Markdown & Syntax

Kova supports a set of presentation-specific Markdown extensions, plus standard Markdown via remark, GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) tables, Mermaid diagrams, and LaTeX math via KaTeX.

Kova-specific syntax

Column break (`|||`)

Force a two-column layout by placing ||| between two content blocks on the same slide:

## Comparing approaches

**Traditional tools**

- Manual layout adjustments
- Vendor lock-in
- Export quality varies

|||

**Kova**

- Layout detected automatically
- Plain `.md` files
- Native `.pptx` export

Kova splits the slide at the ||| and renders each side as a column. See Layouts — two-column for details.

Progress bars (`!progress`)

!progress[Task Complete](75)
!progress[In Review](40)
!progress[Planned](10)

Numbers represent percentages from 0 to 100; decimals are allowed (!progress[Almost there](99.5)).

Multiple consecutive !progress bars are grouped as a single logical unit for layout detection — they won't accidentally trigger the grid layout.

YouTube embed (`!youtube`)

!youtube[Video Title](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID)

Displays the video thumbnail on the slide. During presentation, clicking the thumbnail opens the video in the default browser.

Export behaviour

YouTube embeds export to PowerPoint as a text placeholder with the URL — not as an embedded video. In PDF export they appear as a static placeholder. See Exporting.

Local video (`!video`)

!video[Demo walkthrough](assets/demo.mp4)

Embeds a local video file, playable inline on the slide during presentation. Drag a video file onto the editor, or paste one from the clipboard, and Kova inserts the !video[]() reference automatically — the same drop/paste handling used for images (see Getting Started). Supported formats: .mp4, .webm, .ogv, .mov, .m4v, .mkv.

Export behaviour

PDF and PowerPoint export can't play video: PDF export shows the video as a static frame, and PowerPoint export shows a text placeholder with the label and file path. Standalone HTML export is the exception — the video is embedded as a real, playable file. See Exporting.

Table of Contents (`!toc`)

!toc

Renders a numbered, clickable list of every titled slide in the presentation — useful as an agenda or overview slide. The list is built automatically from your slide titles (the deck's opening title slide is excluded), so it stays in sync as you add, remove, or reorder slides.

Insert via menu

Right-click in the editor and choose Insert → Table of Contents to add an ## Agenda slide with !toc in one step.

During a presentation, clicking an entry jumps straight to that slide — from the presenter overlay, the single-screen view, or the audience display in dual-screen or mirror mode. A !toc list long enough to overflow the slide automatically splits into two columns, the same overflow handling used for dense text slides (see Layouts).

Poll / QR code (`!poll`)

!poll[What is your biggest challenge?](https://pollev.com/your-poll)

Renders a scannable QR code pointing to the URL, plus the URL as text — useful for live audience interaction with Poll Everywhere or any URL-based polling tool.

Academic references (`!ref`)

Attach source citations to any slide using !ref[...] lines:

!ref[Smith et al. (2024). *The Impact of AI on Education*. Journal of Learning Technologies, 12(3), 45–67.]
!ref[Jones, A. (2023). Pedagogical frameworks for Markdown-native tools. Open Education Review.]

References appear as small, muted text at the bottom-right of the slide, stacked vertically. They are styled to be unobtrusive — readable as annotations without competing with slide content. The colour automatically adapts to the active theme (greyed on light themes, softened white on dark themes).

Multiple !ref lines on the same slide are listed in the order they appear in the Markdown.

PowerPoint export — references are included in .pptx output as a 7 pt right-aligned text block placed just above the footer, so citations survive the export intact.

Insert via menu

In the editor, go to Insert → Reference (right-click menu) to place a !ref[] placeholder with the cursor inside, ready to type.

Diagrams (Mermaid)

Fenced code blocks with the mermaid language identifier are rendered as diagrams, automatically themed to match the active presentation theme.

```mermaid
pie title Browser share
    "Chrome"  : 65
    "Safari"  : 19
    "Firefox" : 4
    "Other"   : 12
```

```mermaid
graph LR
    A[Write Markdown] --> B[Kova detects layout]
    B --> C[Live preview]
    C --> D[▶ Present]
```

Tip

See the Mermaid documentation for all supported diagram types: flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, pie charts, class diagrams, and more.

Math & LaTeX

Kova renders mathematical expressions using KaTeX.

