## [How to Display JSON, XML, YAML & Code in Confluence (With Syntax Highlighting)](/blog/display-json-xml-code-in-confluence.md)

July 23, 2026 ·

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10 min read

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Who should read this

* **Developer teams** documenting APIs, configs, and schemas in Confluence
* **Tech writers** who need formatted code samples alongside prose
* **Anyone** pasting JSON, XML, YAML, or SQL into Confluence and getting an unreadable wall of text

What you'll learn

1. Why Confluence's built-in code block struggles with JSON, XML, and config files
2. How to embed syntax-highlighted code in 85+ languages using a Monaco-powered editor
3. Theme configuration, diff views, and screenshot-ready window chrome
4. When to use a code block vs. a visual JSON structure diagram

The scenario every engineering team hits: you're documenting an API in Confluence, and the page needs to show a JSON response, an XML config, a YAML deployment manifest, and a SQL query — all on the same page. You paste each one into Confluence's built-in code block macro, publish, and the result is a wall of monochrome text. No syntax colors. No line numbers that work. JSON braces, XML tags, and YAML indentation all blur together. The reader has to copy-paste your snippet into VS Code just to understand it.

The root problem is that Confluence's native code block uses a basic highlighter that wasn't built for the structured data formats modern teams actually work with. JSON, XML, YAML, and SQL each have specific visual conventions — matched braces, nested tags, indentation scopes — that a generic highlighter doesn't handle well.

[**Modern Code Blocks for Confluence**](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/3525717923/modern-code-blocks-for-confluence) solves this by bringing the Monaco Editor — the same engine that powers VS Code — into Confluence. It accurately highlights 85+ languages including JSON, XML, YAML, SQL, GraphQL, Terraform, Dockerfile, and every mainstream programming language. This guide walks through embedding formatted code and data formats in your Confluence pages.

**Tags:**

* [confluence](/blog/tags/confluence.md)
* [json](/blog/tags/json.md)
* [xml](/blog/tags/xml.md)
* [yaml](/blog/tags/yaml.md)
* [code-blocks](/blog/tags/code-blocks.md)
* [syntax-highlighting](/blog/tags/syntax-highlighting.md)
* [how-to](/blog/tags/how-to.md)
* [api-documentation](/blog/tags/api-documentation.md)

[**Read more**](/blog/display-json-xml-code-in-confluence.md)