How to globally open Links in new tabs

rmarkdown-open-link.md

How to globally open Links in new tabs

Using Pandoc Lua Filter

You could write your own Pandoc Lua Filter which adds target="_blank" to all links:

1. Write a Pandoc Lua Filter, name it for example links.lua

function Link(element)

    if 
        -- ignore in-book references
        string.sub(element.target, 1, 1) ~= "#"
    then
        element.attributes.target = "_blank"
    end
    return element

end

2. Then update your _output.yml

bookdown::gitbook:
  pandoc_args:
    - --lua-filter=links.lua

---

Inject <base target="_blank"> in Header

An alternative solution would be to inject <base target="_blank"> in the HTML head section using the includes option:

1. Create a new HTML file, name it for example links.html

<base target="_blank">

2. Then update your _output.yml

bookdown::gitbook:
  includes:
    in_header: links.html

Also posted here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/71230269/42659