MD Viewer

A lightweight Electron app for reading Markdown files with a minimal interface.

Features

• Open a single Markdown file
• Open a folder and recursively scan for Markdown files
• Render local images and internal Markdown links
• Adjust theme, font size, and reading width with persisted local settings

Getting Started

npm install
npm start

You can also pass a file or folder path on launch:

npm start -- /absolute/path/to/notes

Or launch the included sample set:

npm start -- ./examples

For the large-document navigation example specifically:

npm start -- ./examples/large-doc.md

Build Installable Apps

The project now includes electron-builder, so you can package a real app instead of launching it through npm start.

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build an unpacked app bundle for a quick local smoke test on your current platform:

npm run build

Create a macOS app bundle and DMG from macOS:

npm run dist:mac

The output is written to dist/. On macOS, the main artifacts will be:

• dist/mac-arm64/MD Viewer.app on Apple Silicon Macs
• dist/MD Viewer-<version>.dmg

Create a Windows installer from Windows:

npm run dist:win

The main Windows artifact will be an NSIS installer in dist/, typically:

• dist/MD Viewer Setup <version>.exe

Important Platform Note

Electron packaging is most reliable when you build on the target operating system:

• Build macOS binaries on macOS
• Build Windows binaries on Windows

If you want both automatically, use CI to build each platform on its own runner. A sample GitHub Actions workflow is included in .github/workflows/build.yml.

Run the Packaged App

After building:

• On macOS, open the generated .app inside the platform folder under dist/ such as dist/mac-arm64/MD Viewer.app, or install from the generated DMG
• On Windows, run the generated Setup.exe and launch the installed app normally

Unsigned apps may trigger Gatekeeper or SmartScreen warnings until you add code signing.

Supported Markdown Extensions

• .md
• .markdown
• .mdown
• .mkd