Do not remove import which is used as markdown link in KDoc only

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 - Fix NoSuchElementException for property accessor (`trailing-comma`) ([#1280](https://github.com/pinterest/ktlint/issues/1280))
 - Fix ClassCastException using ktlintFormat on class with KDoc (`no-trailing-spaces`) ([#1270](https://github.com/pinterest/ktlint/issues/1270))
 - Do not remove trailing comma in annotation ([#1297](https://github.com/pinterest/ktlint/issues/1297))
+- Do not remove import which is used as markdown link in KDoc only (`no-unused-imports`) ([#1282](https://github.com/pinterest/ktlint/issues/1282))
 
 ### Changed
 - Update Kotlin version to `1.6.0` release

ktlint-ruleset-standard/src/main/kotlin/com/pinterest/ktlint/ruleset/standard/NoUnusedImportsRule.kt

@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ class NoUnusedImportsRule : Rule("no-unused-imports") {
                 if (type == KDocTokens.MARKDOWN_LINK && psi is KDocLink) {
                     val linkText = psi.getLinkText().removeBackticksAndWildcards()
                     ref.add(Reference(linkText.split('.').first(), false))
+                    ref.add(Reference(linkText.split('.').last(), false))
                 } else if ((type == REFERENCE_EXPRESSION || type == OPERATION_REFERENCE) &&
                     !vnode.isPartOf(IMPORT_DIRECTIVE)
                 ) {

ktlint-ruleset-standard/src/test/kotlin/com/pinterest/ktlint/ruleset/standard/NoUnusedImportsRuleTest.kt

@@ -125,15 +125,15 @@ class NoUnusedImportsRuleTest {
                  * [DRef] DRef2
                  * [O.method]
                  * [p.PDRef] p.PDRef2
-                 * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5
+                 * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5 Note that [PDRef3](p.DRef3) is not recognized as markdown link because of "](" and
+                 *    of such "p.DRef3" is marked as unused import
                  * [] text
                  */
                 fun main() {}
                 """.trimIndent()
             )
         ).isEqualTo(
             listOf(
-                LintError(4, 1, "no-unused-imports", "Unused import"),
                 LintError(5, 1, "no-unused-imports", "Unused import"),
                 LintError(6, 1, "no-unused-imports", "Unused import"),
                 LintError(7, 1, "no-unused-imports", "Unused import"),
@@ -411,7 +411,8 @@ class NoUnusedImportsRuleTest {
                 /**
                  * [DRef] DRef2
                  * [p.PDRef] p.PDRef2
-                 * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5
+                 * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5 Note that [PDRef3](p.DRef3) is not recognized as markdown link because of "](" and
+                 *    of such "p.DRef3" is marked as unused import
                  */
                 fun main() {}
                 """.trimIndent()
@@ -421,11 +422,13 @@ class NoUnusedImportsRuleTest {
             package kdoc
 
             import DRef
+            import p.PDRef
 
             /**
              * [DRef] DRef2
              * [p.PDRef] p.PDRef2
-             * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5
+             * [PDRef3](p.DRef3) p.PDRef4 PDRef5 Note that [PDRef3](p.DRef3) is not recognized as markdown link because of "](" and
+             *    of such "p.DRef3" is marked as unused import
              */
             fun main() {}
             """.trimIndent()
@@ -860,4 +863,21 @@ class NoUnusedImportsRuleTest {
             )
         )
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Issue 1282 - do not remove import when used in kdoc only`() {
+        val rule = NoUnusedImportsRule()
+        assertThat(
+            rule.lint(
+                """
+                import some.pkg.returnSelf
+
+                /**
+                 * Do not forget that you can also return string via [String.returnSelf]
+                 */
+                fun test() {}
+                """.trimIndent()
+            )
+        ).isEmpty()
+    }
 }