What

When using LinkControl (e.g., in Navigation blocks), typing a URL like wordpress.org or www.wordpress.org and pressing Enter does not auto-prepend https:// to the URL. The URL is saved as-is without a protocol.

Current behavior:

• Type wordpress.org → Press Enter → Saves as wordpress.org
• Type www.wordpress.org → Press Enter → Saves as www.wordpress.org

Expected behavior:

• Type wordpress.org → Press Enter → Should save as https://wordpress.org
• Type www.wordpress.org → Press Enter → Should save as https://www.wordpress.org

This works correctly when selecting a suggestion from the dropdown (the search handler calls prependHTTPS), but fails when directly submitting without selecting a suggestion.

Why

URLs without protocols are invalid and won't work as links. The Buttons block test explicitly verifies this behavior should work (see test/e2e/specs/editor/blocks/buttons.spec.js lines 134-142), and PR #75005 updated the codebase to use https as the default protocol.

This creates an inconsistent UX where:

• Selecting a suggestion: URL gets prepended with https:// ✅
• Pressing Enter directly: URL stays as-is without protocol ❌

The Button block is unaffected because it has a workaround in get-updated-link-attributes.js that calls prependHTTPS() separately. However, Navigation blocks and other blocks using LinkControl are affected.

How

The issue is in packages/block-editor/src/components/link-control/search-input.js line 164.

When submitting without a suggestion, the code passes:

onSuggestionSelected( hasSuggestion || { url: value } );

It should call prependHTTPS() on the value:

import { prependHTTPS } from '@wordpress/url';

// In onSubmit handler:
onSuggestionSelected( hasSuggestion || { url: prependHTTPS( value ) } );

This matches how the search handler's handleDirectEntry function already works in use-search-handler.js line 44.

User Stories

As a user creating a navigation menu, I want to type wordpress.org and have it automatically saved as https://wordpress.org, so my links work correctly without requiring me to remember the protocol.

As a user, I want consistent behavior whether I select a suggestion from the dropdown or press Enter directly, so I don't have to think about which method properly formats my URL.