# Improve markdown preview mermaid rendering

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321>\
**Category:** Feedback\
**Tags:** extensions\
**Created:** [September 19, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321 "2026-09-19T02:59:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lgftypec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lgftypec](https://forum.cursor.com/u/lgftypec)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321/1 "2026-09-19T02:59:06Z")

</div>

Markdown preview mermaid rendering falls a lot behind VSCode, and even codex.

Installed `bierner.markdown-mermaid` which got merged into VSCode, but not working in Cursor builtin preview.

Any plan on improving this?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![deanrie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/deanrie/32/1263_2.png) [@deanrie](https://forum.cursor.com/u/deanrie)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321/5 "2026-09-21T06:06:50Z")

</div>

Hey, thanks for the report. There are two different preview surfaces in Cursor, so it can look like the extension isn’t doing anything.

- The Preview tab that opens for a .md file is Cursor’s own renderer. It draws Mermaid natively with zoom and pan, but right now it only supports flowchart, sequence, class, state, ER, and XY chart. Other types like pie, gantt, mindmap, gitGraph, timeline, C4, etc. show Mermaid Syntax Error there, and extensions can’t affect that tab.

- The classic VS Code preview still exists in Cursor, and that’s what `bierner.markdown-mermaid` hooks into. To use it, open the .md file, switch to the Source tab, open Command Palette with `Ctrl+Shift+P` or `Cmd+Shift+P`, then run Markdown: Open Preview to the Side. Or press `Ctrl+K` then `V`, or `Cmd+K` then `V`. In that preview panel, diagrams render using the extension’s full Mermaid engine.

You’re right that VS Code 1.121 added built-in Mermaid in its preview, and Cursor hasn’t pulled that in yet. There’s already an open request for this: [Feature Request: Enable Plan-style Mermaid rendering for regular .md files](https://forum.cursor.com/t/feature-request-enable-plan-style-mermaid-rendering-for-regular-md-files/148067). I’ll merge your thread into that request so it counts toward it.

If a diagram still doesn’t render in the classic preview after these steps, send the first line of the mermaid block which is the diagram type, and your Cursor version from Cursor \> About Cursor, and I’ll take a closer look.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lgftypec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lgftypec](https://forum.cursor.com/u/lgftypec)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321/6 "2026-10-08T09:49:52Z")

</div>

Thank you, could work this way

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/system/32/99069_2.png) [@system](https://forum.cursor.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/improve-markdown-preview-mermaid-rendering/172321/7 "2026-10-10T09:49:59Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.