Production parser evidence
These are executable cases, not illustrative mockups. Every result below is generated with the same converter used on the homepage.
Last updated: September 17, 2026
How verification works
Case 01
A backslash-escaped pipe stays inside one cell and renders as a literal pipe.
Try this case in the converter| Status |
| --- |
| success \| warning |+-------------------+
| Status |
+-------------------+
| success | warning |
+-------------------+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 1 · Max line: 21 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 02
A pipe inside a backtick code span is treated as code, not a column boundary.
Try this case in the converter| Code |
| --- |
| `a | b` |+-------+
| Code |
+-------+
| a | b |
+-------+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 1 · Max line: 9 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 03
Escaping a pipe inside inline code still produces one readable code value.
Try this case in the converter| Code |
| --- |
| `a \| b` |+-------+
| Code |
+-------+
| a | b |
+-------+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 1 · Max line: 9 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 04
The link label remains one cell and the destination is preserved as readable text.
Try this case in the converter| Link | Note |
|---|---|
| [A | B](https://example.com) | ok |+-----------------------------+------+
| Link | Note |
+-----------------------------+------+
| A | B (https://example.com) | ok |
+-----------------------------+------+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 38 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 05
A shell pipe inside a fenced block is preserved as code and never becomes a table.
Try this case in the converter```js
cat file | grep foo
```cat file | grep fooNo valid table detected; source text is preserved.
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 06
A sentence containing a pipe is preserved unless a valid separator row establishes a table.
Try this case in the converterUse A | B in prose, not as a table.Use A | B in prose, not as a table.No valid table detected; source text is preserved.
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 07
The table ends before a prose-like pipe line, which remains in document order.
Try this case in the converter| Key | Value |
| --- | --- |
| A | 1 |
Use A | B for fallback.+-----+-------+
| Key | Value |
+-----+-------+
| A | 1 |
+-----+-------+
Use A | B for fallback.Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 23 chars · 80-col safe
Case 08
A standard table without leading or trailing pipes is recognized by its separator row.
Try this case in the converterName | Score
--- | ---:
Alpha | 12Name Score
----- -----
Alpha 12Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 12 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 09
Wide CJK characters use terminal display width so adjacent columns stay aligned.
Try this case in the converter| 名称 | 状态 |
|---|---|
| 表格 | 完成 |┌──────┬──────┐
│ 名称 │ 状态 │
├──────┼──────┤
│ 表格 │ 完成 │
└──────┴──────┘Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 15 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 10
Emoji width is included in the same display-width calculation used for alignment and health metrics.
Try this case in the converter| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Rocket 🚀 | ✅ Done |┌───────────┬─────────┐
│ Item │ Status │
├───────────┼─────────┤
│ Rocket 🚀 │ ✅ Done │
└───────────┴─────────┘Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 23 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 11
Markdown links and images become useful labels with their destinations instead of raw syntax.
Try this case in the converter| Asset | Link |
|---|---|
|  | [Docs](https://example.com/docs) |+-----------------------+---------------------------------+
| Asset | Link |
+-----------------------+---------------------------------+
| Diagram (diagram.png) | Docs (https://example.com/docs) |
+-----------------------+---------------------------------+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 59 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 12
A short row gets a best-effort blank cell plus a line-level repair suggestion.
Try this case in the converter| A | B | C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |+---+---+---+
| A | B | C |
+---+---+---+
| 1 | 2 | |
+---+---+---+Tables: 1 · Rows: 2 · Columns: 3 · Max line: 13 chars · 80-col safe
Case 13
Two tables are converted independently while the paragraphs between them remain in place.
Try this case in the converterIntro
| A | B |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
Between
Name | Score
--- | ---:
Alpha | 12Intro
+---+---+
| A | B |
+---+---+
| 1 | 2 |
+---+---+
Between
+-------+-------+
| Name | Score |
+-------+-------+
| Alpha | 12 |
+-------+-------+Tables: 2 · Rows: 4 · Columns: 2 · Max line: 17 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 14
Table-like text without a valid dash separator remains ordinary text.
Try this case in the converter| A | B |
| --- | nope |
| 1 | 2 || A | B |
| --- | nope |
| 1 | 2 |No valid table detected; source text is preserved.
No diagnostics for this case.
Case 15
Intentional empty cells keep their column positions across all three output styles.
Try this case in the converter| A | B | C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 3 |
| | 2 | |+---+---+---+
| A | B | C |
+---+---+---+
| 1 | | 3 |
+---+---+---+
| | 2 | |
+---+---+---+Tables: 1 · Rows: 3 · Columns: 3 · Max line: 13 chars · 80-col safe
No diagnostics for this case.
These samples verify md2text's parsing and width model. They are not a guarantee that every Markdown renderer, terminal, email client, or font will display the same spacing.
md2text accepts unescaped pipes inside inline code as a convenience. Other Markdown renderers may require escaping them. Table-ending detection uses heuristics: adding a blank line is still the clearest boundary. Fenced code loses its fence markers in plain-text output.
The converter does not wrap long cells, transliterate non-ASCII content, or render HTML tables. For destination decisions, see the measured style comparison, 80-column repair example, and Unicode width measurements.
Use your own source
The converter never puts pasted Markdown or generated output in the URL.