Backlinks for references in html output are missing

[N1N74]

I have:

• searched the issue tracker for similar issues
• installed the latest version of Quarto CLI
• formatted my issue following the Bug Reports guide

Bug description

No response

Steps to reproduce

Quarto.qmd:

---
bibliography: ref.bib
format:  html
---
# Title
Reference one, [@example01]
Reference two that is the same as one, [@Nobody007]
Reference three new reference, [@example01]

# References
::: {#refs}
:::

Refs.bib:

@misc{ example01,
       author = "Good Person",
       title = "His Article",
       year = "1988" }

@misc{ Nobody007,
       author = "Nobody Jr",
       title = "My Article",
       year = "2006" }

Actual behavior

Correctly produces html with two citations instead of three since one is repeated. But it won't produce backlinks to where it came from.

Expected behavior

Should be:

test.mp4

instead shows no backlinks.
Looks like this was discussed for pdfs before orgs/quarto-dev/discussions/5895 and also corrected(?) too but not so for html. Based on the solution provided by @anrath seems like it's a simple fix but it's a simple feature to have it baked in and also I don't want html with js rendering on it.

Your environment

• Quarto 1.8.27
• Windows 11

Quarto check output

Quarto 1.8.27
[>] Checking environment information...
Quarto cache location: C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\quarto
[>] Checking versions of quarto binary dependencies...
Pandoc version 3.6.3: OK
Dart Sass version 1.87.0: OK
Deno version 2.3.1: OK
Typst version 0.13.0: OK
[>] Checking versions of quarto dependencies......OK
[>] Checking Quarto installation......OK
Version: 1.8.27
Path: C:\Program Files\Quarto\bin
CodePage: 1252

[>] Checking tools....................OK
TinyTeX: (not installed)
Chromium: (not installed)

[>] Checking LaTeX....................OK
Using: Installation From Path
Path: C:\texlive\2025\bin\windows
Version: 2025

[>] Checking Chrome Headless....................OK
Using: Chrome found on system
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
Source: Windows Registry

[>] Checking basic markdown render....OK

[>] Checking Python 3 installation....OK
Version: 3.12.7
Path: C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python312/python.exe
Jupyter: 5.9.1
Kernels: wolframlanguage12.1, python3

[>] Checking Jupyter engine render....OK

[>] Checking R installation...........(None)

  Unable to locate an installed version of R.
  Install R from https://cloud.r-project.org/

[mcanouil]

Could you share a small self-contained "working" (reproducible) example to work with, i.e., a complete Quarto document or a Git repository? The goal is to make it as easy as possible for us to recreate your problem so that we can fix it: please help us help you! Thanks.

---

You can share a self-contained "working" (reproducible) Quarto document using the following syntax, i.e., using more backticks than you have in your document (usually four ````).
See https://quarto.org/bug-reports.html#small-is-beautiful-aim-for-a-single-document-with-10-lines.

If you have multiple files (and if it is absolutely required to have multiple files), please share as a Git repository.

R	Python
````qmd --- title: "Reproducible Quarto Document" format: html engine: knitr --- This is a reproducible Quarto document. {{< lipsum 1 >}} ```{r} x <- c(1, 2, 3, 4, 5) y <- c(1, 4, 9, 16, 25) plot(x, y) ``` {#fig-placeholder} {{< lipsum 1 >}} The end after @fig-placeholder. ````	````qmd --- title: "Reproducible Quarto Document" format: html engine: jupyter --- This is a reproducible Quarto document. {{< lipsum 1 >}} ```{python} import matplotlib.pyplot as plt x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] y = [1, 4, 9, 16, 25] plt.plot(x, y) plt.show() ``` {#fig-placeholder} {{< lipsum 1 >}} The end after @fig-placeholder. ````

Additionally and if not already given, please share the output of quarto check within a code block (i.e., using three backticks ```txt), see https://quarto.org/bug-reports.html#check.

[mcanouil]

@N1N74 please do not open issues for feature requests as asked in the guidelines.

See that there is already an issue opened about this:

• Backlinks in website output #1585

And that a workaround was shared on the discussion you've already seen:

• https://github.com/orgs/quarto-dev/discussions/5895

Multiplying issues/discussions unfortunately don't help moving things forward.
Note that pull requests are opened if the fix is as easy as you seem to think.
Also, I'm afraid to inform you that several features in Quarto relies on JavaScript.

[N1N74]

@mcanouil that's for backlinking different webpages not references found within the same webpage which I assume is a much smaller task. This feature will make publishing a single html file much simple and it'll be much more navigable, I apologize if opening an issue for this is unproductive. If there was interest in fixing this for pdfs I think there maybe enough incentive to consider for html also. Also isn't it an essential feature, even wikipedia you can navigate from citations back to where it was referenced.

Regarding JS, minimal: true is an essential feature for me (that I hope continues to work) and give me bare minimum and good looking html without any js but that's besides the point, I guess. Welp, I don't know much about this so that's all I'll say, sorry if that was troublesome again.

[mcanouil]

@N1N74 Could you at least make a truly reproducible example as described in my first reply an in the issue template you've read? Using pseudo code as example means you are saying to developers to figure out the example themselves and to spend time trying to make the example. All this time, if taken, is time that is not spent solving actual issues.

[N1N74]

@mcanouil Done, I tried to write @ something but it would link me to a user so I hadn't written it in detail. I've edited the post after figuring out but I doubt you'll see something that didn't make sense before.

I should've know better than opening an issue while also being non technical user. Peace.

[mcanouil]

Thanks.

I should've know better than opening an issue while also being non technical user. Peace.

Being "technical" or not does not matter. When you report an issue with anything, even your car, bicycle or whatever, you use it as a example making sure everyone can see and confirm the issue.
That's the same here, providing the exact steps to reproduce ensure everyone (including you) are able to reproduce a behaviour without having everyone guessing or taking time making an example themselves to try to understand your issue.