Master Markdown: the only syntax you need to write notes

What is Markdown?

The document you are reading right now, is Markdown.

Every note in this Wiki is written using Markdown… and it’s super easy!

Markdown is a tiny set of conventions for writing plain text that looks structured when rendered.

You don’t need a special editor, any .txt will do, but tools like Obsidian turn the syntax into a clean visual document as you type.

The whole point: stop fighting with formatting toolbars. You write, your hands stay on the keyboard, and the document looks right.

The syntax below covers 95% of what’s needed for daily note-taking, but for professional use, I suggest checking out also the few Obsidian additions.

Keep this page open while you learn: after a couple of days the muscle memory takes over.

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The essentials

Headings

# Title (h1)
## Section (h2)
### Subsection (h3)

One # per level, up to six. Always leave a space between # and the text.

Emphasis

**bold**
*italic*
***bold italic***
~~strikethrough~~

Lists

Unordered:

- first item
- second item
  - nested (two spaces of indent)
- third item

Ordered:

1. step one
2. step two
3. step three

Numbers don’t have to be sequential: Markdown renumbers automatically.

Writing 1. three times in a row works fine.

Task list (very useful in Obsidian):

- [ ] thing to do
- [x] thing already done

Links

External link:

[Anthropic](https://www.anthropic.com)

Internal link to another note (Obsidian-flavored, also supported by Quartz):

[[obsidian-setup]]
[[obsidian-setup|with custom label]]

The double-bracket form looks the file up by name across the whole vault, no need to write the path.

Images

![alt text](path/to/image.png)
![[image-in-the-vault.png]]

The ![[...]] form is the Obsidian way: drag-and-drop a file into the note and the link appears automatically.

Code

Inline:

Run `npm install` to fetch the dependencies.

Block: open with three backticks, optionally followed by a language label, write your code, close with three backticks.

```bash
sudo systemctl reload nginx
```

The label after the opening fence (bash, python, js, yaml, …) tells the renderer which highlighter to use.

Quotes

> Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
> — Murphy

Stack > for nested quotes.

Tables

| Tool      | Purpose             |
| --------- | ------------------- |
| Obsidian  | write & link notes  |
| Quartz    | publish as a site   |
| rsync     | sync to the VPS     |

The hyphens under the header decide the column. Add : for alignment: :--- left, :---: center, ---: right.

Horizontal rule

--- (or ***)

Three or more dashes on their own line. Useful as a section separator inside a long note.