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Pandoc definition lists are not supported

markdown
Pandoc definition-list syntax stays visible as literal text because Quarto Markdown does not support it.

Q-2-54 — Pandoc definition lists are not supported

Pandoc definition-list syntax stays visible as literal text because Quarto Markdown does not support it.

What this means

A line beginning with : after a term is Pandoc definition-list syntax. Quarto Markdown does not build a definition list from this form. The line is shown as literal text instead, so the definition is not attached to its term.

Why this happens

At the beginning of a line, : is also the syntax for a table caption. When no table precedes it, Quarto reports a warning and keeps the caption text visible. If the line follows a paragraph or plain block, Quarto also reports Q-2-54 because the sequence looks like a Pandoc definition list.

How to fix

Use the supported .definition-list div syntax instead:

::: {.definition-list}
* `time`
  - A timestamp that identifies when the request was initiated.
  - Type: string
:::

To migrate an existing document automatically, run:

qmd-syntax-helper convert -r definition-lists

If a leading colon is intentional literal text rather than a definition, escape it as \:.