
- Either an existing page to improve OR a topic you want to draft
Steps
1. Create a new page and invoke AI drafting
Go to your Confluence space, click "Create" to open a new page. In the editor, type / (forward slash) to open the insert menu. Search for "AI" — you'll see "Draft with AI" as an option.
What you should see: A text input box asking what you want to write about.
2. Give the AI a clear brief
Type a description of what you want to document. Be specific:
- "A troubleshooting guide for users who can't log in, covering: wrong password, SSO errors, account locked, and 2FA issues"
- "Step-by-step instructions for a system admin to set up the Slack integration, starting from the admin panel"
What you should see: After a few seconds, a full page draft appears in the editor, structured with headings and bullet points.
3. Review and edit the draft
Read through the draft. It will have the right structure but will need:
- Your actual product details (specific menu names, button labels, URLs)
- Accuracy verification — AI fabricates plausible but incorrect steps
- Your company's terminology and style
Use the draft as a skeleton, filling in accurate details from the product.
4. Use "Improve writing" on existing pages
Open any existing Confluence page you want to improve. Select text, right-click (or use the toolbar), and choose Atlassian Intelligence → Improve writing. Options include: Make shorter, Make clearer, Fix spelling and grammar, Change tone.
What you should see: A suggestion panel appears with the rewritten text. You can accept or dismiss.
5. Use "Summarize" for long pages
On any long page, click the Atlassian Intelligence icon (sparkle icon in the top right) → Summarize this page. Useful for: getting the gist of pages before editing, creating TL;DRs for complex runbooks, reviewing pages before a documentation audit.
Troubleshooting: If you don't see AI features, ask your Confluence admin to enable Atlassian Intelligence. It requires a Premium or Enterprise Confluence plan.
Real Example
Scenario: A new integration was just shipped and you need to document it in Confluence by end of day.
What you do: Create a new page → Draft with AI → "Step-by-step admin guide for setting up the Salesforce integration: connecting the account, mapping fields, enabling sync, and troubleshooting common sync errors."
What you get: A complete page structure with 5 sections and placeholder steps. You spend 20 minutes filling in the actual UI steps from the product, vs. 60 minutes writing from scratch.
Tips
- Confluence AI drafts are good for structure but unreliable for specific product details — always verify step-by-step instructions against the actual product
- Use "Summarize" before editing old pages — it tells you what the page currently covers so you know what to update vs. rewrite
- The "Improve writing" feature works best on long, run-on paragraphs — it's less useful on already-concise documentation
- AI features are only on Confluence Cloud (not Data Center or Server) — if your org uses self-hosted Confluence, these features aren't available
Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.