gatsbyjs/gatsby · error

External link ${to} was detected in a Link component. Use th

Error message

External link ${to} was detected in a Link component. Use the Link component only for internal links. See: https://gatsby.dev/internal-links

What it means

Dev-only warning from gatsby-link's render: isLocalLink(to) is false, meaning the `to` prop is an external/absolute URL that the client-side router cannot navigate; the router still renders it but behavior is undefined.

Source

Thrown at packages/gatsby-link/src/index.js:154

    const {
      to,
      getProps = this.defaultGetProps,
      onClick,
      onMouseEnter,
      /* eslint-disable no-unused-vars */
      activeClassName: $activeClassName,
      activeStyle: $activeStyle,
      innerRef: $innerRef,
      partiallyActive,
      state,
      replace,
      _location,
      /* eslint-enable no-unused-vars */
      ...rest
    } = this.props

    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== `production` && !isLocalLink(to)) {
      console.warn(
        `External link ${to} was detected in a Link component. Use the Link component only for internal links. See: https://gatsby.dev/internal-links`
      )
    }

    const prefixedTo = rewriteLinkPath(to, _location.pathname)
    if (!isLocalLink(prefixedTo)) {
      return <a href={prefixedTo} {...rest} />
    }

    return (
      <ReachRouterLink
        to={prefixedTo}
        state={state}
        getProps={getProps}
        innerRef={this.handleRef}
        onMouseEnter={e => {
          if (onMouseEnter) {
            onMouseEnter(e)

View on GitHub (pinned to e85d62f177)

Solutions

1. Use a plain <a href> for external links
2. Keep <Link> for internal site paths only (https://gatsby.dev/internal-links)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/gatsby-link/src/index.js:154 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of gatsbyjs/gatsby@e85d62f177 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1d83e635329c340c. Report an issue: GitHub.