Markdown Reference

This page provides a practical reference to Markdown syntax. For a deeper exploration of Markdown’s history, philosophy, and role in the AI era, see our article Markdown: From 2004 to the AI Era.

Headings

Header H1

# Header H1

or

Header H1
=========

Header H2

## Header H2

or

Header H2
---------

Header H3

### Header H3

Header H4

#### Header H4

Text Formatting

Bold

**bold**

or

__bold__

Italic

*italic*

or

_italic_

Strikethrough

~~strikethrough~~

Highlight

==highlight==

Superscript

N^4^

or

N<sup>4</sup>

Subscript

H~2~O

or

H<sub>2</sub>O

Links

Basic Link

[link text](https://domain.com)

Reference-Style Link

[link text][1]

[1]: https://domain.com

Automatic Link

<https://domain.com>

Link with Title Attribute

[link text](https://domain.com "Title attribute")

Email Link

<name@domain.com>

Images

Basic Image

![alt text](https://domain.com/image.jpg)

Reference-Style Image

![alt text][1]

[1]: https://domain.com/image.jpg

Centered Image

![alt text](https://domain.com/image.jpg#center)

Image with Description

![alt text](https://domain.com/image.jpg "Description")

Blockquotes

Basic Quote

> quote

Nested Quote

>> nested quote

Lists

Unordered List

* Item
* Item
* Item

or

- Item
- Item
- Item

or

+ Item
+ Item
+ Item

Ordered List

1. First
2. Second
3. Third

or

1) First
2) Second
3) Third

or (auto-numbering)

1. First
1. Second
1. Third

To-Do List

- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Pending task
- [ ] Another pending task

Horizontal Rule

***

or

---

or

___

Code

Inline Code

`inline code`

Indented Code Block

    code block (indented with four spaces)

Fenced Code Block

```
code block
```

or

~~~
code block
~~~

Syntax Highlighted Code Block

```python
print(f"2+2 = {2+2}")
```

Replace python with the language name for syntax highlighting: javascript, html, css, bash, yaml, json, sql, java, go, rust, etc.

Tables

| Column1  | Column2  | Column3  |
| -------- | -------- | -------- |
| One      | Two      | Three    |
| Four     | Five     | Six      |

Footnotes

Numeric Footnote

Text with a footnote[^1]

[^1]: Footnote content

Named Footnote

Text with a footnote[^label]

[^label]: Footnote content

Additional Resources

• CommonMark Specification
• Daring Fireball: Markdown
• GitHub Flavored Markdown

This page is periodically updated. For the philosophical and practical context of Markdown, see Markdown: From 2004 to the AI Era.