[Bug]: confluence_search_user fails on Confluence Server (on-premise)

[dosentmatter]

Prerequisites

• I have searched the existing issues to make sure this bug has not already been reported.
• I have checked the README for relevant information.

Bug Description

confluence_search_user tool uses non-existent /rest/api/search/user API on Confluence Server. /rest/api/search/user only exists on Confluence Cloud.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start mcp inspector on the server with on-premises Confluence Server CONFLUENCE URL

CONFLUENCE_URL=https://confluence.example.com \
CONFLUENCE_USERNAME=xxx \
CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN=yyy
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx --with 'pydantic==2.11.9' mcp-atlassian

2. List tools
3. Use confluence_search_user tool to search user.fullname ~ "John Doe"
4. Run tool

Expected Behavior

I expect user search to use /rest/api/search for Confluence Server with the same CQL then filter the response for users. Similar to how confluence_search tool uses /rest/api/search then filters for content https://github.com/sooperset/mcp-atlassian/pull/509/files#diff-844d629aed45093716b43688e59fa0c16c48e6da2a687baba1e188c11ea85ee6R79

Actual Behavior

You will get error:

{
  "error": "An unexpected error occurred while searching for users: null for uri: https://confluence.example.com/rest/api/search/user?cql=user.fullname+~+%22John+Doe%22&limit=10"
}

mcp-atlassian Version

0.11.9

Installation Method

From PyPI (pip install mcp-atlassian / uv add mcp-atlassian)

Operating System

macOS

Python Version

3.9.7

Atlassian Instance Type

Confluence Server / Data Center

I am on Confluence Server 7.19.20 which is supported 6.0+ https://github.com/sooperset/mcp-atlassian?tab=readme-ov-file#compatibility

Client Application

Inspector Tool

Additional Context

This error is happening because Confluence Cloud has deprecated /rest/api/search https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/deprecation-notice-search-api/

It seems like /rest/api/search in Confluence Cloud is now only for content https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/rest/v1/api-group-search/#api-wiki-rest-api-search-get. There is also a /rest/api/content/search https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/rest/v1/api-group-content/#api-wiki-rest-api-content-search-get. Not sure the difference between the two, but /rest/api/content/search might be the recommended way going forward https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Confluence-questions/Searching-for-Page-by-Content/qaq-p/2594304.

Confluence Cloud user search is done with /rest/api/search/user https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/rest/v1/api-group-search/#api-wiki-rest-api-search-user-get which this repo has implemented in https://github.com/sooperset/mcp-atlassian/pull/509/files#diff-844d629aed45093716b43688e59fa0c16c48e6da2a687baba1e188c11ea85ee6R116.

The issue is that Confluence server hasn't done this deprecation and still uses /rest/api/search for both content and users https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/rest/v951/api-group-search/#api-rest-api-search-get.

I have tested this API and it works for my Confluence Server:

https://confluence.example.com/rest/api/search?cql=user.fullname+~+%22John+Doe%22&limit=10