BBS: TELESC.NET.BR
Assunto: Re: MARKDOWN kludge
De: Matthew Asham
Data: Sun, 1 Mar 2026 13:40:29 -0800
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CN> My 2c: in case of something like that being implemented, could it be better to use a more general kludge, such as MARKUP?
CN> ^aMARKUP: Markdown 1.0
CN> That would allow for specifying other formats, like BBCode, Gemtext, etc.
This makes more sense to me.
I've done up a second draft based on this this feedback.
1. INTRODUCTION
---------------
This document defines the MARKUP kludge line for use in FidoNet-
compatible echomail and netmail messages. Its purpose is to indicate
that the body of a message is formatted using a named markup syntax,
allowing capable reader software to render the message with appropriate
formatting while remaining fully readable by legacy software that does
not support this kludge.
Unlike a Markdown-specific kludge, MARKUP provides a general mechanism
for identifying the body format of a message. This allows the same
extension point to be used for Markdown, BBCode, Gemtext, and other
formats without requiring a new kludge definition for each syntax.
2. DEFINITIONS
--------------
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in FTA-1006.
"Kludge line": A line in a FidoNet message body beginning with the
ASCII SOH character (0x01), used to carry machine-readable metadata
not intended for direct display to the end user.
"Markup syntax": A textual formatting language used within the visible
message body to express structure or presentation, such as Markdown,
BBCode, or Gemtext.
3. THE MARKUP KLUDGE
--------------------
3.1 Syntax
The MARKUP kludge line has the following syntax:
^AMARKUP:
where ^A represents the ASCII SOH character (0x01), is a
registered or otherwise well-known markup format identifier, and
is a format version string meaningful within that format.
Examples:
^AMARKUP: Markdown 1.0
^AMARKUP: BBCode 1.0
^AMARKUP: Gemtext 1.0
3.2 Placement
The MARKUP kludge line SHOULD be placed with other kludge lines at
the beginning of the message body, before any visible text content,
in accordance with common FidoNet kludge conventions.
3.3 Format Identifier
The format identifier MUST be a single token and SHOULD use a stable,
widely recognized name for the markup syntax. Implementations SHOULD
treat format identifiers case-insensitively for matching purposes,
though they MAY preserve the original casing for display or logging.
3.4 Version String
The version string MUST follow the format identifier and SHOULD be
included whenever the syntax has meaningful version distinctions.
Implementations MAY treat the version as an opaque string. Software
that recognizes a format but not its declared version SHOULD fall back
to best-effort rendering or plain text display.
4. BEHAVIOR OF CONFORMING SOFTWARE
----------------------------------
4.1 Message Authors and Editors
A message editor that supports composition in a named markup syntax
MAY insert the MARKUP kludge line when the user composes a message in
that format. It SHOULD NOT insert the kludge unless the message body
actually contains content intended for that markup syntax.
4.2 Message Readers
A message reader that encounters the MARKUP kludge:
- SHOULD inspect the declared format identifier before attempting
rendering.
- MAY render the body according to the declared format if that
format is supported.
- SHOULD provide plain text display when the declared format is not
supported, not recognized, or cannot be safely rendered.
- SHOULD provide a way for the user to view the raw source if
desired.
4.3 Unknown or Unsupported Formats
Software that does not recognize the declared markup format MUST
ignore the semantic meaning of the kludge and display the message body
as plain text. The original body content MUST be preserved unchanged.
4.4 Tosser and Packer Behavior
Tossers, packers, and other mail-handling software MUST NOT alter,
strip, or otherwise modify the MARKUP kludge line during normal
message handling. The kludge MUST be preserved through the normal
FidoNet message routing process.
5. FORMAT-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE
---------------------------
This document defines only the transport-level declaration mechanism.
It does not standardize the parsing rules of any specific markup
syntax.
Implementors supporting a given format SHOULD document which variant
they support. For example:
- Markdown implementations SHOULD identify which dialect or baseline
they follow, such as CommonMark.
- BBCode implementations SHOULD document which tags are supported.
- Gemtext implementations SHOULD follow Gemtext line-oriented rules.
When possible, authors SHOULD choose markup syntaxes that degrade
gracefully in plain-text environments, since many FidoNet-compatible
systems may display the raw message body without rendering.
6. SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
--------------------------
Rendering software MUST treat the declared markup format as untrusted
input. Implementations SHOULD sanitize or restrict active content,
embedded HTML, unsafe URLs, and any construct that could execute code,
load remote resources, or mislead the user interface.
Software rendering marked-up messages MUST NOT automatically fetch
remote resources without explicit user consent, in order to protect
user privacy and avoid unexpected network activity.
7. IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
-----------------------
The MARKUP kludge is intended as a general extension mechanism for
FidoNet-compatible software. A given implementation MAY support only
a subset of markup syntaxes and still conform to this specification,
provided unsupported formats are safely treated as plain text.
An implementation that currently supports only Markdown may still emit:
^AMARKUP: Markdown 1.0
This preserves forward compatibility with other markup syntaxes while
allowing immediate use for Markdown-aware readers.
8. REFERENCES
-------------
[1] FTS-0001 - A Basic FidoNet(r) Technical Standard
[2] FTS-0009 - The MSGID and REPLY kludges
[3] FTS-5003 - Character set kludge (CHRS/CHARSET)
[4] FTA-1006 - Key words to indicate requirement levels
[5] CommonMark Specification
https://spec.commonmark.org/
9. REVISION HISTORY
-------------------
2026-02-27 Initial proposal for a Markdown-specific kludge.
2026-03-01 Revised proposal to use the general MARKUP kludge.
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