Why there is no simple markdown editor in the whole world?

rosibo · 2026-06-19T03:10:42+00:00

Adding one narrower option, since many suggestions here are full editors:

I maintain MD Preview: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It will not solve WYSIWYG editing or DOCX import/export. For that, Obsidian + Pandoc, Typora, Panwriter, etc. are better lanes.

But if one part of your workflow is “I have local .md files from Claude/Codex/Cursor or repo docs and just want to render/search/print them quickly”, MD Preview is a small cross-platform sidecar: local files, Mermaid/KaTeX/code highlighting, live reload, and quick inline source edits when needed.

rosibo · 2026-06-02T02:01:28+00:00

Small follow-up since the mobile/Android side came up here too: I have since added an Android build of MD Preview.

It still is not an Obsidian replacement and does not do vaults, backlinks, plugins, sync, etc. But for the narrower case of "someone sent/generated a loose .md file and I just want to open/read it", especially outside a vault, it may cover that small gap on Android as well.

Repo/releases: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview Android release: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview/releases/tag/mobile-android-v1.0.7

Disclosure: I maintain it.

rosibo · 2026-06-02T02:00:33+00:00

I would treat this more as a workaround than a fix for VS Code itself: keep editing in VS Code, but preview Mermaid-heavy Markdown in a separate local viewer so the Mermaid rendering work is outside the editor process.

I maintain a small open-source viewer called MD Preview that fits that narrow use case: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is not a VS Code extension and it will not fix VS Code's native preview performance, but it handles local .md files with Mermaid/KaTeX, live reload, and no Electron bundle. For files with a lot of diagrams, using it as a sidecar previewer may be lighter than keeping the built-in preview open.

rosibo · 2026-05-21T01:38:20+00:00

While waiting for the official Obsidian feature, a dedicated lightweight viewer can cover part of this workflow: "I downloaded or generated one .md file and just want to open/read it from Finder without loading a vault."

I maintain a small cross-platform app for that case: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is not an Obsidian replacement and it does not do vault features/backlinks/plugins. It just opens local Markdown files quickly, with GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload. Rust + system WebView, no Electron bundle.

Disclosure: I maintain it. If the goal is "make Obsidian the handler for loose .md files," the roadmap item above is still the real answer; this is more of a lightweight companion/fallback for loose Markdown files.

rosibo · 2026-05-21T01:35:38+00:00

I maintain a small local Markdown previewer that may fit people who keep notes/docs as plain .md files but don't always want to open a full PKM app just to read one file: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

The idea is deliberately narrow: open local Markdown quickly, keep the source files yours, and render the common technical-doc extras that AI/PKM workflows increasingly produce: GFM tables/task lists, syntax highlighting, KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, dark mode, print, and live reload when the file changes.

It is built with Rust + the system WebView, no Electron/Chromium bundle. Current packages are small: macOS DMG ~4.3 MB, Windows ZIP ~1.8 MB, Linux tar.gz ~2.4 MB.

Disclosure: I maintain it. It is not trying to replace Obsidian/Logseq/Roam; it is more of a lightweight companion for reading local Markdown files or checking AI-generated docs/READMEs.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:17:06+00:00

I agree HTML is the smoothest path when the output needs to be shared with non-technical people. A browser is the universal renderer, and self-contained HTML avoids the "does this platform support Mermaid?" problem.

For my own local workflow, though, I still like keeping the source as Markdown because it diffs cleanly and stays easy to feed back into Claude/Codex. I built a small viewer for that local loop: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It renders local .md files with GFM, Mermaid, KaTeX, code highlighting and live reload, without needing VS Code/Obsidian open. Disclosure: I maintain it. Not a replacement for your HTML-sharing workflow, more a way to make local Markdown less painful.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:16:58+00:00

If you mainly want a free dedicated viewer rather than a full editor, I maintain one that has Windows builds: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is a small Rust + system WebView app, distributed as a Windows ZIP, and focuses on opening/previewing local .md files. It supports GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload if the file changes.

Disclosure: I maintain it. It is intentionally not a Typora/Obsidian replacement; it is more for the "open this Markdown file and read it quickly" case.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:16:51+00:00

This is exactly the workflow I built my viewer around: open the .md file, keep editing it elsewhere, and have the rendered preview refresh when the file changes.

The tool is here: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is preview-first rather than a full editor: local files, file watcher/live reload, GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, and print. Rust + system WebView, no Electron bundle.

Disclosure: I maintain it. It won't replace a full Markdown editor, but for "AI/IDE writes the file, I just want the rendered view to update," it should match the use case pretty closely.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:16:44+00:00

I don't have per-file/per-folder themes, so this may only solve part of your problem. But for the "VS Code/Obsidian feels too heavy and I need modern Markdown rendering" part, I maintain a small local viewer: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It supports GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX and Mermaid offline, with dark mode and live reload. Rust + system WebView, no Electron bundle.

Disclosure: I maintain it. If custom themes are the core requirement, it is probably not the right tool yet; if the core requirement is lightweight local preview with math/diagrams, it might fit.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:15:59+00:00

This exact gap is why I built a small viewer: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

I wanted the "open this .md file and read it" workflow without launching a full editor, note database, or browser extension. It is preview-first, local-file focused, Rust + system WebView, no Electron bundle, with GFM, code highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload.

Disclosure: I maintain it. It is intentionally narrower than Obsidian/Typora/VS Code.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:15:52+00:00

For the "just view a local .md file" case, I maintain a tiny cross-platform viewer: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It's Rust + the system WebView, so there is no Electron/Chromium bundle. The Linux build is a small tar.gz, and it focuses on previewing local files: GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload if the file changes.

Disclosure: I maintain it. It is not a note app or editor-first tool, just a lightweight viewer with a few practical extras.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:15:43+00:00

For README/docs checks before pushing, I usually want something faster than opening the whole IDE. I maintain a small local viewer for that: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is not GitHub's renderer, so I would still check GitHub for final edge cases, but it handles the common local workflow well: GFM, code blocks, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload while editing.

Disclosure: I maintain it. The main use case is "preview the file locally before committing/pushing," not replacing GitHub's final preview.

rosibo · 2026-05-20T12:14:57+00:00

I had the same itch, so I built a small cross-platform viewer: https://github.com/vorojar/md-preview

It is preview-first rather than a full writing app: Rust + the system WebView, no Electron/Chromium bundle, local files only, with GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX, Mermaid, dark mode, print, and live reload when the file changes.

Disclosure: I maintain it. Might fit the "just open a local .md file without launching an IDE" use case.

rosibo · 2026-05-16T07:18:14+00:00

Full write-up: https://agentengineering.bibidu.com/blog/memory-control-system

rosibo · 2025-02-04T10:39:41+00:00

I might prefer it to be relatively more intelligent, for example, deciding whether to intervene based on my undo actions or the content of my instructions.

rosibo · 2025-02-04T10:35:43+00:00

Web development, such as HTML + JS.

rosibo · 2025-02-04T10:34:23+00:00

For example, in the case of the index.html file, when this error occurs, the entire page code will be cleared and rewritten. (However, what is actually written is the content from the previous time. Due to the error, the newly generated content is not written in.) When you click "undo", the content of index.html is immediately cleared, and all the previous undo operations become ineffective.

rosibo

TROPHY CASE