The “@” character is not possible to escape.

[RokeJulianLockhart]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Other

Body

As was originally reported at markup/issues/1168:

As a GitHub user, I want to make the "@" character escapable, to avoid the automatic mentioning of users.

Problem

In GitHub issue comments it is not possible to escape the @ character with the backslash. This may lead to unintended mentioning of other users. It is however possible to use the grave (`@`) or the zero width space (U+200B). Since the ZWSP is hard to find after you copy a table, I do not recommend it here. I first noticed the bug Crissov/unicode-proposals/issues/407.

At darkriszty/MarkdownTablePrettify-VSCodeExt/issues/106, I provide some examples:

Syntax	Example	Expected behavior	Actual behavior
@github	@github	mention link	mention link
\@github	@github	no mention link	mention link
`@github`	@github	no mention link	no mention link
@​github with ZWSP	@​github	no mention link	no mention link

I have reposted it here, due to what github/markup/issues/1168#issuecomment-4311110783 describes:

Thanks for the report.

After investigating, @mention linking is handled by HTML::Pipeline filters downstream (step 4 of the rendering pipeline), not by this repository.

This repo (github/markup) only handles step 1: converting markup formats to raw HTML. Check out this part of the README for a fuller picture:

The HTML is then passed through other filters in the rendering pipeline that add special sauce, such as emoji, task lists, named anchors, CDN caching, and auto-linking.

Mention linking and escaping fall under those downstream filters. For this type of feedback, GitHub's feedback discussions would be the right place.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[tats-u]

\@tats-u → @tats-u
@tats-u → @tats-u

Why the fuck doesn't GitHub allow avoiding sending extra notifications?

[tats-u]

It's ridiculous that they've completely abandoned any intention of improving the Markdown parser (https://github.com/github/cmark-gfm) by now.

[RokeJulianLockhart]

@tats-u, should I re-file it there?

As was originally reported at [`markup/issues/1168`](https://github.com/github/markup/issues/1168#issuecomment-4313570361):

<blockquote>

# User Story

As a GitHub user, I want to make the "@" character escapable, to avoid the automatic mentioning of users.

# Problem

In GitHub issue comments it is not possible to escape the @ character with the backslash. This may lead to unintended mentioning of other users. It is however possible to use the  grave (\`@\`) or the zero width space (U+200B). Since the ZWSP is hard to find after you copy a table, I do not recommend it here. I first noticed the bug [this issue](https://github.com/Crissov/unicode-proposals/issues/407).

# Examples

| Syntax              | Example  | Expected behavior | Actual behavior  |
|---------------------|----------|-------------------|------------------|
| `@spixi`            | @spixi   | mention link      | mention link     |
| `\@spixi`           | \@spixi  | no mention link   | **mention link** |
| ``` `@spixi` ```    | `@spixi` | no mention link   | no mention link  |
| `@​spixi` with ZWSP | @​spixi  | no mention link   | no mention link  |

</blockquote>

[`github/markup/issues/1168#issuecomment-4311110783`](https://github.com/github/markup/issues/1168#issuecomment-4311110783) explains that it was not best filed there:

> After investigating, `@mention` linking is handled by HTML::Pipeline filters downstream (step 4 of the rendering pipeline), not by this repository.

I have reposted it here, due to what [`orgs/community/discussions/193789#discussioncomment-17182222`](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/193789#discussioncomment-17182222) describes.

[tats-u]

It should be a feature request there.

HTML::Pipeline

What is it? It does not look like a C function.

linking is handled

linking seems to be handled

[RokeJulianLockhart]

It should be a feature request there.

@tats-u, I have filed github/cmark-gfm/issues/389, then. Thanks.

[RokeJulianLockhart]

• What is it? It does not look like a C function.

• Linking seems to be handled.

@tats-u, as Droid-ify/client/issues/1080#issuecomment-4624914869 explains, it may be vibe-coded nonsense, although is from GitHub staff. I don't know more than that.

[tats-u]

The root cause turned out to be that GitHub's lazy developers had left this issue (github/cmark-gfm#181) unresolved for six years.

[tats-u]

as Droid-ify/client#1080 (comment) explains, it may be vibe-coded nonsense, although is from GitHub staff. I don't know more than that.

As you probably guessed, GitHub has been acting strangely lately, almost as if it had taken some LLM drugs.

[tats-u]

Strangely, both LLM and LSD start with the same letter, have the same number of letters, and all their letters are consonants; the second letters represents sizes, and the third letters represent academic degrees.