markmedown

Browse and edit all your markdown files in a single, beautiful browser UI.

One command. Zero config. Scans your entire home directory, finds every .md file, and presents them in a clean dark interface with WYSIWYG editing.

Why

Markdown files are everywhere — project docs, notes, specs, agent instructions, knowledge bases. But there's no simple way to browse them all in one place. Existing tools are either proprietary (Obsidian), tied to a single folder, read-only, or abandoned.

markmedown fills the gap.

Features

• Filesystem-wide scan — finds every .md file in ~/, skipping noise (node_modules, .git, .cache)
• WYSIWYG editor — Notion-like rich text editing powered by Milkdown
• Raw mode toggle — switch to raw markdown with one click
• Full-text search — search file names, folder paths, and file content
• Git awareness — shows which files live in git repos
• Auto-refresh — files updated externally (e.g., by your editor or AI) reload automatically
• Daemon mode — runs in background, near-zero resource usage when idle
• VS Code integration — open any file directly in VS Code
• Zero dependencies — no React, no build step, no bundler. One optional dep (ws for WebSocket, or hand-rolled)

Install

npm install -g markmedown

Or run directly:

npx markmedown

Or clone and link:

git clone https://github.com/glieai/markmedown.git
cd markmedown
npm link

Requires Node.js 18+.

Usage

markmedown              # Start daemon + open browser
markmedown start        # Start daemon in background
markmedown stop         # Stop the daemon
markmedown status       # Show if running, port, file count
markmedown install      # Auto-start on boot (systemd/launchd)
markmedown uninstall    # Remove auto-start
markmedown --port 9999  # Custom port (default: 44444)

First run scans ~/ and builds a search index. Subsequent starts are instant (cached).

Architecture

Node.js process (single, ~30MB idle)
├── Scanner — async generator, walks ~/ with smart ignore rules
├── Indexer — in-memory inverted index for full-text search
├── Watcher — fs.watch for live file change detection
├── Cache — ~/.markmedown/cache.json for instant restarts
└── HTTP Server — native node:http on localhost:44444
    ├── Static files (vanilla HTML/CSS/JS)
    ├── REST API (tree, file CRUD, search, VS Code)
    └── WebSocket (live tree updates, file change notifications)

Frontend: Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS. No framework, no build step. Milkdown loaded from CDN for WYSIWYG editing.

Theme: Linear-inspired dark palette.

Keyboard Shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action | |----------|--------| | Ctrl+S / Cmd+S | Save current file | | Ctrl+B / Cmd+B | Toggle bold | | Ctrl+I / Cmd+I | Toggle italic |

Configuration

markmedown works with zero config. Optional customization:

Custom ignore patterns — create ~/.markmedownignore:

my-large-folder
another-folder-to-skip

Custom port — pass --port <n> or set MARKMEDOWN_PORT env var.

Roadmap

• [ ] Dashboard with file stats and insights
• [ ] Full git integration (history, diff, blame per file)
• [ ] Claude CLI integration (select text → ask AI)
• [ ] Tags and backlinks (#tags, [[wiki-links]])
• [ ] Favourites / pinned files

License

MIT — see LICENSE.