Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax. Docfx supports CommonMark compliant Markdown parsed through the Markdig parsing engine.

Markdown Extensions

Docfx supports additional markdown syntax that provide richer content. These syntax are specific to docfx and won't be rendered elsewhere like GitHub.

To use a custom markdown extension:

Use docfx as a NuGet library:

<PackageReference Include="Docfx.App" Version="2.70.0" />

Configure the markdig markdown pipeline:

var options = new BuildOptions
{
    // Enable custom markdown extensions here
    ConfigureMarkdig = pipeline => pipeline.UseCitations(),
}

await Docset.Build("docfx.json", options);

Here is a list of markdown extensions provided by docfx by default.

YAML header

Also referred to as YAML Front Matter, the YAML header is used to annotate a Markdown file with various metadata elements. It should appear at the top of the document. Here's an example:

---
uid: fileA
---

# This is fileA
...

In this example, the UID provides a unique identifier for the file and is intended to be unique inside a project. If you define duplicate UID for two files, the resolve result is undetermined.

For API reference files, the UID is auto generated by mangling the API's signature. For example, the System.String class's UID is System.String. You can open a generated YAML file to lookup the value of its UID.

Note

Conceptual Markdown file doesn't have UID generated by default. So it cannot be cross referenced unless you give it a UID.

See the list of predefined metadata for applicable options for inclusion in the YAML header.

Alerts

Alerts are block quotes that render with colors and icons that indicate the significance of the content.

The following alert types are supported:

> [!NOTE]
> Information the user should notice even if skimming.

> [!TIP]
> Optional information to help a user be more successful.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Essential information required for user success.

> [!CAUTION]
> Negative potential consequences of an action.

> [!WARNING]
> Dangerous certain consequences of an action.

They look like this in rendered page:

Note

Information the user should notice even if skimming.

Tip

Optional information to help a user be more successful.

Important

Essential information required for user success.

Caution

Negative potential consequences of an action.

Warning

Dangerous certain consequences of an action.

Custom Alerts

You can define custom alerts with the build.markdownEngineProperties.alerts property in docfx.json and use it in markdown files. The key specifies the markdown keyword without the surrounding [!, ] symbols. The value is the CSS class names:

{
  "build": {
    "markdownEngineProperties": {
      "alerts": {
        "TODO": "alert alert-secondary"
      }
    }
  }
}

> [!TODO]
> This is a custom TODO section

The above custom alert looks like this in rendered page:

TODO

This is a custom TODO section

DocFX allows you to customize the display of alert titles in your documentation. By default, alert titles are displayed as the keyword in upper case. To change this behavior, you can create a custom template and use a token.json file to define your custom alert titles:

Create a custom template: Follow the steps in the [Custom Template Guide](create a custom template) to create your own template.
Create a token.json file: In your custom template folder, create a new file named token.json. This file will be used to define your custom alert titles. The format should be as follows:

{  
  "todo": "MY TODO"  
}

In this example, the key is the alert keyword in lower case (e.g., "todo"), and the value is the custom display title of the alert (e.g., "MY TODO").

Video

You can embed a video in your page by using the following Markdown syntax:

> [!Video embed_link]

Example:

> [!Video https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sz1lCeedcPI]

This will be rendered as:

Image

You can embed a image in your page by using the following Markdown syntax:

![ <alt-text> ]( <image-link> )

Example:

![alt-text](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/media/learn/not-found/learn-not-found-light-mode.png?branch=main)

This will be rendered as:

alt-text

Math Expressions

Docfx supports LaTeX formatted math expressions within markdown using MathJax.

Note

Math expressions is only supported in the modern template.

To include a math expression inline with your text, delimit the expression with a dollar symbol $.

This sentence uses `$` delimiters to show math inline:  $\sqrt{3x-1}+(1+x)^2$

This sentence uses $ delimiters to show math inline: $\sqrt{3x-1}+(1+x)^2$

To add a math expression as a block, start a new line and delimit the expression with two dollar symbols $$.

**The Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality**

$$\left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k b_k \right)^2 \leq \left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k^2 \right) \left( \sum_{k=1}^n b_k^2 \right)$$

The Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality

$\left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k b_k \right)^2 \leq \left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k^2 \right) \left( \sum_{k=1}^n b_k^2 \right)$

Mermaid Diagrams

You can embed mermaid diagrams using markdown code block:

Example:

```mermaid
flowchart LR

A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]
```

This will be rendered as:

flowchart LR

A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]

Note

Mermaid diagrams is only supported in the modern template.

There are plenty of other diagrams supported by mermaid such as:

Pie chart

pie
"Dogs" : 386
"Cats" : 85.9
"Rats" : 15

Bar chart

gantt
    title Git Issues - days since last update
    dateFormat  X
    axisFormat %s

    section Issue19062
    71   : 0, 71
    section Issue19401
    36   : 0, 36
    section Issue193
    34   : 0, 34
    section Issue7441
    9    : 0, 9
    section Issue1300
    5    : 0, 5

User Journey diagram

journey
  title My working day
  section Go to work
    Make tea: 5: Me
    Go upstairs: 3: Me
    Do work: 1: Me, Cat
  section Go home
    Go downstairs: 5: Me
    Sit down: 3: Me

Class diagram

classDiagram
Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
<<Interface>> Class01
Class09 --> C2 : Where am I?
Class09 --* C3
Class09 --|> Class07
Class07 : equals()
Class07 : Object[] elementData
Class01 : size()
Class01 : int chimp
Class01 : int gorilla
class Class10 {
  <<service>>
  int id
  size()
}

Include Markdown Files

Where markdown files need to be repeated in multiple articles, you can use an include file. The includes feature replace the reference with the contents of the included file at build time.

