Supported Syntax

3 min read
DescriptionEverything Sidian can render from your Obsidian vault.

Sidian renders Obsidian-flavoured Markdown. Everything you use daily in Obsidian works on your published site.


Standard Markdown

All CommonMark and GFM (GitHub Flavoured Markdown) syntax is supported:

  • Headings (#, ##, ###)
  • Bold (**text**), italic (*text*), strikethrough (~~text~~)
  • Highlighted text (==text==)
  • Tables, ordered and unordered lists, task lists
  • Fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting
  • Blockquotes
  • Horizontal rules

[[Note name]]
[[Note name|Display text]]
[[Note name#Heading]]
[[Folder/Note name]]

Wikilinks are resolved to their published URLs automatically. If the target note is hidden or doesn't exist, the link is rendered as plain text.


Callouts

All Obsidian callout types are supported, including foldable variants:

> [!note] Title
> Content

> [!warning]- Collapsible warning
> This is collapsed by default.

Supported types: note, tip, info, success, question, warning, danger, bug, example, quote, todo, abstract.


Tags

Inline #tags are rendered as clickable links that open a tag index page listing all notes with that tag.

Tags in frontmatter are also indexed:

---
tags: [design, typography]
---

Frontmatter

Frontmatter properties are displayed below the note title by default. The following keys have special meaning:

KeyEffect
titleOverrides the filename as the page title
descriptionUsed as the og:description meta tag
tagsIndexed as clickable tag links
aliasesUsed for wikilink resolution
cover / imageUsed as the og:image for the note
permalinkCustom URL path for the note
noindexAdds noindex to this page only

You can control which frontmatter fields are shown or hidden on your published site from the Settings → Frontmatter fields section in your dashboard. All fields are visible by default — check a field to hide it from visitors. Meta tag fields (description, image, cover) still apply to <head> regardless of whether they are shown in the panel.


Math

Inline math: $E = mc^2$

Block math:

$$
\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx = \sqrt{\pi}
$$

Rendered via KaTeX.


Mermaid diagrams

All Mermaid diagram types are supported — flowcharts, sequence diagrams, pie charts, xychart-beta, and more. Diagrams are rendered client-side with the dark theme.

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Obsidian] --> B[Sidian Plugin]
    B --> C[Your Site]
```

Obsidian Charts plugin

Charts created with the Obsidian Charts plugin are rendered using Chart.js. Use the chart code block with YAML configuration:

```chart
type: bar
labels: [Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr]
series:
  - title: Revenue
    data: [12000, 18000, 15000, 21000]
beginAtZero: true
width: 80%
```

Supported chart types: bar, line, pie, doughnut, polarArea, radar.


Canvas files

.canvas files are rendered as interactive canvas viewers with pan, zoom, and scrollable note cards. URL embed nodes are rendered as iframes.


Images & attachments

Images embedded with ![image](/api/assets/docs/image.png) or standard Markdown ![alt](image.png) are served from Sidian's CDN.

Supported formats: PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, SVG, AVIF.

PDFs are linked and open in the browser's built-in PDF viewer.

Updated 16 May 2026