mdreader

A native macOS markdown editor that renders as you type — no preview pane.

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Screenshots

Light theme

Dark Theme

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What it is

mdreader is a minimal, distraction-free markdown editor for macOS. It uses TipTap (ProseMirror) for rich editing and CodeMirror for source mode — markdown syntax is parsed on the fly, so headings, bold, tables, and code blocks render immediately without a split-pane preview.

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Features

In-place rendering	Markdown renders as you type — no preview pane required
Source mode	Toggle raw markdown with Cmd+/; edits sync back to rich mode
Syntax highlighting	Fenced code blocks highlighted via highlight.js
Find & Replace	Cmd+F to find, Cmd+H to replace
Auto-save	Opt-in via File › Auto Save; saves every 30 seconds
Dark mode	Follows system; cycle with Cmd+Shift+T — persists across restarts
Distraction-free	Cmd+Shift+F hides sidebar and status bar
Quit protection	Native dialog when closing with unsaved changes
Font scaling	Cmd+= / Cmd+- to resize editor text
Word count	Live count in the status bar
Recent files	Sidebar lists recently opened files
External links	Clicked links open in your default browser

Supported markdown

Headings · Bold · Italic · Strikethrough · Inline code · Blockquotes · Ordered & unordered lists · Task lists · Tables · Fenced code blocks

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Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+O	Open file
Cmd+S	Save
Cmd+Shift+S	Save as
Cmd+N	New file
Cmd+/	Toggle source mode
Cmd+Shift+F	Toggle distraction-free mode
Cmd+Shift+L	Toggle sidebar
Cmd+Shift+T	Cycle theme (light → dark → system)
Cmd+= / Cmd+-	Increase / decrease font size
Cmd+F	Find
Cmd+H	Find and replace

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Tech stack

Layer	Technology
Native shell & file I/O	Tauri 2 (Rust)
UI	Svelte 5 with runes reactivity
Rich editor	TipTap 2 (ProseMirror)
Source editor	CodeMirror 6
Markdown serialization	tiptap-markdown
Syntax highlighting	highlight.js

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Development

npm install
npm run dev        # Vite dev server (browser only, no Tauri)
npm run tauri dev  # full Tauri app with native features

Testing

npm run test:unit          # Vitest unit tests
npx playwright test        # e2e tests against Vite dev server
cd src-tauri && cargo test # Rust unit tests

Building

npm run tauri build        # produces a .dmg in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/