Function parseLinkToPath

src/utils/linkUtils.ts:19–84

(linkText: string)

 * @returns The extracted path, or the original string if it's not a recognized link format
 */
export function parseLinkToPath(linkText: string): string {
	if (!linkText) return linkText;

	const trimmed = linkText.trim();

	// Handle plain angle-bracket autolink style: <path/to/note.md>
	if (trimmed.startsWith("<") && trimmed.endsWith(">")) {
		let inner = trimmed.slice(1, -1).trim();
		const hasMdExt = /\.md$/i.test(inner);
		try {
			inner = decodeURIComponent(inner);
		} catch (error) {
			tasknotesLogger.debug("Failed to decode URI component:", {
				category: "internal",
				operation: "decode-uri-component",
				details: { value: inner },
				error: error,
			});
		}

		const parsedPath = parseLinkPath(inner);
		return hasMdExt ? inner : parsedPath || inner;
	}

	// Handle wikilinks: [[path]] or [[path|alias]]
	if (trimmed.startsWith("[[") && trimmed.endsWith("]]")) {
		const inner = trimmed.slice(2, -2).trim();

		// Manually strip alias if present.
		const pipeIndex = inner.indexOf("|");
		const pathOnly = pipeIndex !== -1 ? inner.substring(0, pipeIndex) : inner;
		return parseLinkPath(pathOnly);
	}

	// Handle markdown links: [text](path)
	const markdownMatch = trimmed.match(/^\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)$/);
	if (markdownMatch) {
		let linkPath = markdownMatch[2].trim();

		// Strip angle brackets used to allow special characters/spaces in markdown links
		if (linkPath.startsWith("<") && linkPath.endsWith(">")) {
			linkPath = linkPath.slice(1, -1).trim();
		}

		const hasMdExt = /\.md$/i.test(linkPath);

		// URL decode the link path - crucial for paths with spaces like Car%20Maintenance.md
		try {
			linkPath = decodeURIComponent(linkPath);
		} catch (error) {
			// If decoding fails, use the original path
			tasknotesLogger.debug("Failed to decode URI component:", {
				category: "internal",
				operation: "decode-uri-component",
				details: { value: linkPath },
				error: error,
			});
		}