"It tries to second-guess what the user intended"

So you say, but at the top of this thread you show that you are unable to reproduce the behaviour that you are claiming happened just once on another thread.

It's a common mistake to forget the http:// prefix in a link, but leaving aside human error, I've never encountered Mudcat being inconsistent in its this respect and stripping that prefix off a pasted link that included it.

I suspect finger trouble and you didn't actually copy or paste what you think you did. I know that's what I'd assume if it happened to me.

Watch carefully and see if it happens again.