Headings, emphasis, lists, links, tables, code blocks and the platform extensions that show up on GitHub. All rows are plain text - search to filter, click Copy to grab the pattern.
Reference rack
STATUSREADY
ROWS31
NETWORKLOCAL
MODEREFERENCE
| Item / pattern | What it means / how to use it | |
|---|---|---|
| # H1 / ## H2 / ###### H6 | Six levels of headings; put one H1 at the top of a document. | |
| **bold** / __bold__ | Bold text. | |
| *italic* / _italic_ | Emphasized text. | |
| ***both*** | _Bold and italic together. | |
| ~~strike~~ | Strikethrough (GitHub Flavored Markdown). | |
| > quote | A blockquote; >> nests quotations. | |
| `inline code` | Monospace code in a sentence. | |
| --- or *** | A horizontal rule / thematic break. | |
| - item / * item | Unordered list items. | |
| 1. first / 1. second | Ordered lists - most renderers renumber automatically. | |
| - [ ] open / - [x] done | Checkable task list (GFM). | |
| [label](https://url "title") | A link with optional hover title. | |
| [ref]: https://url | Define a reference-style link once, then use [text][ref]. | |
| <https://auto.example> | A bare URL becomes an autolink. | |
|  | An image - same syntax as a link with a leading !. | |
| ```lang | Start a fenced code block; the language enables syntax highlighting. | |
| | a | b | + |---|---| + | 1 | 2 | | GFM table: header row, separator row, then data rows. | |
| <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> | Inline HTML passes straight through markdown. | |
| 'text' / & | HTML entities and HTML blocks render without escaping. | |
| [^1] and [^1]: definition | Footnote markers with definitions (GFM). | |
| <!-- hidden comment --> | An HTML comment - visible in source, hidden when rendered. | |
| \*not italic\* | Backslash escapes any markdown metacharacter. | |
| :rocket: | Emoji shortcodes expand on GitHub. | |
| <details><summary>tap</summary>... | Collapsible sections (GitHub-specific, no JS needed). | |
| Blank line before block elements | Keeps headings and lists rendering as blocks reliably. | |
| Two trailing spaces or a backslash | Forces a hard line break inside a paragraph. | |
| Relative image paths | Keep images next to the doc so it stays portable. | |
| One H1 per file | <README.md> carries the repo H1; subdocuments start at H2. | |
| [Section](#section) | GitHub auto-slugs headings to lowercase-dashed anchors. | |
| README.md / index.md | The standard entry-point filenames that renderers show first. | |
| Keep tables short | Wide tables scroll on mobile; prefer lists when there are only a few items. |