Inline math

Wrap an expression in single dollar signs: $...$

The derivative of $f(x) = x^2$ is $f'(x) = 2x$.

Display math

Wrap a block equation in double dollar signs on their own lines: $$...$$

$$
\text{MSE} = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} (y_i - \hat{y}_i)^2
$$

$$
\sigma(x) = \frac{1}{1 + e^{-x}}
$$

Literal dollar signs

To display a literal $ (e.g. a price), escape it with a backslash: \$49.99.

Standard Markdown

Headings

# H1 — title slide (triggers the `title` layout)
## H2 — section break or slide heading
### H3 — sub-heading (renders as a paragraph-size label)

Shortcuts: Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+6 toggle heading levels on the current line. Pressing the same level again removes the heading marker.

Text formatting

Syntax	Result
`bold`	bold
`italic`	italic
`~~strikethrough~~`	~~strikethrough~~
`inline code`	`inline code`

Shortcuts: Ctrl+B for bold, Ctrl+I for italic.

No selection needed

If no text is selected when you press Ctrl+B or Ctrl+I, Kova inserts a placeholder (bold text / italic text) with it pre-selected so you can type immediately.

Lists

- Unordered item
- Another item
  - Nested item (two spaces indent)

1. Ordered item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Blockquote

> The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
> — Mark Twain

Lines beginning with —, –, or - after the quote body are rendered as an attribution in a smaller typeface.

Callouts / admonitions

Turn a blockquote into a coloured admonition box by starting it with a [!type] marker:

> [!tip] Pro tip
> Press `Ctrl+B` with no selection to insert placeholder bold text.

> [!warning]
> Unsaved changes are lost if you close without saving.

The marker's first line becomes the box's title (defaulting to the capitalised type name if you don't supply one). Five canonical styles are supported — note, tip, warning, danger, info — and common synonyms are mapped onto them automatically:

You write	Renders as
`caution`, `attention`	`warning`
`error`, `failure`, `fail`, `bug`, `missing`	`danger`
`question`, `help`, `faq`	`info`
`hint`, `important`, `success`, `check`, `done`	`tip`
`abstract`, `summary`, `tldr`, `quote`, `cite`, `example`	`note`

A blockquote without a [!type] marker renders as a normal quote, as described above.

Links and images

[Link text](https://example.com)

![Alt text](path/to/image.png)

Image sizing — use the title attribute to control width:

![diagram](chart.png "50%")      <!-- 50% of slide width -->
![photo](photo.jpg "300px")      <!-- fixed 300 px -->
![icon](icon.svg "2rem")         <!-- relative to font size -->

Supported units: %, px, em, rem, cqi.

Code blocks

Fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting. Specify the language after the opening fence:

```python
def greet(name: str) -> str:
    return f"Hello, {name}!"
```

Supported languages include Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, Go, SQL, Bash, and many more via highlight.js.

Slides containing only code blocks or Mermaid diagrams automatically use the code layout — a dark, full-width display optimised for readability.

Tables (GFM)

| Feature       | Status |
| ------------- | ------ |
| Live preview  | ✅     |
| Mermaid       | ✅     |
| Custom themes | ✅     |

Inline formatting in cells — bold, italic, links, images, and inline math ( $...$ ) all render correctly inside table cells:

| Method | Formula | Notes |
|--------|---------|-------|
| **Mean** | $\bar{x} = \frac{\sum x_i}{n}$ | Sensitive to outliers |
| *Median* | middle value | More [robust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robust_statistics) |

Insert table dialog

Right-click in the editor and choose Insert → Table to open a dialog where you can set the number of rows and columns. Kova inserts a ready-to-fill GFM table at the cursor position.

Horizontal rule

Use <hr> for a visual divider within a slide. Do not use --- inside a slide — it is the slide separator.

## My Slide

First section content.

<hr>

Second section content.

Speaker notes

Add speaker notes below ??? on any slide — never shown to the audience.

## Our Roadmap

- Q1: Public beta
- Q2: v1.0 release
- Q3: Plugin API

???

Pause here and ask the audience what features they most want to see.

See Presenting — Speaker Notes for how notes appear during a presentation.

Layout override

Force a specific layout regardless of content with an HTML comment at the top of the slide:

<!-- layout:grid -->

## Hand-picked grid

See Layouts — Manual override for the full list of layout names and how automatic detection works.