Markdown Preview incorrectly renders checklist items as bulletlist items

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Cursor’s built-in Markdown preview does not render GitHub Flavored Markdown task list checkboxes.

Markdown like this:

  • Unchecked task
  • Checked task

renders as plain list items/text instead of checkbox task list items. The same Markdown renders as checkboxes in VS Code’s built-in Markdown preview.

This makes Markdown task lists harder to review inside Cursor, especially for repo plans, checklists, and backlog files.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create or open any Markdown file in Cursor, for example task-list-repro.md.
  2. Add this content:
# Task List Repro

- [ ] Unchecked task
- [x] Checked task
  1. Open Cursor’s built-in Markdown preview for the file.
  2. Compare the rendered output with VS Code’s built-in Markdown preview for the same file.

Expected Behavior

Cursor should at minimum render - [ ] and - [x] as GFM task list checkbox items, matching VS Code behavior. Or even better render as interactive clickable checkboxes.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 3.2.16 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 3e548838cf824b70851dd3ef27d0c6aae371b3f0
Date: 2026-04-28T21:07:47.682Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 25.2.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

4

Hey, thanks for the report. The repro is minimal and clear, and the gap with the VS Code preview is reproducible. I’ve filed it internally, but I can’t share any timeline for a fix yet.

Workaround for now: you can install an extension like Markdown All in One or Markdown Preview Enhanced from the marketplace. They can render GFM task lists as checkboxes. If I get an update on the fix, I’ll reply in the thread.