Markdown
The plain-text format that AI speaks natively.
Markdown is a simple way to format text using plain characters. It's the lingua franca of AI workflows.
Why Markdown?
| Feature | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Plain text | Works everywhere, forever. No proprietary formats. |
| AI-native | Most AI models read and write Markdown by default. |
| Version control | Unlike .docx, Markdown works perfectly with Git. |
| Easy to learn | You can start in 5 minutes. |
When you write in Markdown, AI can read your document directly — no conversion, no loss of formatting, no surprises.
Quick Reference
Headings
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
Emphasis
**bold text**
*italic text*
***bold and italic***
Lists
- Bullet point
- Another point
- Nested point
1. Numbered item
2. Second item
3. Third item
Links
[Link text](https://example.com)
Blockquotes
> This is a quote.
> It can span multiple lines.
Code
Inline code: `code`
Code block:
```
function example() {
return "Hello";
}
```
Tables
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|----------|----------|
| Cell 1 | Cell 2 |
| Cell 3 | Cell 4 |
A Complete Example
# Research Notes
## Introduction
This document contains my notes on **industrial history**.
Key themes:
- Technological change
- Labor conditions
- Urban growth
## Sources
1. Thompson, *The Making of the English Working Class*
2. Hobsbawm, *The Age of Revolution*
> "The hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord;
> the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist."
> — Marx
## Next Steps
- [ ] Review primary sources
- [x] Read secondary literature
Editors
You don't need a special editor. Any text editor works:
| Editor | Best for |
|---|---|
| VS Code | General purpose, free, excellent Markdown preview |
| Obsidian | Note-taking, linking ideas |
| Typora | Clean, minimal, WYSIWYG |
| iA Writer | Distraction-free writing |
For beginners, VS Code is recommended — it's free, widely used, and has great AI integration.
Markdown and AI
When you give AI a Markdown file:
- It understands the structure (headings, lists, etc.)
- It can edit specific sections
- It preserves your formatting
- Changes are easy to track in Git
Compare this to Word documents, where AI has to parse complex XML and formatting can break unpredictably.
Going Deeper
- Markdown Guide — comprehensive reference
- Markdown Cheat Sheet — quick lookup
- CommonMark Spec — the standard
Next: Learn about Git — how to track every change AI makes.