fix(core): properly format markdown in AskUser tool by unescaping newlines by Adib234 · Pull Request #26349 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

Adib234 · 2026-05-01T18:36:59Z

Summary

This PR fixes an issue where markdown formatting (headers, lists, etc.) was not being applied in the `ask_user` tool because newlines were over-escaped as `\n` by the LLM.

Details

Modified `AskUserTool` to unescape `\n` and `\r\n` into actual newline characters in all user-facing string fields of the `questions` array (`question`, `header`, `placeholder`, `label`, `description`). This allows the UI's markdown renderer (`MarkdownDisplay`) to correctly identify block-level elements. Added unit tests to verify the normalization.

Related Issues

Fixes #25023

How to Validate

Run `npm test -w @google/gemini-cli-core -- src/tools/ask-user.test.ts` to verify the normalization logic.
Trigger an `ask_user` call (e.g., via Conductor or a manual tool call) with markdown content containing `\n` and verify it renders correctly in the CLI.

Pre-Merge Checklist

Added/updated tests (if needed)
Validated on required platforms/methods:
- MacOS
  - npm run

…lines

github-actions · 2026-05-01T18:40:16Z

Size Change: +768 B (0%)

Total Size: 33.9 MB

Filename	Size	Change
`./bundle/chunk-236ONPCG.js`	0 B	-12.5 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-4EILQ74Z.js`	0 B	-19.5 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-64XHI5ON.js`	0 B	-3.8 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-A3DTGHGI.js`	0 B	-657 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-FFPFMQ76.js`	0 B	-49.2 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-G4FLWYLL.js`	0 B	-2.72 MB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-SXXFYGHX.js`	0 B	-14.7 MB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-YNIVRW3V.js`	0 B	-3.43 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/core-EMNXNZTC.js`	0 B	-48.4 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/devtoolsService-AGZHIDMZ.js`	0 B	-28 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/gemini-VEXUSHPP.js`	0 B	-582 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/interactiveCli-BLQ7V3QW.js`	0 B	-1.32 MB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/liteRtServerManager-DQ2ASCG3.js`	0 B	-2.11 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/oauth2-provider-R7BAVZ3M.js`	0 B	-9.16 kB (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/chunk-BDJNZWDW.js`	14.7 MB	+14.7 MB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-JUJFNMB7.js`	3.8 kB	+3.8 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-KGNOUQDW.js`	49.2 kB	+49.2 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-OIDTAFQF.js`	3.43 kB	+3.43 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-VJIP45KS.js`	12.5 kB	+12.5 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-VWMZYYIO.js`	657 kB	+657 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-YXPQZ7J4.js`	2.72 MB	+2.72 MB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/chunk-ZW7LTBES.js`	19.5 kB	+19.5 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/core-XIZPBPL6.js`	48.4 kB	+48.4 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/devtoolsService-XVIQ3I3W.js`	28 kB	+28 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/gemini-YP25MTJ3.js`	582 kB	+582 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/interactiveCli-YE67QBGJ.js`	1.32 MB	+1.32 MB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/liteRtServerManager-ENPVZJ4T.js`	2.11 kB	+2.11 kB (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/oauth2-provider-P4SMLHDM.js`	9.16 kB	+9.16 kB (new file)	🆕

ℹ️ View Unchanged

Filename	Size	Change
`./bundle/bundled/third_party/index.js`	8 MB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-34MYV7JD.js`	2.45 kB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-5AUYMPVF.js`	858 B	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-5PS3AYFU.js`	1.18 kB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-664ZODQF.js`	124 kB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-DAHVX5MI.js`	206 kB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-DD4MWEAB.js`	1.97 MB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-IUUIT4SU.js`	56.5 kB	0 B
`./bundle/chunk-RJTRUG2J.js`	39.8 kB	0 B
`./bundle/cleanup-Y6R3I7CJ.js`	0 B	-932 B (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/devtools-36NN55EP.js`	696 kB	0 B
`./bundle/dist-T73EYRDX.js`	356 B	0 B
`./bundle/events-XB7DADIJ.js`	418 B	0 B
`./bundle/examples/hooks/scripts/on-start.js`	188 B	0 B
`./bundle/examples/mcp-server/example.js`	1.43 kB	0 B
`./bundle/gemini.js`	5.1 kB	0 B
`./bundle/getMachineId-bsd-TXG52NKR.js`	1.55 kB	0 B
`./bundle/getMachineId-darwin-7OE4DDZ6.js`	1.55 kB	0 B
`./bundle/getMachineId-linux-SHIFKOOX.js`	1.34 kB	0 B
`./bundle/getMachineId-unsupported-5U5DOEYY.js`	1.06 kB	0 B
`./bundle/getMachineId-win-6KLLGOI4.js`	1.72 kB	0 B
`./bundle/memoryDiscovery-HRURE3F3.js`	980 B	0 B
`./bundle/multipart-parser-KPBZEGQU.js`	11.7 kB	0 B
`./bundle/node_modules/@google/gemini-cli-devtools/dist/client/main.js`	222 kB	0 B
`./bundle/node_modules/@google/gemini-cli-devtools/dist/src/_client-assets.js`	229 kB	0 B
`./bundle/node_modules/@google/gemini-cli-devtools/dist/src/index.js`	13.4 kB	0 B
`./bundle/node_modules/@google/gemini-cli-devtools/dist/src/types.js`	132 B	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-permissive-open.sb`	890 B	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-permissive-proxied.sb`	1.31 kB	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-restrictive-open.sb`	3.36 kB	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-restrictive-proxied.sb`	3.56 kB	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-strict-open.sb`	4.82 kB	0 B
`./bundle/sandbox-macos-strict-proxied.sb`	5.02 kB	0 B
`./bundle/src-QVCVGIUX.js`	47 kB	0 B
`./bundle/start-HDRWHW6K.js`	0 B	-652 B (removed)	🏆
`./bundle/tree-sitter-7U6MW5PS.js`	274 kB	0 B
`./bundle/tree-sitter-bash-34ZGLXVX.js`	1.84 MB	0 B
`./bundle/cleanup-R3LD7F2T.js`	932 B	+932 B (new file)	🆕
`./bundle/start-GROLVKEI.js`	652 B	+652 B (new file)	🆕

