Add Markdown rendering for commit messages

[Copilot]

Overview

This PR enables Markdown rendering for commit message titles and bodies in the desktop app, matching the behavior of PR descriptions in the web app.

Markdown rendering is only active when "Rewrap message" mode is enabled (the default). When users select "Show original wrapping," commit messages display as plain text with original formatting preserved.

Changes

Commit messages now support rich text formatting including:

• Bold and italic text
• Inline code spans
• Links
• Bulleted and numbered lists
• Code blocks with syntax
• Blockquotes
• Headings (toned down to 1.1em) and horizontal rules

Implementation

CommitTitle.svelte

• Integrated MarkdownContent component from @gitbutler/ui using the marked lexer
• Markdown only renders when rewrap prop is true
• Added CSS to render paragraphs inline to maintain valid HTML structure (since titles are rendered inside <h3> tags)
• Headers in titles inherit parent font size and display inline
• Preserved plain text in tooltips for better accessibility

CommitDetails.svelte

• Integrated Markdown component from @gitbutler/ui for full block-level markdown support
• Markdown only renders when rewrap prop is true; otherwise displays plain text with white-space: pre-line
• Changed container from <p> to <div> to properly accommodate block elements
• Headers (h1-h4) styled at 1.1em to maintain hierarchy without dominating the UI

CommitView.svelte & UnappliedCommitView.svelte

• Pass rewrap={$rewrapCommitMessage} prop to CommitTitle to control markdown rendering

Consistency

This implementation reuses the same Markdown rendering components already used in the web app for PR descriptions and chat messages, ensuring a consistent user experience across the application.

Preserved Functionality

All existing features continue to work as expected:

• Expand/collapse for long commit descriptions
• Text truncation with "more/less" buttons
• "Show original wrapping" mode displays plain text with exact formatting
• Existing fonts, colors, and spacing
• Tooltip display with plain text

Original prompt

Show the commit message title as Markdown, and the body as well, just like when PRs are rendererd.

---

💬 Share your feedback on Copilot coding agent for the chance to win a $200 gift card! Click here to start the survey.

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

1 Skipped Deployment

Project	Deployment	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
gitbutler-web	Skipped			Oct 14, 2025 1:46pm

[Byron]

This PR was motivated by #10634 .

My apologies in advance if the code is offensive, but AI slop aside, would markdown rendering for commits be a feature we want @PavelLaptev @estib-vega and CC @krlvi?

This PR obviously is less than a prototype, and more like a previsualization, knowing that code blocks apparently don't work, and there definitely would be a need to see the original text by some means in case it's botched or needs to be copied.

[estib-vega]

Nice, let's do it.

We should keep an eye on performance impact to see if e.g. a lot of commits start to slow down rendering though.

Otherwise the change is sound

[PavelLaptev]

Not urgent, but this would be a nice feature. However, someone could add an H1 here, which would completely break the style. Typical Markdown styles don’t fit this context. There should be special Markdown styles specifically tailored for commit messages. Until this is addressed, we can’t merge it.

Additionally, for commit messages, we have two options: "Show original wrapping" and "Rewrap the message." When using "Show original," no Markdown should be rendered.

[benoit-nexthop]

It would be nice also if when you double-click on the text area containing the commit message (whether it's only showing the abbreviated form or the full form) to automatically enter edit mode. This would make it easier/faster to edit or to copy the raw commit message including the markdown tags.

[Byron]

Thanks for taking a look!

Indeed, the changes needed to truly get this to work would be bigger, in the sense that some of the markdown has to be toned down to not be overbearing.

Let's see how far we can push it.

[Byron]

@copilot Make sure the headers in Markdown are only printed with slightly larger than normal text, to not dominate the whole user interface.

[PavelLaptev]

@Byron I’m afraid Copilot might mess with the styles, so this probably needs some manual work.
Also, Copilot should update more than just the headers — but let’s see the result.

[krlvi]

This is fine either way from a product perspective. Cant comment on the code itself tho

[Copilot]

@copilot Make sure the headers in Markdown are only printed with slightly larger than normal text, to not dominate the whole user interface.

Headers are now toned down to 1.1em (slightly larger than normal text) to maintain hierarchy without dominating the UI. Additionally, markdown only renders when "Rewrap message" is enabled - when "Show original wrapping" is selected, plain text is displayed instead.

Commit: 28fcbf3

[PavelLaptev]

@Byron if @copilot introduces a few more bugs like adding markdown to commit titles or messing up styles, let's stop using copilot for this PR and leave it for a person to check instead.

[Byron]

Apologies, I didn't want to force a feature (and the work) on anyone so I thought Copilot could one-shot its way to something that fulfils the requirement, before being cleaned up by a human 😅.

In any case, after testing this it turned out to be surprisingly usable, and even disabling markdown works already.

Screen.Recording.2025-10-14.at.16.33.05.mov

So maybe it's ready to be cleaned up and it's a feature then?
If so, can someone take ownership - I wouldn't be able to handle it further, unfortunately.

[krlvi]

FWIW I have a feeling that Claude Code is better at one shot-ing solutions than Copilot - but requires more babysitting

[PavelLaptev]

@Byron, no worries. The PR is not bad, just needs, as Kiril said, "babysitting".
I'll take a look closely later.

[Byron]

Thanks @PavelLaptev, appreciated!

FWIW I have a feeling that Claude Code is better at one shot-ing solutions than Copilot - but requires more babysitting

I'd love to be able to control this, but my quick-and-easy AI-"gun" doesn't seem to have this setting yet.

It's not even clear to me which Model is used in this PR 😅.
When running it locally, then I think I have more direct control, but that defeats the purpose for me.

[Byron]

I am posting here as it's my most recent memory about markdown rendering.

While wondering if we already have code that adjusts header heights to match the overall design, I did notice that somehow all margins got lost in the markdown view of the branch listing.

CC @PavelLaptev if there is an easy fix.

[Byron]

Closed in favor of #10798 .