Markdown Pro — Preview, Comment, Edit — All in One Place

The missing link in AI-assisted writing workflows. Preview, inline-edit, and annotate any Markdown file with comments — then hand it back to an AI agent to address every note. All without leaving VS Code.

Why This Exists

AI agents increasingly produce their output as Markdown — reports, documentation, plans, code specs. Reviewing that output means context-switching out of VS Code or resorting to clunky copy-paste loops.

Markdown Pro keeps the entire review loop inside the file:

1. AI writes a Markdown document
2. You open it in Markdown Pro — live preview with full formatting
3. You edit inline using the WYSIWYG editor, or leave comments on specific words, sentences, or sections
4. You pass the file back to the AI agent: "Address all the comments in this file"
5. The AI reads your comments, makes targeted edits, and removes the resolved annotations
6. Repeat until the document is exactly what you need

Comments are stored as standard HTML comment tags inside the .md file itself, so they are invisible to Markdown renderers but fully readable by any AI model.

## Executive Summary

AI agents are transforming how teams produce written content.
<!-- MC:{"id":"c1","anchor":"transforming","comment":"Too vague — cite a specific metric or example"} -->

This approach reduces iteration time significantly.
<!-- MC:{"id":"c2","anchor":"","comment":"Needs a concrete number here. What does 'significantly' mean?"} -->

Pass that file to any AI with: "Read the <!-- MC: --> comments and address each one in place." The model sees every annotation in full context and can surgically update just the flagged content.

Features

Live Markdown Preview

Open any .md file and get a rendered preview with full formatting — headings, lists, code blocks, blockquotes, images, and links — all styled with the Inter typeface.

WYSIWYG Inline Editing

Double-click any paragraph to enter edit mode. A formatting toolbar appears at the top with controls for:

• Headings (H1, H2, H3)
• Text formatting (Bold, Italic, Inline Code)
• Links
• Lists (Bulleted and Numbered)
• Blockquotes
• Code blocks

Edits are written back to the underlying .md file as Markdown when you exit edit mode.

Inline Comments via Text Selection

Select any text in the preview and click the floating Add Comment button to attach a comment. The commented text is highlighted in yellow.

Line-Level Comments

Click any paragraph or block element to add a comment anchored to that line. A speech bubble icon marks the comment location.

Right-Aligned Comment Sidebar

All comments appear in a sidebar to the right of the content, each aligned to the exact line it annotates. When comments are close together, they stack automatically with a dotted connector line showing which line each belongs to.

Settings Panel

Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to access the settings panel with three toggles:

Portable, AI-Readable Storage

Comments live directly in your .md file as HTML comment tags — invisible in any standard Markdown renderer, but plain text for AI models:

<!-- MC:{"id":"c1","anchor":"important details","comment":"Needs a citation"} -->

No sidecar files. No proprietary formats. The file is the source of truth.

Getting Started

Install from the Extensions Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Cmd+Shift+X (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) to open the Extensions panel
3. Search for Markdown Pro Commenter
4. Click Install

Or install directly from the command line:

code --install-extension amartyakhan.markdown-pro-commenter

Open a Markdown File

When you open a .md file, VS Code will offer Markdown Commenter as an editor option.

To set it as the default editor for Markdown files:

1. Right-click any .md file in the Explorer
2. Select Open With...
3. Choose Markdown Commenter
4. Click Set as Default

You can also open the commenter from:

• The comment icon in the editor title bar
• Right-click context menu in the Explorer or editor

Usage

Adding a Comment on Selected Text

1. Select text in the preview
2. Click the Add Comment button that appears below the selection
3. Type your comment
4. Press Enter or click Save

Adding a Comment on a Line

1. Click anywhere on a paragraph (without selecting text)
2. Type your comment in the form that appears
3. Press Enter or click Save

Editing Content Inline

1. Double-click a paragraph to enter edit mode
2. Use the formatting toolbar or type directly
3. Click Exit or click outside the content area to save

Keyboard Shortcuts

Reviewing with AI

Once you have annotated a document, pass it to any AI agent or chat interface with a prompt like:

"This Markdown file contains inline review comments formatted as <!-- MC:{...} --> HTML tags. Please address each comment, make the appropriate edits to the surrounding text, and remove the comment tags once resolved."

Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and most other models handle this natively — they read the raw Markdown including the comment tags and can act on each one in context.

Editing the Source Directly

Since comments are stored in the .md file, you can also edit or remove them in any text editor:

<!-- MC:{"id":"c1","anchor":"selected text","comment":"your comment"} -->

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or later

License

MIT