_{compressed-size-action}

gemini-code-assist · 2026-05-01T18:40:46Z

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request addresses a rendering issue where markdown content in the AskUser tool was failing to display correctly due to over-escaped newline characters. By introducing a normalization step that converts these escaped sequences into actual newline characters before the data reaches the UI, the tool now correctly identifies and renders block-level markdown elements.

Highlights

Markdown Formatting Fix: Implemented logic to unescape double-escaped newlines (\n and \r\n) in the AskUser tool, ensuring markdown elements like headers and lists render correctly in the UI.
Normalization Logic: Added a normalization step in createInvocation to process all user-facing fields including question, header, placeholder, label, and description.
Testing: Added comprehensive unit tests to verify that both escaped and literal newlines are correctly normalized.

Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point by creating a comment using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands on the current page.

Feature	Command	Description
Code Review	`/gemini review`	Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary	`/gemini summary`	Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment	@gemini-code-assist	Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in pull request comments and review comments.
Help	`/gemini help`	Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counter productive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments. If you're interested in giving your feedback about your experience with Gemini Code Assist for GitHub and other Google products, sign up here.

Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution. ↩

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request updates dependency metadata in package-lock.json and introduces a normalization step in the AskUserTool to unescape double-escaped newline characters in question parameters. Unit tests were added to ensure correct behavior for various newline sequences. Feedback was provided to improve the robustness of the normalization logic by safely handling optional properties to prevent potential runtime errors.

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

github-actions · 2026-05-01T18:47:28Z

✅ 69 tests passed successfully on gemini-3-flash-preview.

🧠 Model Steering Guidance

This PR modifies files that affect the model's behavior (prompts, tools, or instructions).

⚠️ Consider adding Evals: No behavioral evaluations (evals/*.eval.ts) were added or updated in this PR. Consider adding a test case to verify the new behavior and prevent regressions.
🚀 Maintainer Reminder: Please ensure that these changes do not regress results on benchmark evals before merging.

This is an automated guidance message triggered by steering logic signatures.

…lines (google-gemini#26349) Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

fix(core): properly format markdown in AskUser tool by unescaping new…

6bc3dd7

…lines

Adib234 requested review from a team as code owners May 1, 2026 18:37

Adib234 had a problem deploying to eval-gate May 1, 2026 18:37 — with GitHub Actions Error

gemini-cli Bot added area/core Issues related to User Interface, OS Support, Core Functionality 🔒 maintainer only ⛔ Do not contribute. Internal roadmap item. labels May 1, 2026

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed May 1, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread packages/core/src/tools/ask-user.ts Outdated

Adib234 and others added 2 commits May 1, 2026 14:43

restore

961f3e7

Apply suggestions from code review

9d8d719

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

Adib234 had a problem deploying to eval-gate May 1, 2026 18:44 — with GitHub Actions Failure

bkutasi mentioned this pull request May 1, 2026

📊 AI CLI Tools Digest 2026-05-02 bkutasi/big_model_radar#1

Open

fix(core): ensure description is always a string to fix build

0b91180

Adib234 temporarily deployed to eval-gate May 4, 2026 14:06 — with GitHub Actions Inactive

Merge branch 'main' into adibakm/ask-user-markdown

f18fccf

Adib234 temporarily deployed to eval-gate May 4, 2026 17:29 — with GitHub Actions Inactive

cocosheng-g approved these changes May 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

aishaneeshah approved these changes May 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

Adib234 added this pull request to the merge queue May 4, 2026

Merged via the queue into main with commit 6a3175e May 4, 2026
29 checks passed

Adib234 deleted the adibakm/ask-user-markdown branch May 4, 2026 21:16

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

fix(core): properly format markdown in AskUser tool by unescaping newlines#26349

fix(core): properly format markdown in AskUser tool by unescaping newlines#26349
Adib234 merged 5 commits intomainfrom
adibakm/ask-user-markdown

Adib234 commented May 1, 2026

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist Bot commented May 1, 2026

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist Bot left a comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

Conversation

Adib234 commented May 1, 2026

Summary

Details

Related Issues

How to Validate

Pre-Merge Checklist

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist Bot commented May 1, 2026

Summary of Changes

Highlights

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist Bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Code Review

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

🧠 Model Steering Guidance

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 •

edited

Loading

github-actions Bot commented May 1, 2026 •

edited

Loading