# Commonmark in emails

**URL:** <https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942>\
**Category:** Application\
**Created:** [September 29, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942 "2018-09-29T22:15:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Crissov](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/crissov/32/1455_2.png) [@Crissov](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/Crissov)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942/1 "2018-09-29T22:15:43Z")

</div>

> <https://superuser.com/questions/1361551/using-text-markdown-in-emails>

The `text/markdown` content type is specified in RFCs [7763](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7763) and [7764](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7764). Commonmark is declared as `text/markdown; variant=CommonMark`.

I was curious whether it could transparently replace `text/plain` in email communication, but apparently several clients do not fall back gracefully to `text/plain` although they _ought to_.

I also tried to find email clients that not only support entering markdown (and convert to HTML), but also announce it somehow in the `Content-Type` header for the plain text part. The few I found use `text/plain; markup=markdown` instead.

Should users petition app makers to support either the subtype or the parameter?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Brian\_Lalonde](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/brian_lalonde/32/1565_2.png) [@Brian\_Lalonde](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/Brian_Lalonde)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942/2 "2018-09-30T19:22:35Z")

</div>

Native support in both MUAs and browsers seem like an important goal.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Crissov](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/crissov/32/1455_2.png) [@Crissov](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/Crissov)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 6:53am UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942/3 "2020-09-21T06:53:26Z")

</div>

- [feature wish for Microsoft Outlook](https://outlook.uservoice.com/forums/322590/suggestions/15606093)
- [petition for Apple iMessage](https://www.change.org/p/apple-i-want-imessage-to-support-markdown)
- [Open Rdar issue for Apple Mail](https://openradar.appspot.com/38845074)
- [Firefox issue](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1550904) and [bug](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1319262)
- [Thunderbird issue](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1280912)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon20778841](https://cdn.commonmark.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v2/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@anon20778841](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/anon20778841)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:50am UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/commonmark-in-emails/2942/4 "2022-05-05T01:50:02Z")

</div>

Hi all!

1. I don’t know if you know, but there is a new email protocol as an alternative to smtp that uses commonmark specification for files email - here: [https://mnmnotmail.org/](https://mnmnotmail.org/)
2. I don’t know if it’s a secure protocol, but I found it interesting how the topic here is to use commonmark in emails… I thought I’d add about it here

```markdown

"As well as letting sites reach customers/members directly & securely, TMTP also benefits end users:

It provides a far safer model than email, where you:
 + choose the sites where you participate 
 + select which members of a site can message you
 + always know from which site a message originated
 + can block anyone with whom you’ve made contact
 + may leave a site and never see traffic from it again

It offers capabilities missing in email, including:
 + message formatting & layout via Markdown (aka CommonMark)
 + hyperlinks to messages and other threads
 + hashtags and private tags
 + slide deck layouts
 + data-driven charts & graphs
 + forms/surveys whose results are collected into tables
 + many more features to foster focus, creativity, efficiency, and clarity
"

```