Microsoft Word / Google Docs style comments for Markdown files — stored inline, readable, and Git-friendly.

Comments are kept inside the Markdown file in a fenced ```MarkdownComments block placed immediately above the block they annotate. The block holds a small YAML list of comment threads, so review conversations travel with the text and diff cleanly in Git.

Features

Add comments on a selection or block (Word-style threads).
Reply, resolve, reopen, edit, and delete comments and threads.
Inline anchoring to a quoted selection or a whole block, with a "needs reattach" state when a quote no longer matches.
Diagnostics for invalid YAML, duplicate ids, Git conflict markers, and non-UTC timestamps — always non-destructive.
Markdown Preview integration: comment fences render as comment cards (like Mermaid diagrams), never as raw code.
Interactive Comments Preview panel: run MarkdownComments: Open Comments Preview (or use the editor title button) to reply, edit, resolve, reopen, and delete comments directly from a side-by-side preview.
Comments sidebar: an activity-bar view (Markdown Comments) shows just the comment threads for the active Markdown file — Word-style side comments — with the same reply/edit/resolve/reopen/delete actions. It follows whichever Markdown file you focus (including the interactive Comments Preview panel) and updates live as you edit. Click a comment to jump to it: if our interactive Comments Preview panel is open for that file, the panel scrolls to the thread and briefly highlights it; if VS Code's built-in Markdown preview is open, the preview scrolls to the commented line and flashes it (no raw editor needed — see below); otherwise the source Markdown opens at the anchored line. While the sidebar is open, the built-in Markdown preview hides its inline comment cards so comments appear in just one place.
Hide & collapse controls: hide all comments, collapse comment bodies, hide resolved threads, or collapse individual threads — in the panel, the sidebar, and the built-in Markdown preview.

How it works

A pure Rust core (compiled to WebAssembly) owns the format contract: parsing, anchoring, validation, and deterministic edit synthesis. The extension supplies identity (Git user.name) and timestamps, applies the text edits the core returns, and renders the VS Code Comments UI.

Running the extension (development)

Press F5 in VS Code (open either the repository root or the extension folder). The bundled Run MarkdownComments Extension launch config runs a build extension task first, so the Extension Development Host always starts from a freshly built dist/. Then open a .md file in the new window.

[!IMPORTANT] After changing extension code you must reload the running window for the change to take effect: in the Extension Development Host run Developer: Reload Window (Ctrl+R), or stop and press F5 again. If you instead installed a packaged .vsix, reinstall the new build — an old install keeps running stale code. dist/ is git-ignored, so a fresh clone has no build until you run npm run build (F5 does this for you).

Built-in preview vs. Comments Preview panel

VS Code exposes no API for an extension to scroll the built-in Markdown preview to a line. We work around this from inside the preview itself: the extension contributes a preview script (markdown.previewScripts), and when you click a sidebar comment it refreshes the preview so our markdown-it plugin embeds an invisible scroll anchor next to the matching comment; the preview script then scrolls that anchor into view and briefly flashes the line. This works even when only the preview is open — no source editor is opened.

The fully-controllable alternative is the Comments Preview panel (MarkdownComments: Open Comments Preview), our own webview, which scrolls to and highlights the thread directly. When neither preview is open, clicking a comment opens the source Markdown at the anchored line.

Versioning of builds

package.json keeps a clean base version (X.Y.Z). Packaged builds are stamped with a local timestamp so every artifact is uniquely traceable:

X.Y.Z-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS      e.g. 0.1.0-20260605-230038

npm run package builds a .vsix whose version carries the timestamp, then restores package.json to its clean base version (the working tree stays clean). The stamped version is what shows in the Extensions view after install, so you can confirm exactly which build is running.
npm run version:stamp prints the stamped version without writing it.
npm run version:stamp:write writes the stamped version into package.json (useful before an F5 session if you want the Extension Development Host to display the timestamp); npm run version:reset strips it back to the base.

Settings

markdownComments.authorName: display name for new comments (defaults to the local Git user.name).
markdownComments.showResolved: show resolved threads inline. When disabled, resolved threads are hidden in the editor.