diff --git a/R/rmarkdown/preview.R b/R/rmarkdown/preview.R
index 87bdea362..e359ffb62 100644
--- a/R/rmarkdown/preview.R
+++ b/R/rmarkdown/preview.R
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ knitr::opts_knit[["set"]](root.dir = knit_dir)
 cat(
     lim,
     rmarkdown::render(
-        file_path,
+        input = file_path,
         output_format = set_html,
         output_file = output_file_loc,
-        intermediates_dir = tmp_dir
+        output_dir = tmp_dir,
+        intermediates_dir = tmp_dir,
+        output_options = list(self_contained = TRUE)
     ),
     lim,
     sep = ""
diff --git a/src/rmarkdown/knit.ts b/src/rmarkdown/knit.ts
index 3bf0957a3..e88ecf67a 100644
--- a/src/rmarkdown/knit.ts
+++ b/src/rmarkdown/knit.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import yaml = require('js-yaml');
 import { RMarkdownManager, KnitWorkingDirectory, DisposableProcess } from './manager';
 import { runTextInTerm } from '../rTerminal';
 import { extensionContext, rmdPreviewManager } from '../extension';
+import { showBrowser } from '../session';
 
 export let knitDir: KnitWorkingDirectory = util.config().get<KnitWorkingDirectory>('rmarkdown.knit.defaults.knitWorkingDirectory') ?? undefined;
 
@@ -35,14 +36,16 @@ export class RMarkdownKnitManager extends RMarkdownManager {
 
 		const lim = '---vsc---';
 		const re = new RegExp(`.*${lim}(.*)${lim}.*`, 'gms');
+		const serveReg = /(http:\/\/(localhost)?[0-9.:]*\/.*\.html)/g;
 		const scriptValues = {
 			'VSCR_KNIT_DIR': knitWorkingDirText,
 			'VSCR_LIM': lim,
 			'VSCR_KNIT_COMMAND': knitCommand
 		};
 
-		const callback = (dat: string) => {
+		const callback = (dat: string, process: DisposableProcess) => {
 			const outputUrl = re.exec(dat)?.[0]?.replace(re, '$1');
+			const serveUrl = serveReg.exec(dat)?.[0]?.replace(serveReg, '$1');
 			if (outputUrl) {
 				if (openOutfile) {
 					const outFile = vscode.Uri.file(outputUrl);
@@ -53,6 +56,16 @@ export class RMarkdownKnitManager extends RMarkdownManager {
 					}
 				}
 				return true;
+			} else if (serveUrl) {
+				const browser = showBrowser(serveUrl, docName, 'Beside');
+				void browser.then((value) => {
+					if (value) {
+						value.onDidDispose(() => {
+							process.kill('SIGTERM');
+						});
+					}
+				});
+				return true;
 			} else {
 				return false;
 			}
diff --git a/src/rmarkdown/manager.ts b/src/rmarkdown/manager.ts
index 490eb039c..ae23088e2 100644
--- a/src/rmarkdown/manager.ts
+++ b/src/rmarkdown/manager.ts
@@ -151,6 +151,11 @@ export abstract class RMarkdownManager {
 					if (printOutput) {
 						this.rMarkdownOutput.appendLine(dat);
 					}
+					// for some reason, some knitting formats have the output
+					// of the file url in the stderr stream
+					if (args.callback(dat, childProcess)) {
+						resolve(childProcess);
+					}
 				});
 
 				childProcess.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
diff --git a/src/session.ts b/src/session.ts
index 4275f6c22..32c78f525 100644
--- a/src/session.ts
+++ b/src/session.ts
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ async function updateGlobalenv() {
     }
 }
 
-export async function showBrowser(url: string, title: string, viewer: string | boolean): Promise<void> {
+export async function showBrowser(url: string, title: string, viewer: string | boolean): Promise<void|WebviewPanel> {
     console.info(`[showBrowser] uri: ${url}, viewer: ${viewer.toString()}`);
     const uri = Uri.parse(url);
     if (viewer === false) {
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ export async function showBrowser(url: string, title: string, viewer: string | b
         });
         panel.iconPath = new UriIcon('globe');
         panel.webview.html = getBrowserHtml(externalUri);
+        return (panel);
     }
     console.info('[showBrowser] Done');
 }