Markdown Cheat Sheet

Syntax	Rule
# Heading 1	Space required after #. Without it, #Heading is just text.
## Heading 2	Up to ###### (6 levels). Each needs the space.
Blank line before a heading is recommended but not strictly required in CommonMark.

Syntax	Result	Rule
*italic* or _italic_	italic	No spaces between markers and text
**bold** or __bold__	bold	No spaces between markers and text
***bold italic***	bold italic	Combine them
~~strikethrough~~	strikethrough	No spaces between ~~ and text

Bad: ** bold ** — spaces inside markers break it
Good: **bold**

Syntax	Rule
- Item or * Item	Space required after - or *
1. Item	Space required after . — number doesn't have to be sequential
- [ ] Task	Checkbox (task list). Space inside brackets: [ ] unchecked, [x] checked

Nested lists: indent 2 or 4 spaces (be consistent). A blank line between items makes "loose" list (extra spacing).

- Parent item
  - Child item (2-space indent)
    - Grandchild (4-space indent from parent)

Syntax	Rule
[text](url)	No space between ] and (
	Same as link but with ! prefix
[text](url "title")	Optional title in quotes shows on hover

Bad: [text] (url) — space between bracket and paren breaks it

Syntax	Rule
`inline code`	Single backticks for inline
```python code here ```	Fenced code block. Language tag is optional. The ``` must be on its own line. No spaces before the closing fence.
(4-space indent)	Alternative: indent 4 spaces for a code block (no language highlighting)

Syntax	Rule
> Quote text	Space after > is conventional but not required
> Line 1 > Line 2	Each line needs > for multi-line quotes
> > Nested	Nest with additional >

--- or *** or ___

Three or more. Must be on its own line. Blank line above recommended (otherwise --- under text becomes a heading).

| Header 1 | Header 2 |
|----------|----------|
| Cell     | Cell     |
| Cell     | Cell     |

The separator row is required (at least |--|--|).
Alignment: :--| left, :--:| center, |--: right.
Leading/trailing pipes are optional but recommended for readability.
Columns don't need to be aligned in source — VS Code just makes it look nicer.

What you want	How
New paragraph	Blank line between text blocks
Line break (soft return)	Two spaces at end of line, then Enter. Or <br>
Just pressing Enter once	Does nothing — text continues on same line in rendered output

This is the #1 gotcha. A single newline in source = no break in output.

1. # needs a space after it — # Yes not #No
2. - and 1. need a space after them — - Yes not -No
3. ** and * must touch the text — **yes** not ** no **
4. [text](url) — no space between ] and (
5. Blank line = new paragraph. Single Enter = nothing.
6. When in doubt, add a blank line before/after block elements (headings, lists, code fences, tables).