Microsoft/vscode

makefile / Markdown syntax highlighting quirks

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#264,195 opened on Aug 31, 2025

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 (3 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)TypeScript (10,221 forks)batch import
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Description

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes/No

  • VS Code Version: 1.103.2
  • OS Version: macOS Sequoia

Steps to Reproduce:

default: # Entrypoint
	echo "Hello, World!"

The trailing comment # Entrypoint should render as a comment in VSCode makefiles, including in markdown blocks with the code type set to make.

Instead, VSCode renders GFM code snippets as plain text.

And Markdown previews render default: # Entrypoint as one continuous target name. Including the colon (:) token.

Markdown previews also corrupt backslash (\) escaped multiline expressions.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the Markdown grammar and makefile language grammar in VS Code, focusing on how syntax highlighting is applied to fenced code blocks in both the editor and preview.
Tech stack
typescript
Domain
frontenddeveloper experience
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GitNode.js
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70