markdown preview for local files using Electron, marked, highlight.js, mermaid, node-emoji, and automatic file watching.
https://ericlink.github.io/mdp/
syntax highlighting https://highlightjs.org/
https://github.com/omnidan/node-emoji
github flavored markdown
https://github.com/markedjs/marked
Open as HTML ⌘K
Edit Markdown ⌘E
Zoom - zoom in ⌘+, zoom out ⌘-, actual size ⌘0
full screen support
dark mode window
isolated renderer with a preload bridge
markdown links between local .md files stay inside the preview
external links open in your default browser
put mdp.app/Contents/Resources/app/package/mdp script in your path
npm install
package writes an unpacked app under out/. local-install copies that app onto this machine. make writes installers under out/make/.
npm run package and npm run make target the operating system you are on. npm run local-install is the macOS install.
Unsigned Apple Silicon build. Needs nvm with Node 22.
npm run package:mac-internal
writes out/mdp-darwin-arm64/mdp.app
npm run local-install
copies that app to /Applications/mdp.app
npm run make:mac-internal
writes an unsigned disk image and zip:
out/make/mdp-<version>-arm64.dmg
out/make/zip/darwin/arm64/mdp-darwin-arm64-<version>.zip
Open the .dmg and drag mdp.app into /Applications.
To make mdp the default app for Markdown files, pick any .md file in Finder, choose Get Info, set Open with to mdp, then click Change All....
A signed build uses npm run package and npm run make. Signing uses the Developer ID in forge.config.js. Set APPL_PASS to notarize. npm run make also writes out/make/mdp-<version>-<arch>.pkg.
npm run package:linux
writes out/mdp-linux-x64/mdp
npm run local-install:linux
copies the app to ~/.local/share/mdp ($XDG_DATA_HOME/mdp when that variable is set), links ~/.local/bin/mdp, and installs ~/.local/share/applications/mdp.desktop. Markdown files (.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mkdn, .mdtxt) open with mdp. ~/.local/bin needs to be on PATH.
Launch with mdp or npm run start:linux.
npm run make:linux
writes out/make/zip/linux/x64/mdp-linux-x64-<version>.zip
When dpkg and fakeroot are installed, it also writes a .deb under out/make/deb/x64/. When rpmbuild is installed, it also writes an .rpm under out/make/rpm/x64/.
These scripts target Windows x64. They run on Windows, and they cross-build from Linux or macOS.
npm run package:win
writes out/mdp-win32-x64/mdp.exe
npm run local-install:win
copies the app to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\mdp and adds a Start menu shortcut.
Launch with npm run start:win or that mdp.exe.
From WSL, point LOCALAPPDATA at the Windows profile:
LOCALAPPDATA=/mnt/c/Users/<WindowsUser>/AppData/Local npm run local-install:win
Launch the installed mdp.exe on the Windows drive. A copy of the app under /home hits GPU error 18.
npm run make:win
writes out/make/squirrel.windows/x64/mdp-<version> Setup.exe
unexpected main-process failures are written to /tmp/mdp-main.log
npm install
npm run dev
npm run dev-readme