Colored Text

BachMark supports colored text for cases where color carries meaning — marking additions and removals, status indicators, categorization, or visual emphasis. Since BachMark doesn't support raw HTML, colored text has its own inline syntax.

Basic syntax

Use {color=value: text} to apply a color to text:

The {color=red: old API} was replaced by the {color=green: new API}.

Status: {color=orange: pending review}.

The value can be a named color or a hex code.

Named colors

BachMark supports the full set of CSS named colors as defined in the CSS Color Module Level 4 specification — 148 color keywords covering 142 unique colors.

Some commonly used names:

{color=red: error message}
{color=green: success message}
{color=blue: informational text}
{color=orange: warning text}
{color=gray: de-emphasized text}
{color=purple: special note}
{color=tomato: a more specific red}
{color=dodgerblue: a brighter blue}
{color=mediumseagreen: a softer green}
{color=slategray: a muted gray-blue}

Named colors are case-insensitive — {color=Red: text}, {color=red: text}, and {color=RED: text} are all equivalent.

The full list of supported names includes everything from aliceblue to yellowgreen. Since these are standardized CSS color names, they are well-documented and widely known.

TIP

Stick to common color names for readability. Writing {color=red: text} is clearer in source than {color=palevioletred: text}, even if both are valid.

Hex codes

For precise color control, use hex codes prefixed with #:

{color=#ff6b6b: this specific red}
{color=#1a1a2e: dark blue}
{color=#2ecc71: flat green}

Supported hex formats

Format	Example	Description
#rrggbb	#ff6b6b	6-digit hex (red, green, blue)
#rrggbbaa	#ff6b6bcc	8-digit hex with alpha channel
#rgb	#f66	3-digit shorthand
#rgba	#f66c	4-digit shorthand with alpha

Hex codes are case-insensitive — #FF6B6B and #ff6b6b are equivalent.

Alpha channel

The alpha channel controls transparency. 00 is fully transparent, ff is fully opaque:

{color=#ff000080: 50% transparent red}
{color=#0000ff40: 25% transparent blue}

How transparency is rendered depends on the output format. HTML renderers apply CSS opacity. PDF renderers may approximate transparency or render it as a lighter shade.

Portability

Hex codes are passed through to the renderer as-is. Unlike named colors, they don't adapt to themes or dark mode. A color that works well on a light background may be illegible on a dark one. For portable documents, prefer named colors — renderers can map them to theme-appropriate values. Use hex codes only when you need a specific color and control the rendering context.

Combining with other inline formatting

Colored text can wrap or be wrapped by other inline formatting:

{color=red: **bold red text**}
**{color=red: also bold red text}**

{color=green: *italic green*}
{color=blue: `code is colored too`}
{color=red: ~~struck through in red~~}

Colored text can also contain badges, keyboard keys, and other inline constructs:

{color=green: The feature {badge-tip: stable} is ready.}

Nesting colored text

Colored text can be nested. The innermost color wins for the overlapping region:

{color=blue: This is blue and {color=red: this part is red} and back to blue.}

Colored text in context

Colored text works wherever inline content is allowed — paragraphs, headings, list items, table cells, callouts, and figure captions:

## {color=red: Breaking} Changes

- {color=green: Added} — new `/search` endpoint
- {color=red: Removed} — legacy `/find` endpoint
- {color=orange: Changed} — response format for `/users`

| Feature   | Status                       |
| --------- | ---------------------------- |
| Auth      | {color=green: implemented}   |
| Search    | {color=orange: in progress}  |
| Export    | {color=red: not started}     |

When to use colored text

Color is most effective when it carries semantic meaning:

• Additions and removals: {color=green: added} / {color=red: removed} in changelogs.
• Status indicators: {color=green: passing} / {color=red: failing} in reports.
• Categorization: Color-coding items in a list or table.
• Inline emphasis: Drawing attention to a specific term when bold or highlighting isn't enough.

For general-purpose attention markers, consider highlighted text (==text==) or badges instead — they're more portable and don't depend on specific colors rendering correctly.

Parsing rules

• Colored text starts with {color= followed by a color value (named color or hex code), then :, the content text, and a closing }.
• The color value cannot contain spaces. It ends at the :.
• The content between : and } is parsed as normal inline content — emphasis, links, code, badges, and other inline constructs all work.
• Colored text can span multiple words but cannot span multiple lines. The opening {color= and closing } must be on the same line.
• Named colors are matched case-insensitively against the CSS Color Module Level 4 named color set.
• Hex codes must start with # and be 3, 4, 6, or 8 hex digits. Invalid hex codes are treated as literal text with a warning.
• Unrecognized named colors (not in the CSS set and not a valid hex code) are treated as literal text with a warning.
• Colored text is not processed inside fenced code blocks or inline code spans.

Rendering behavior

Output	Behavior
HTML	Rendered as a <span> with an inline color style or a class. Named colors may be mapped to theme-appropriate values by the renderer.
PDF	Rendered with the specified text color. Hex codes are used as-is. Named colors are mapped to their defined RGB values.