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The Markdoc syntax

Markdoc syntax is a superset of Markdown, specifically the CommonMark specification. Markdoc adds a few extensions to the syntax, such as tags and annotations, which we describe below. These extensions enable Markdoc's powerful extensibility model.

For a formal grammar of the Markdoc tag syntax, refer to the Markdoc syntax spec.

Nodes

Nodes are elements that Markdoc inherits from Markdown, which you can customize with annotations.

# Headers

**Bold**

_Italic_

[Links](/docs/nodes)

![Images](/logo.svg)

Lists
- Item 1
- Item 1
- Item 1

> Quotes

`Inline code`

```
Code fences
```

Headers

Bold

Italic

Links

Lists

  • Item 1
  • Item 1
  • Item 1

Quotes

Inline code

Code fences


For more information, check out the Nodes docs.

Tags

Tags are the main syntactic extension that Markdoc adds on top of Markdown. Each tag is enclosed with {% and %}, and includes the tag name, attributes, and the content body.

Similar to HTML, you can nest Markdoc tags, and customize them with attributes.

{% tag %}
Content
{% /tag %}

Tags can be self-closing (similar to HTML). In this example, you'll see that the content body is removed, and that the tag is closed with a /.

{% image width=40 /%}

If your tag doesn't contain any new lines, then it's treated as an inline tag. Inline tags are automatically wrapped with a single paragraph Node (which renders a <p> element by default), to follow the CommonMark paragraph spec.

{% code %}

{% highlight %}Inline tag 1{% /highlight %}
{% highlight %}Inline tag 2{% /highlight %}

{% /code %}


For more information, check out the Tags docs.

Annotations

Customize how individual nodes are rendered with annotations. Annotations are useful when passing properties to customize the output, such as an id or class. You can also use annotations to apply attributes to HTML and React elements.

You can access annotation values as attributes within your schema transform functions.


To add an id, you can use this syntax:

# Header {% #custom-id %}

To set a class, use class syntax:

# Heading {% .custom-class-name-here %}

which also works within your tags.

{% section #id .class %}

My section

{% /section  %}

You can also set attributes on a node, such as width or colspan.

{% table %}

- Function {% width="25%" %}
- Returns  {% colspan=2 %}
- Example  {% align="right" %}

{% /table %}

Attributes

Pass attributes to tags to customize their behavior. You can pass values of type: number, string, boolean, JSON array, or JSON object.

{% city
   index=0
   name="San Francisco"
   deleted=false
   coordinates=[1, 4, 9]
   meta={id: "id_123"} /%}

All Markdoc strings use double-quotes. This includes when passing a string as an attribute or as a function parameter.
If you want to include a double-quote in a string you can escape it with using \".


For more information, check out the Attributes docs.

Variables

Markdoc variables let you customize your Markdoc documents at runtime. Variables all have a $ prefix.

Here I am rendering a custom {% $variable %}

Variables must contain JSON-serializable content, such as strings, booleans, numbers, arrays, and JSON objects.
You can access nested values using dot-notation, similar to JavaScript:

Here's a deeply nested variable {% $markdoc.frontmatter.title %}

You can use variables throughout your document, as content itself:

© {% $currentYear %} Stripe


For more information, check out the Variables docs.

Functions

Functions look and feel similar to JavaScript functions. They're callable from the body of the document, inside an annotation, or within tag attributes. Function parameters are comma-separated. Trailing commas aren't supported in function calls.

# {% titleCase($markdoc.frontmatter.title) %}

{% if equals(1, 2) %}
Show the password
{% /if %}

{% tag title=uppercase($key) /%}


For more information, check out the Functions docs.

Config

This table outlines the various options you can pass to Markdoc.transform. Each option adjusts how a document is transformed and rendered.

KeyTypeDescription
nodes{ [nodeType: NodeType]: Schema }Register custom nodes in your schema
tags{ [tagName: string]: Schema }Register custom tags in your schema
variables{ [variableName: string]: any }Register variables to use in your document
functions{ [functionName: string]: ConfigFunction }Register custom functions to use in your document
partials{ [partialPath: string]: Ast.Node }Register reusable pieces of content to used by the partial tag

Full example

Here's an example of what a Markdoc config would look like:

const config = {
  nodes: {
    heading: {
      render: 'Heading',
      attributes: {
        id: { type: String },
        level: { type: Number }
      }
    }
  },
  tags: {
    callout: {
      render: 'Callout',
      attributes: {
        title: {
          type: String,
          description: 'The title displayed at the top of the callout'
        }
      }
    }
  },
  variables: {
    name: 'Dr. Mark',
    frontmatter: {
      title: 'Configuration options'
    }
  },
  functions: {
    includes: {
      transform(parameters, config) {
        const [array, value] = Object.values(parameters);

        return Array.isArray(array) ? array.includes(value) : false;
      }
    }
  },
  partials: {
    'header.md': Markdoc.parse(`# My header`)
  }
};

const content = Markdoc.transform(ast, config);

Next steps