With Bear 2 we are following the standard more and lists should start without indentation. Child list items can be indented but only a level = father.level + 1. For example this is a valid list
* father
* child
and this is not
* father
* child
* father here will also turn into code if is tabbed.
I think it’s designed to give quick access to code blocks but I have to say I do share your confusion about tabbed code, mostly because it’s a “marker-less” styler.
I use the Tab code syntax extensively in Drafts as an alternative quote block, that I format differently from normal quotes on export to HTML with CSS.