Rich Markdown preview for VS Code — theme-aware rendering, LaTeX/Mermaid support,
and inline comments you send straight to Copilot Chat as real file attachments.
Features
Editing stays entirely in VS Code's native Markdown text editor; this extension only
provides the preview.
Preview follows the current VS Code color theme automatically (no custom theme).
UI text follows VS Code's display language: English by default, Simplified Chinese
when vscode.env.language is zh-cn (covers both the manifest strings — command/
setting titles — and everything shown inside the preview webview).
Configurable preview font: general/UI font, Chinese (CJK) font (defaults to the OS
system font), and code-block font (defaults to the editor's monospace font).
One-click toggle between "Edit Source" and "Open Preview" from the editor title bar.
Optional default preview: open .md files straight into the rich preview.
Select text — or hover a line and use the button that appears at its end — to add an
inline-highlighted comment; a right-side panel lists all comments for the file, click
either the highlight or the list entry to scroll to and flash the other. The comment
popover uses standard "Cancel" (secondary) / "Add Comment" (primary) buttons and
always follows the selection or hovered line.
Send all comments to Copilot Chat in one click. Each comment that resolves to a
source line range is attached as its own file.md:start-end ranged attachment (via
attachFiles), and the query text mentions the same range inline using the real
#file:relPath:start-end chat variable syntax. Note: VS Code only renders #file:
mentions as a highlighted chip when picked from its own autocomplete; text seeded
through the extension API shows up as plain text (still correct/readable), not a
colored chip — this is a VS Code platform limitation, not a bug in this extension.
Rich rendering: GitHub-flavored Markdown, LaTeX math (KaTeX), and Mermaid diagrams,
styled to match VS Code's native look (codicon icons, native typography/spacing).
Installation
From the Marketplace: search for Copilot Markdown Preview in the Extensions
view (⇧⌘X / Ctrl+Shift+X), or install directly:
ext install zephyr14.copilot-markdown-preview.
From a .vsix file: download/build a package (see Development)
and run code --install-extension copilot-markdown-preview-<version>.vsix, or use
"Install from VSIX..." in the Extensions view's ... menu.
Settings
Setting
Description
copilot.markdown.preview.fontFamily
General/UI text font family. Empty follows the editor font.
copilot.markdown.preview.chineseFontFamily
Font family for Chinese (CJK) text. Empty follows the OS system font.
copilot.markdown.preview.codeFontFamily
Font family for code blocks. Empty follows the editor's (monospace) font.
copilot.markdown.preview.fontSize
Preview font size in px. 0 follows the editor font size.
copilot.markdown.preview.lineHeight
Preview line height.
copilot.markdown.preview.openAsDefault
Open .md files with this preview by default.
Known limitation: enabling openAsDefault makes .md files open in this
extension's custom editor instead of VS Code's native text editor. Commands that
expect the active editor to be a standard text editor — including VS Code's
built-in Markdown: Open Preview — may not behave as expected while such a tab is
focused. If you need those commands, switch back to the source editor first using
the editor title bar toggle.
Commands
Copilot Markdown Preview: Edit Source / Copilot Markdown Preview: Open Preview —
editor title bar toggle.
Copilot Markdown Preview: Clear Comments — clears comments collected for the active file.
Development
npm install
npm run watch
Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.
Package a .vsix locally with npx @vscode/vsce package (requires the
vscode:prepublish build to succeed, i.e. npm run compile with no errors).
