# Text formatting and semantics ## Tags MessageML supports the following tags for formatting content within a message: | Tag | Description | Optional attributes | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `
` | Insert a line break. | None. | |

\
Link Text
\

| Insert a hyperlink that will be displayed in the message. |

• href: the URL of the link
• class: color options.

| | `text` |

Bold formatting.

Note: when receiving a message from an Agent that contains whitespace between the last character in a bolded section and the closing \ tag, the bold section will be returned in Markdown (i.e. surrounded by double '\*' characters) instead of XHTML tags.

| • `class`: [color options](https://docs.developers.symphony.com/dev-tools/ui-style-guide/colors). | | `text` |

Italics formatting.

Note: when receiving a message from an Agent that contains whitespace between the last character in an italics-formatted section and the closing \ tag, the italics section will be returned in Markdown (i.e. surrounded by single '\*' characters) instead of XHTML tags.

| • `class`: [color options](https://docs.developers.symphony.com/dev-tools/ui-style-guide/colors). | |

\


preformatted text
\

| Preformatted text. |

• class: color options.
• Non-HTML MessageML shorthand tags are not supported inside \

.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `text`                                                                  | 
No formatting.
• This tag can be used to specify visual styles, by adding a class attribute.
• This tag is used to create Structured objects.
                                                                                                                            | 
• class: color options.
• data-entity-id
• See below for list of translated PresentationML attributes.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `code sample`                                                           | Format the text as a block of code.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |  |

## Examples

Here after you can find an example of a message sent by a bot and containing these formatting and semantics tags as well as the structure of the messageML sent:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Message containing formatting and semantics tags" %}
![](https://3121587452-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MB51RkjSmfA_ejydg4M-3415978100%2Fuploads%2Fh11lFzgmDfBIboXKEras%2Fmml_formatting.png?alt=media\&token=70d83ff2-9356-47f5-8ece-d7f4c200790e)
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="messageML structure" %}

```markup

    
Formatting and semantics

    
This is a Link to our developer documentation.

    
Part 1 of the paragraph separated from part 2 with a line break.
Part 2 of the paragraph.

    
This text can be either bold or italic or red, or even combine several formatting tags.

    
This is a preformatted text.

    <h1>Code sample</h1>
<p>This is some html</p>

```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Versions and Compatibility

| Main features introduced                             | Agent needed to parse message sent by the bot | Client 2.0 release      | Backward client-compatibility behavior (e.g. external rooms) | Client 1.5 release      |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------- |
| Initial release                                      | Since the first version                       | Since the first version | -                                                            | Since the first version |
| Closing \ and \ without line breaks\*          | Since the first version                       | Since the first version | -                                                            | 1.53                    |
| Support of the language attribute on \ blocks. | Agent 20.14                                   | Since the first version | -                                                            |                         |


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.developers.symphony.com/bots/messages/overview-of-messageml/messageml-basic-format-tags/text-level-formatting-and-semantics.md?ask=
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.