About rich-text formatting in messaging conversations

<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Rich-text formatting adds structure to messages displayed to users in the messaging Web Widget, mobile SDKs, and Agent Workspace. Rich-text formatting is automatically applied to generated responses in messaging conversations, and can be used by admins when creating AI agent messages. Additionally, rich text messages can be sent by using ourSunshine Conversations API, or by third-party bots.</p>
<div class="article-banners">
<div id="docs-wmp-link">
<a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5411234991258-plan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">What's my plan?</a>
</div>
<div class="article-banner" id="suite_pee">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>All Suites</strong>
</td>
<td>Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Rich-text formatting adds structure to messages displayed to users in the
messaging Web Widget, mobile SDKs, and Agent Workspace. Rich-text formatting is
automatically applied to generated responses in messaging conversations, and can be used
by admins when creating AI agent messages. Additionally, rich text messages can be sent
by using our <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/conversations/messaging-platform/programmable-conversations/structured-messages/#rich-text" target="_blank">Sunshine Conversations API</a>, or by third-party
bots.</p>
<p class="p">This article explains how rich-text formatting can be used in messaging conversations,
and provides examples of how rich-text formatting appears in the Web Widget, mobile
SDKs, and Agent Workspace. For information on rich-text formatting in the ticket
composer, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844184730" target="_blank">Rich text formatting options reference</a>.</p>
<p class="p">This article includes the following topics: </p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="rich_text_messaging-suncoAPI__ul_lvy_cct_q2c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_bv2_3ys_q2c">Requirements and limitations for rich-text formatting in messaging conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_y5j_3ys_q2c">Supported rich-text formatting</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_bv2_3ys_q2c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Requirements and limitations for rich-text formatting in messaging conversations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Your account must meet the following requirements to apply and display rich-text
formatting in messaging conversations:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_bv2_3ys_q2c__ul_esy_js4_s2c">
<li class="li">Advanced AI agents: <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10050437105946#topic_yf3_1gk_jhc" target="_blank">Activate rich messaging</a> to use
rich-text formatting in pre-defined messages in dialog builder. </li>
<li class="li">Mobile SDK: Messaging iOS or Android SDKs v2.30.0 or later. Older versions
of the SDKs don't support rich-text messages.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Currently, this feature has the following limitations: </p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_bv2_3ys_q2c__ul_tbl_ps4_s2c">
<li class="li">End users can’t apply rich-text formatting to their messages.</li>
<li class="li">Rich-text messages are not supported in the Zendesk Unity SDK or some
third-party social channels. Rich-text formatting is supported in social
channels that provide rich-text formatting. For example, WhatsApp. </li>
<li class="li">Inline images are not supported. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Supported rich-text formatting</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">To send rich text messages with the <a class="xref" href="https://docs.smooch.io/rest/#operation/postMessage" target="_blank">Sunshine Conversations API</a>, you can use either the HTML
tags in the table below or markdown. See our <a class="xref" href="https://docs.smooch.io/guide/structured-messages/#rich-text" target="_blank">developer documentation</a> for information on sending
messages with rich text using the API.</p>
<div class="p">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="simpletable" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__simpletable_qq1_vys_q2c" summary="">
<col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
<col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
<col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
<thead>
<tr class="sthead">
<th class="stentry" id="d52e126" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;"><strong class="ph b">Format</strong></th>
<th class="stentry" id="d52e130" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;"><strong class="ph b">Supported tags</strong></th>
<th class="stentry" id="d52e134" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;">Example</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Bold</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;b&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_a2w_y1t_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-bold.png" width="225"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Italics</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;em&gt;, &lt;i&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_ezt_bbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-italics.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Underline</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;u&gt;, &lt;ins&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_krv_bbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-underline.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Strikethrough</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;s&gt;, &lt;del&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_hnx_bbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-strikethrough.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Hyperlink</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;a&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Web Widget:</p>
<img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_p2z_bbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-link-webwidget.png" width="250"><p class="p">Mobile:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_pqd_hbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-link-sdk.png" width="250"></p>
<p class="p">Agent
workspace:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_ph3_hbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-link-agentworkspace.png" width="250"></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Numbered list</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;ol&gt;, &lt;li&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_kw1_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-list-numbered.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Bullet list</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;ul&gt;, &lt;li&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_z4c_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-list-bullet.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Nested lists</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;ol&gt;, &lt;ul&gt;, &lt;li&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_pbg_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-list-nested.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Headings</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;h1&gt;, &lt;h2&gt;, &lt;h3&gt;, &lt;h4&gt;, &lt;h5&gt;, &lt;h6&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_gph_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-headings.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Code block</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;code&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Web Widget:</p>
<img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_jhj_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-code-webwidget.png" width="250"><p class="p">Mobile:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_nyj_4bt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-code-sdk.png" width="250"></p>
<p class="p">Agent
workspace:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_fbn_4bt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-code-agentworkspace.png" width="250"></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Quote</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;q&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_y5j_3ys_q2c__image_cgl_cbt_q2c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/rich_text-quote.png" width="250"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e126" style="vertical-align:top;">Other common HTML tags</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e130" style="vertical-align:top;">&lt;p&gt;, &lt;br&gt;, &lt;span&gt;</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d52e134" style="vertical-align:top;">n/a</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<script id="docs-schema-markup" type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9017484189466",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9017484189466-About-rich-text-formatting-in-messaging-conversations",
"headline": "About rich-text formatting in messaging conversations",
"description": "You can use rich-text formatting in messaging conversations to add structure to messages displayed in various interfaces, with specific requirements and supported HTML tags detailed in the article.",
"articleSection": "Zendesk messaging",
"datePublished": "2025-03-13T05:11:43+00:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-25T22:58:27+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9017484189466"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com",
"softwareAddOn": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Messaging",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/4405298882330"
}
}
}</script>