Markit

A fast, distraction-free Markdown editor for Windows built with Wails. Features a clean interface, split-view editing, native file dialogs, and keyboard shortcuts. No server. No account. Your files never leave your device.

✨ Features

• Live Preview — Edit and preview your Markdown side-by-side in real-time
• Split View — Choose between Edit-only, Split, or Preview-only modes
• Document Outline — Live outline panel showing all headings with click-to-navigate
• File Watching — Automatic detection of external file changes with conflict resolution
• Zoom Controls — Adjust the editor zoom level (50% - 250%) with buttons or keyboard shortcuts
• Collapsible Sidebar — Manage multiple files with a collapsible file sidebar
• Native File Dialogs — Open and save files directly to disk using Windows native dialogs
• Syntax Highlighting — Code blocks with syntax highlighting
• Keyboard Shortcuts — Full keyboard support for common actions
• Drag & Drop — Drag files directly into the editor to open them
• Startup File Support — Open a file directly from command line
• Clean UI — Professional icon-based interface with smooth animations

📦 Installation

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release from the Releases page.

Build from Source

Prerequisites:

• Go 1.21 or later
• Node.js 18 or later
• Wails CLI (go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest)

Build Steps:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bilalshemsu1/md-file-reader.git
cd md-file-reader

# Install frontend dependencies
cd frontend
npm install
cd ..

# Build the application
wails build

🚀 Usage

Quick Start

1. Launch Markit
2. Click Open or drag .md files onto the window
3. Edit using the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts
4. Switch between Edit / Split / Preview modes (top-right)
5. Click Save to save directly to disk

Command Line Usage

Open a file directly from the command line:

md-editor.exe path/to/your/file.md

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New file	Ctrl + N
Open file	Ctrl + O
Save	Ctrl + S
Save As	Ctrl + Shift + S
Bold	Ctrl + B
Italic	Ctrl + I
Find	Ctrl + F
Cycle view (Edit/Split/Preview)	Ctrl + \
Toggle sidebar	Ctrl + Shift + B
Zoom in	Ctrl + + or Ctrl + =
Zoom out	Ctrl + -

🎨 Markdown Support

• Text Formatting — Bold, italic, strikethrough
• Code — Inline code and fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting
• Lists — Bullet lists, numbered lists, task lists
• Tables — Full Markdown table support
• Blockquotes — Nested blockquotes
• Headings — H1-H6 headings
• Links & Images — Standard Markdown syntax
• Horizontal Rules — --- for separators
• Smart Lists — Press Enter to continue, empty line to stop

🛠️ Development

Project Structure

md-file-reader/
├── app.go              # Go backend - file operations
├── main.go             # Wails application entry point
├── frontend/
│   ├── index.html      # Main HTML structure
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app.css     # Application styles
│   │   └── main.js     # Frontend logic
│   └── wailsjs/        # Auto-generated Wails bindings
└── build/              # Build configuration

Running in Development Mode

wails dev

This will start the application with hot-reload enabled.

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Wails - Go framework for building desktop apps
• Icons from Heroicons

📄 Changelog

v1.5.0 — Windows Installer & Renamed to Markit

• 📦 Windows installer — proper setup.exe with install wizard
• 🔗 .md and .markdown file association — appears in right-click Open with
• 🖥️ Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts created automatically
• 🗑️ Clean uninstaller in Add/Remove Programs
• ✏️ App renamed from MD Editor to Markit
• 📱 Both portable .exe and installer available

v1.4.0 — File Watching & Conflict Resolution

• 👁️ Automatic file watching — detects when files are modified externally
• ⚠️ Conflict notification bar — appears when external changes conflict with unsaved edits
• 🔄 Reload option — reload file from disk, discarding local changes
• 💾 Save option — overwrite external changes with your version
• 🛡️ Keep option — ignore external changes and continue editing
• 🎯 Smart conflict handling — only shows notification when you have unsaved changes
• 📦 fsnotify integration — efficient file system monitoring via Go backend

v1.3.0 — Document Outline Panel

• 📋 Document outline panel in sidebar — reads all headings live
• 🖱️ Click any outline item to scroll preview to that heading
• ↕️ Resizable divider between Files and Outline sections
• 🔄 Outline updates live as you type

v1.2.0 — Zoom Controls and UI Icon Improvements

• Added zoom in/out buttons to the titlebar
• Added keyboard shortcuts for zoom (Ctrl +/-)
• Replaced text buttons with professional SVG icons
• Improved HTML structure for better code readability

v1.1.0 — Collapsible Sidebar and Startup File Support

• Added collapsible sidebar with smooth animation
• Added persistent sidebar state (saved to localStorage)
• Added support for opening files from command line arguments
• Fixed syntax highlighter for .env and config files
• Improved overall UI polish

v1.0.2 — File Association and Icon Update

• Open .md files directly — right-click any .md file and open with Markit
• Fixed syntax highlighter breaking .env and config file rendering
• Updated welcome screen
• Updated app icon

v1.0.1 — Icon Update

• Updated app icon

v1.0.0 — Initial Release

• Core Markdown editing functionality
• Split view mode
• Native Windows file dialogs
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Syntax highlighting
• Multiple files open at once with sidebar
• Formatting toolbar (Bold, Italic, Headings, Lists, Tables, Code blocks)
• Find in document with match count
• Task lists with clickable checkboxes
• Dark theme

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Tip: Drag the center divider left or right to resize the panes in Split mode.