8.14 Raw HTML

8.14.1 Extension: raw_html

Markdown allows you to insert raw HTML (or DocBook) anywhere in a document (except verbatim contexts, where <, >, and & are interpreted literally). (Technically this is not an extension, since standard Markdown allows it, but it has been made an extension so that it can be disabled if desired.)

The raw HTML is passed through unchanged in HTML, S5, Slidy, Slideous, DZSlides, EPUB, Markdown, CommonMark, Emacs Org mode, and Textile output, and suppressed in other formats.

For a more explicit way of including raw HTML in a Markdown document, see the raw_attribute extension.

In the CommonMark format, if raw_html is enabled, superscripts, subscripts, strikeouts and small capitals will be represented as HTML. Otherwise, plain-text fallbacks will be used. Note that even if raw_html is disabled, tables will be rendered with HTML syntax if they cannot use pipe syntax.

8.14.2 Extension: markdown_in_html_blocks

Original Markdown allows you to include HTML “blocks”: blocks of HTML between balanced tags that are separated from the surrounding text with blank lines, and start and end at the left margin. Within these blocks, everything is interpreted as HTML, not Markdown; so (for example), * does not signify emphasis.

Pandoc behaves this way when the markdown_strict format is used; but by default, pandoc interprets material between HTML block tags as Markdown. Thus, for example, pandoc will turn

<table>
<tr>
<td>*one*</td>
<td>[a link](https://google.com)</td>
</tr>
</table>

into

<table>
<tr>
<td><em>one</em></td>
<td><a href="https://google.com">a link</a></td>
</tr>
</table>

whereas Markdown.pl will preserve it as is.

There is one exception to this rule: text between <script>, <style>, <pre>, and <textarea> tags is not interpreted as Markdown.

This departure from original Markdown should make it easier to mix Markdown with HTML block elements. For example, one can surround a block of Markdown text with <div> tags without preventing it from being interpreted as Markdown.

8.14.3 Extension: native_divs

Use native pandoc Div blocks for content inside <div> tags. For the most part this should give the same output as markdown_in_html_blocks, but it makes it easier to write pandoc filters to manipulate groups of blocks.

8.14.4 Extension: native_spans

Use native pandoc Span blocks for content inside <span> tags. For the most part this should give the same output as raw_html, but it makes it easier to write pandoc filters to manipulate groups of inlines.

8.14.5 Extension: raw_tex

In addition to raw HTML, pandoc allows raw LaTeX, TeX, and ConTeXt to be included in a document. Inline TeX commands will be preserved and passed unchanged to the LaTeX and ConTeXt writers. Thus, for example, you can use LaTeX to include BibTeX citations:

This result was proved in \cite{jones.1967}.

Note that in LaTeX environments, like

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}\hline
Age & Frequency \\ \hline
18--25  & 15 \\
26--35  & 33 \\
36--45  & 22 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}

the material between the begin and end tags will be interpreted as raw LaTeX, not as Markdown.

For a more explicit and flexible way of including raw TeX in a Markdown document, see the raw_attribute extension.

Inline LaTeX is ignored in output formats other than Markdown, LaTeX, Emacs Org mode, and ConTeXt.

8.14.6 Generic raw attribute

8.14.7 Extension: raw_attribute

Inline spans and fenced code blocks with a special kind of attribute will be parsed as raw content with the designated format. For example, the following produces a raw roff ms block:

```{=ms}
.MYMACRO
blah blah
```

And the following produces a raw html inline element:

This is `<a>html</a>`{=html}

This can be useful to insert raw xml into docx documents, e.g. a pagebreak:

```{=openxml}
<w:p>
  <w:r>
    <w:br w:type="page"/>
  </w:r>
</w:p>
```

The format name should match the target format name (see -t/--to, above, for a list, or use pandoc --list-output-formats). Use openxml for docx output, opendocument for odt output, html5 for epub3 output, html4 for epub2 output, and latex, beamer, ms, or html5 for pdf output (depending on what you use for --pdf-engine).

This extension presupposes that the relevant kind of inline code or fenced code block is enabled. Thus, for example, to use a raw attribute with a backtick code block, backtick_code_blocks must be enabled.

The raw attribute cannot be combined with regular attributes.