Markdown support

[John McCall]

It would be great if Markdown was supported for the description (and any similarly large/open-ended) fields for components. Even better would be able to point to a markdown file in the repository and have that rendered from the config-as-code file.

This would make it really easy to add as much custom unstructured data as needed for components that are big and involve a lot of complexity or need extra context.

> Why would you need to display the markdown in Compass if its already in your source control, John?

I think a lot of the value add of this tool is making technical-adjacent information accessible to non-technical users. So while I personally may want to view markdown content in our repository, some users may not have access or even an account at all due to their job role.

Lastly, if the Markdown also supported https://mermaid.js.org/ like GitHub and GitLab do, that would be awesome to further increase the possibilities for unstructured information.

[James.Crowe]

I really like the idea of mark-down and mermaid support.

[Jan-Hendrik Spieth]

I like this idea very much. And while I so far more thought of just having editor features the Atlassian way (Jira, Confluence rich editor), I have to admit that markdown support certainly matches Compass' concepts much more, in terms of "open, not locked in" strategy.

[shall]

I like the possibilities that this would open up. Like being able to present our software release notes saved as md files in our repositories directly to Compass.

[Jerry Nettles _Modus Create_]

Jumping in a bit late here, but I wanted to echo how relevant this still is in 2025 — especially for teams using Compass alongside Confluence or Git-based workflows.

While Compass still doesn’t support rendering Markdown or Mermaid diagrams natively (as of now), there is a helpful workaround if you're also using Confluence to centralize docs or technical context for a broader audience.

📌 Just Add+ is a Confluence app that:

• Renders Markdown, Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz, and more directly in Confluence pages
• Embeds content from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and even raw Markdown files
• Makes technical info accessible to non-developers without needing repo access

It’s not a Compass-native feature, but if your team is already in Confluence, it’s a solid way to deliver exactly what you described — structured complexity and visuals, without sacrificing accessibility.

Here is a link: https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1211438/just-add-embed-markdown-diagrams-code-in-confluence-git?hosting=cloud&tab=overview