Any .md or .tex.md file can be edited two ways: as plain-text Source Code in the Monaco editor, or as formatted Visual text in a WYSIWYG view. Both edit the same underlying Markdown — switch freely as you write.

Looking for Markdown syntax and how it compiles to LaTeX?That's covered in The Hybrid Format (.md). This guide is about the editor itself.

Switching Views

Open any Markdown file and a small Source Code / Visual toggle appears in the toolbar (it's hidden for .tex files, where it doesn't apply). Click Visual to see formatted text instead of raw syntax; click back to Source Code at any point to see or edit the underlying Markdown directly.

Switching is lossless for content, but not always byte-for-byte: things like list marker style or blank-line spacing can be renormalized when you round-trip through Visual mode, similar to any structured Markdown editor.

YAML front matter

If your file starts with a --- metadata block (title, author, abstract), it's preserved when you switch views but can only be edited in Source Code. Visual mode shows just the document body.

Formatting in Visual Mode

The toolbar covers the essentials: bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, headings, bullet and numbered lists, blockquotes, code blocks, tables, and a horizontal rule, plus undo/redo. Two buttons are worth calling out specifically:

Image: opens the same figure picker used for LaTeX files, so you can insert an image already in your project without typing a path.
Citation ([@]): searches your bibliography and inserts a [@key] reference, the Markdown citation syntax explained in the Hybrid Format guide.

Equations Are a Source Code Feature

The Visual editor has no equation button and doesn't render math: $...$ and $$...$$ show up as plain text there. Write and check equations in Source Code view; they compile correctly either way since compilation always works from the saved Markdown, not from whichever view you happen to be looking at.