> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orbit-dev.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Writing issue descriptions

> Formatting support in the issue description editor

An [issue's](/concepts/issues) description supports rich text formatting, written and stored as markdown.

<Note>
  This applies to issue descriptions only. [Comments](/concepts/comments) are plain text — no formatting is applied to comment bodies.
</Note>

## How formatting works

There's no toolbar with bold/italic/heading buttons — formatting happens through markdown shortcuts as you type, the same way it would in a markdown file:

| Type                                       | Get            |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------- |
| `**text**`                                 | **Bold**       |
| `*text*`                                   | *Italic*       |
| `# `, `## `, `### ` at the start of a line | Heading levels |
| `- ` at the start of a line                | Bullet list    |
| `1. ` at the start of a line               | Numbered list  |
| `` `code` ``                               | Inline code    |
| ` ``` ` on its own line                    | Code block     |
| `> ` at the start of a line                | Blockquote     |
| `- [ ] ` at the start of a line            | Checklist item |

The editor also supports tables, though there's no button or shortcut currently exposed to insert one from scratch.

## Editing and viewing

Click a description to edit it; click away (or otherwise commit the change) to save it and return to a read-only view. The same editor renders both states — there's no separate "preview" component — so what you see while editing is what other people will see once you're done.

## Images

The editor has image support built in, but there's currently no way to actually add an image through the UI — no upload button, no paste-to-insert, no drag-and-drop. Don't tell users they can drop an image into a description; that path doesn't exist yet.