---
title: Instantiating Attributed Strings with Markdown Syntax
framework: foundation
role: collectionGroup
role_heading: API Collection
path: foundation/instantiating-attributed-strings-with-markdown-syntax
---

# Instantiating Attributed Strings with Markdown Syntax

Use a Markdown-syntax string to iniitalize an attributed string with standard or custom attributes.

## Overview

Overview You can use familiar Markdown syntax to initialize an attributed string with both its initial text and attributes for things like inline styles and links. In many cases, this produces easier-to-read code than manually setting attributes on ranges of an existing attributed string. if let attString = try? AttributedString(     markdown: "See the *latest* news at [our website](https://example.com)."),     let websiteRange = attString.range(of: "our website"),     let link = attString[websiteRange].link {     print("\(link)") // Prints "https://example.com". } In this example, attString contains five runs, with attributes parsed from the syntax in the markdown parameter: “See the “, with no attributes. “latest”, with an AttributeScopes.FoundationAttributes.InlinePresentationIntentAttribute whose value is emphasized. “ news at “, with no attributes. “our website”, with an AttributeScopes.FoundationAttributes.LinkAttribute whose value is a URL. “.”, with no attributes. You can also use custom attributes defined with the MarkdownDecodableAttributedStringKey protocol in the Markdown string. To do this, use Apple’s Markdown extension syntax: ^[text](attribute1: value1, attribute2: value2, …). When using attributes beyond those provided by the system, be sure to use initializers that take a scope parameter, and provide the scope that defines the custom attributes. tip: The AttributedString initializers that take a localized parameter can also use Markdown syntax. These initializers allow you to use Markdown in your app’s strings files.

## Topics

### Initializing from Markdown Strings

- [init(markdown:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:options:baseurl:)-52n3u.md)
- [init(markdown:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:including:options:baseurl:)-4m51b.md)
- [init(markdown:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:including:options:baseurl:)-89e48.md)

### Initializing from Markdown Data

- [init(markdown:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:options:baseurl:)-2sg1o.md)
- [init(markdown:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:including:options:baseurl:)-4co46.md)
- [init(markdown:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(markdown:including:options:baseurl:)-5nap7.md)

### Initializing with Markdown from URL Contents

- [init(contentsOf:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(contentsof:options:baseurl:).md)
- [init(contentsOf:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(contentsof:including:options:baseurl:)-1x6fz.md)
- [init(contentsOf:including:options:baseURL:)](foundation/attributedstring/init(contentsof:including:options:baseurl:)-1fcpy.md)

### Specifying Markdown Parsing Options

- [AttributedString.MarkdownParsingOptions](foundation/attributedstring/markdownparsingoptions.md)