MarkBack for VS Code

Review Markdown like a doc — keep the feedback in git.

Comment on rendered Markdown (and any file) with inline bubbles and replies. Every comment is saved to a plain-text .mb sidecar that lives next to the file and diffs cleanly in your pull requests.

Why MarkBack

You're reviewing a README, an RFC, a design doc, or a spec. Your options today:

PR review comments — disappear when the branch merges.
A Google Doc — not in your repo, not in git, not diffable.
A scratch note — lost by next week.

MarkBack keeps the feedback next to the work, in plain text, in git:

💬 Comment on the rendered Markdown preview — select text, click the bubble, type. No need to hunt for the right line in raw source.
🧵 Threads and replies — click a 💬 badge to open the thread inline and reply.
📄 Saved to a .mb sidecar — essay.md → essay.md.mb, right beside the file. Commit it; it diffs cleanly in PRs and survives merge.
✍️ Works in any file too — highlight text in the editor, right-click → MarkBack: Comment on Selection (or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M).
🔌 Portable format — the same .mb files work with the MarkBack CLI, Python, Node, and a browser editor. No server, no account, no lock-in.

Quick start

Install MarkBack from the Marketplace.
Open a Markdown file and open its preview (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+V).
Select some text in the preview → click 💬 Comment → type your feedback.
A sidecar <filename>.mb appears next to the file. Commit it — the feedback now diffs in your PRs.
Reopen the file later: the 💬 badges are still there. Click one to read the thread or reply.

Prefer the editor? Select text in any file → right-click → Comment on Selection (or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M).

What a `.mb` file looks like

The sidecar is plain, human-readable text — hand-editable and lintable:

%markback 2

@id a1b2-c3d4
@by alice@example.com
@file ./essay.md:3:5-3:18 <<< awkward phrasing

That's the whole format: <<< introduces a comment. Records lint with mb --lint and round-trip with the browser editor.

Settings

Setting	Description
`markback.author`	Identifier written as `@by` on every comment. If empty, falls back to `git config user.email`, then to no `@by` header.

Restricted Mode: preview commenting uses VS Code command links, which are disabled in untrusted workspaces. Trust the workspace to enable it — the preview shows a banner when it's blocked.

Current limitations

Honest about where it's at today:

No gutter + icon yet — use the preview bubble, the right-click menu, or the keybinding.
No in-editor edit/delete UI for existing comments — edit the .mb file directly (it's just text).
No visual stale-range indicator — if a source file is edited past a recorded range, the comment still renders at its recorded position; a warning logs to the MarkBack output channel (View → Output → MarkBack).

Feedback & contributing

MarkBack is open source (MIT). Issues, ideas, and PRs are welcome:

🐛 Bugs / ideas: github.com/dandriscoll/markback/issues
📖 Format & docs: markback.org
🧪 Try the format in your browser: markback.org/try-it

If MarkBack saves you a round-trip, telling a teammate is the best thanks.

_{Part of the MarkBack family — comments for anything, in plain text, in git.}

MarkBack

Dan Driscoll