Writing guides

How Engineers and Product Managers Can Proofread Jira Comments Without Breaking Markdown

Learn how to quickly correct typos, grammar, and status updates in Jira, GitHub, and Notion without stripping code blocks or breaking rich text formatting.

Writing technical updates requires precision. A single misplaced word in a Jira comment or GitHub issue can lead to misunderstandings—yet copying ticket text into external AI chat interfaces often strips code blocks, inline backticks, and bullet points.

The risk of copy-pasting technical updates

Moving a draft from a rich-text editor like Jira or Notion into a generic AI tool frequently causes formatting loss:

  • Inline code backticks (`variable_name`) get converted to plain text.
  • Fenced code blocks lose language syntax highlighting.
  • Numbered steps and task lists get flattened into plain paragraphs.

How in-place write-back preserves rich text

Modern browser extensions built for technical workflows use DOM-native text extraction and replacement strategies. Instead of re-rendering the entire document, tools like Polish target exact text nodes inside rich-text editors (like ProseMirror or Draft.js) to preserve structure.

Step-by-step technical proofreading routine

  1. Draft your ticket update: Write your status report, bug description, or technical note directly inside Jira or GitHub.
  2. Highlight specific text: If your comment contains complex code blocks, highlight only the natural-language explanation to leave code untouched.
  3. Press ⌘+Shift+P (or Alt+Shift+P): Polish corrects typos, technical grammar, and clarity directly within the editor box.
  4. Post with confidence: Review the update in place and submit without needing to re-format backticks or lists.