Markdown: modes, formatting and notes

Create a new Markdown file

Two paths:

• Tab bar → new tab → Markdown
• Quick commands → new Markdown file

Both open a template picker: choose a template and the file is born from it.

How this works underneath — and what you need to know:

• The file is written to disk at creation, and renamed afterwards. It exists before you type anything.
• Closing without editing removes the placeholder: if you created it and wrote nothing, the file does not stay behind.
• A template with real content changes that behavior: in that case the file is not removed when closed without edits.

Save or rename a new file

The save dialog asks for name and folder:

• The name cannot be empty and cannot contain slashes.
• The folder must be inside the workspace.
• Validation errors appear in the dialog itself, not as a loose notice.
• The folder can be chosen in the system picker.

The three Markdown modes

Mode	What it does
Source	Shows the Markdown text as it is
Rich	Editing with formatting applied
Preview	Renders the result, without editing

• Preview to the side opens the render in a separate panel, keeping the text in view.
• Table of contents is available in the rich and preview modes — not in source mode.
• Show/hide front matter toggles the display of the document’s header.
• Export as PDF generates a PDF of the document. The export becomes unavailable when there is no rendered content to export — that is, in source mode there is nothing to export.

“Changes” mode is mutually exclusive with the Markdown modes at render time. Choosing Changes leaves Markdown mode; going back to Markdown leaves Changes.

Rich editing

In rich mode, the document is edited with formatting applied, and the surface offers:

• Formatting bar — bold, italic, headings, lists, table, image and link.
• Command menu — commands fired from the bar.
• Emoji menu.
• Link balloon — edit, open or remove the link under the cursor.
• Internal document link menu — points to another document instead of an external URL.
• In-document search bar.

The same formatting bar appears in the Canvas note. There it belongs to the Canvas domain; this page covers its use inside the file editor.

Review notes

Review notes are annotations anchored to passages of text in the document — a comment stuck to the sentence, not to the file.

• The notes rail shows and hides the notes, with a toggle button.
• Each note is a card that can be copied, edited and deleted.
• Notes can be sent to the agent through their own menu.
• Notes require the rich mode with annotations enabled.

Important limit: notes are anchored to passages, and positioning depends on the document’s layout. Text changes can shift the anchors — if you edit a lot after annotating, check whether each note still points at the right passage.

Limits

• Export as PDF depends on there being a rendered document.
• Table of contents does not exist in source mode.
• Review notes require rich mode with annotations enabled and can shift when the text changes.

Related

• The editor