diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/htmlContentRenderer.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/htmlContentRenderer.ts
index a7de1cefb84..9062a1fd850 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/htmlContentRenderer.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/htmlContentRenderer.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import DOM = require('vs/base/browser/dom');
 import {IHTMLContentElement} from 'vs/base/common/htmlContent';
+import {marked} from 'vs/base/common/marked/marked';
 
 
 export type RenderableContent = string | IHTMLContentElement | IHTMLContentElement[];
@@ -18,13 +19,13 @@ export interface RenderOptions {
 
 /**
  * Create html nodes for the given content element.
- * formattedText property supports **bold**, __italics__, and [[actions]]
+ *
  * @param content a html element description
  * @param actionCallback a callback function for any action links in the string. Argument is the zero-based index of the clicked action.
  */
 export function renderHtml(content: RenderableContent, options: RenderOptions = {}): Node {
 	if (typeof content === 'string') {
-		return _renderHtml({ text: content }, options);
+		return _renderHtml({ isText: true, text: content }, options);
 	} else if (Array.isArray(content)) {
 		return _renderHtml({ children: content }, options);
 	} else if (content) {
@@ -32,6 +33,11 @@ export function renderHtml(content: RenderableContent, options: RenderOptions =
 	}
 }
 
+const renderer = new marked.Renderer();
+renderer.link = function(href, title, text): string {
+	return `<a href="#" data-href="${href}" title="${title || text}">${text}</a>`
+}
+
 function _renderHtml(content: IHTMLContentElement, options: RenderOptions = {}): Node {
 
 	let {codeBlockRenderer, actionCallback} = options;
@@ -69,6 +75,15 @@ function _renderHtml(content: IHTMLContentElement, options: RenderOptions = {}):
 	if (content.formattedText) {
 		renderFormattedText(element, parseFormattedText(content.formattedText), actionCallback);
 	}
+	if (content.markdown) {
+		const options = { sanitize: true, tables: false, silent: true, renderer };
+		element.innerHTML = marked(content.markdown, options);
+		DOM.addStandardDisposableListener(element, 'click', (event) => {
+			if (event.target.tagName === 'A') {
+				console.log(event.target, event.target.dataset['href']);
+			}
+		});
+	}
 
 	return element;
 }
diff --git a/src/vs/base/common/htmlContent.ts b/src/vs/base/common/htmlContent.ts
index 454412240b7..826ca0e709b 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/common/htmlContent.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/common/htmlContent.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 'use strict';
 
 export interface IHTMLContentElement {
+	/**
+	 * supports **bold**, __italics__, and [[actions]]
+	 */
 	formattedText?:string;
 	text?: string;
 	className?: string;
@@ -13,7 +16,8 @@ export interface IHTMLContentElement {
 	customStyle?: any;
 	tagName?: string;
 	children?: IHTMLContentElement[];
-	code?: { language: string; value: string; };
 	isText?: boolean;
 	role?: string;
+	markdown?: string;
+	code?: { language: string; value: string; };
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostTypeConverters.ts b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostTypeConverters.ts
index 0e38c558af8..ceb6080c1ba 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostTypeConverters.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostTypeConverters.ts
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ export function toViewColumn(position?: EditorPosition): vscode.ViewColumn {
 
 export function fromFormattedString(value: vscode.MarkedString): IHTMLContentElement {
 	if (typeof value === 'string') {
-		return { formattedText: value };
+		return { markdown: value };
 	} else if (typeof value === 'object') {
 		return { code: value };
 	}
@@ -136,8 +136,8 @@ export function toFormattedString(value: IHTMLContentElement): vscode.MarkedStri
 	if (typeof value.code === 'string') {
 		return value.code;
 	}
-	let {formattedText, text} = value;
-	return formattedText || text || '<???>';
+	let {markdown, text} = value;
+	return markdown || text || '<???>';
 }
 
 function isMarkedStringArr(something: vscode.MarkedString | vscode.MarkedString[]): something is vscode.MarkedString[] {