Working with Markdown and MyST

Markdown and MyST are lightweight markup formats with a Visual mode for word-processor-style editing, alongside raw Code mode.

Markdown (.md) and MyST (.myst) are lightweight markup formats. Unlike LaTeX and Typst, they have a Visual mode (a structured, word-processor-style view) as well as Code (raw source).

What you get

• A toggle between Code and Visual editing, remembered per file. See Editing modes.

• A live rendered preview. MyST also surfaces a Problems panel for anything that fails to parse, the same way LaTeX and Typst do; plain Markdown has no compile step or diagnostics; it just renders. See Compiling and fixing errors.

• Citation insertion from the References panel. See Bibliography and citations.

• Standard Markdown image syntax for figures. See Inserting images and figures.

Ask the AI to draft a section, restructure a rough note, or clean up formatting, then review and apply the change. See Using AI.

The block editor

In Visual mode, Markdown and MyST use a block-based editor. Type / at the start of a line to open a menu of blocks you can insert: headings, lists, tables, images, code blocks, and more, without remembering the underlying Markdown syntax.

Slash commands are a Visual-mode feature. In Code mode you're editing raw source, so / just inserts the character.

Things to know

• Kanban boards (.kanban) and timelines (.timeline) are MyST-based files under the hood, but they open in their own dedicated board view rather than as editable Markdown. See Kanban and timeline boards.

• MyST supports the same citation and image syntax as Markdown, plus additional scientific-writing directives.

Next steps

• Editing modes

• Working with LaTeX and Typst

• Bibliography and citations