You can reuse a common text snippet within a sentence using inline include:

Text before [!INCLUDE [<title>](<filepath>)] and after.

Or reuse an entire Markdown file as a block, nested within a section of an article. Block include is on its own line:

[!INCLUDE [<title>](<filepath>)]

Where <title> is the name of the file and <filepath> is the relative path to the file.

Example:

[!INCLUDE [my-markdown-block](../../includes/my-markdown-block.md)]

Included markdown files needs to be excluded from build, they are usually placed in the /includes folder.

Code Snippet

There are several ways to include code in an article. The code snippet syntax replaces code from another file:

[!code-csharp[](Program.cs)]

You can include selected lines from the code snippet using region or line range syntax:

[!code-csharp[](Program.cs#region)]
[!code-csharp[](Program.cs#L12-L16)]

Code snippets are indicated by using a specific link syntax described as follows:

[!code-<language>[](<filepath><query-options>)]

Where <language> is the syntax highlighting language of the code and <filepath> is the relative path to the markdown file.

Highlight Selected Lines

Code Snippets typically include more code than necessary in order to provide context. It helps readability when you highlight the key lines that you're focusing on. To highlight key lines, use the highlight query options:

[!code-csharp[](Program.cs?highlight=2,5-7,9-)]

The example highlights lines 2, line 5 to 7 and lines 9 to the end of the file.

using System;
using Azure;
using Azure.Storage;
using Azure.Storage.Blobs;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Define the connection string for the storage account
        string connectionString = "DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=<your-account-name>;AccountKey=<your-account-key>;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net";

        // Create a new BlobServiceClient using the connection string
        var blobServiceClient = new BlobServiceClient(connectionString);

        // Create a new container
        var container = blobServiceClient.CreateBlobContainer("mycontainer");

        // Upload a file to the container
        using (var fileStream = File.OpenRead("path/to/file.txt"))
        {
            container.UploadBlob("file.txt", fileStream);
        }

        // Download the file from the container
        var downloadedBlob = container.GetBlobClient("file.txt").Download();
        using (var fileStream = File.OpenWrite("path/to/downloaded-file.txt"))
        {
            downloadedBlob.Value.Content.CopyTo(fileStream);
        }
    }
}

Tabs

Tabs enable content that is multi-faceted. They allow sections of a document to contain variant content renderings and eliminates duplicate content.

Here's an example of the tab experience:

Linux
Windows

Content for Linux...

The above tab group was created with the following syntax:

# [Linux](#tab/linux)

Content for Linux...

# [Windows](#tab/windows)

Content for Windows...

---

Tabs are indicated by using a specific link syntax within a Markdown header. The syntax can be described as follows:

# [Tab Display Name](#tab/tab-id)

A tab starts with a Markdown header, #, and is followed by a Markdown link [](). The text of the link will become the text of the tab header, displayed to the customer. In order for the header to be recognized as a tab, the link itself must start with #tab/ and be followed by an ID representing the content of the tab. The ID is used to sync all same-ID tabs across the page. Using the above example, when a user selects a tab with the link #tab/windows, all tabs with the link #tab/windows on the page will be selected.

Dependent tabs

It's possible to make the selection in one set of tabs dependent on the selection in another set of tabs. Here's an example of that in action:

.NET content for Linux...

Notice how changing the Linux/Windows selection above changes the content in the .NET and TypeScript tabs. This is because the tab group defines two versions for each .NET and TypeScript, where the Windows/Linux selection above determines which version is shown for .NET/TypeScript. Here's the markup that shows how this is done:

# [.NET](#tab/dotnet/linux)

.NET content for Linux...

# [.NET](#tab/dotnet/windows)

.NET content for Windows...

# [TypeScript](#tab/typescript/linux)

TypeScript content for Linux...

# [TypeScript](#tab/typescript/windows)

TypeScript content for Windows...

# [REST API](#tab/rest)

REST API content, independent of platform...

---

Differences introduced by DFM syntax

Warning

Please note that DFM introduces more syntax to support more functionalities. When GFM does not support them, preview the Markdown file inside GFM Preview can lead to different results.

Text after block extension

Some block extension in DFM cannot be recognized in GFM. In GFM, it would be treated as a part of paragraph. Then, following content would be treated as a part of paragraph.

For example:

> [!NOTE]
>     This is code.

In GFM, it will be rendered as a paragraph with content [!NOTE] This is code. in blockquote.
In DFM, it will be rendered as a code in note.

Table of Contents

Markdown

Markdown Extensions

YAML header

Note

Alerts

Note

Tip

Important

Caution

Warning

Custom Alerts

TODO

Video

Image

Math Expressions

Note

Mermaid Diagrams

Note

Include Markdown Files

Code Snippet

Highlight Selected Lines

Tabs

Dependent tabs

Differences introduced by DFM syntax

Warning

Text after block extension