Inkwell

Markdown, distilled.

Inkwell is a lightweight, cross-platform Markdown editor built for people who just want to write. No account required, no cloud sync, no plugin ecosystem to manage — just a fast, native app that opens .md files and gets out of your way.

Download

Platform	Download
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Inkwell_aarch64.dmg
macOS (Intel)	Inkwell_x64.dmg
Windows	Inkwell_x64-setup.exe / .msi
Linux	.deb / .AppImage / .rpm

Why Inkwell?

Every popular Markdown editor today is either too heavy, too expensive, or too complicated for what most people need: open a file, write, preview, save.

	Inkwell	Obsidian	Typora	VS Code	Mark Text
App size	~6 MB	~170 MB	~80 MB	~350 MB	~180 MB
Startup time	Instant	2-4s	1-2s	3-5s	2-3s
Price	Free	Free (sync paid)	$15	Free	Free
Open source	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Cross-platform	Win/Mac/Linux	Win/Mac/Linux	Win/Mac/Linux	Win/Mac/Linux	Win/Mac/Linux
File associations	Yes	No (vault-based)	Yes	No	Yes
Live preview	Split pane	Hybrid editor	Inline WYSIWYG	Extension needed	Inline WYSIWYG
Requires setup	No	Vault creation	License key	Extensions	No
Native feel	Yes (system WebView)	Electron	Electron	Electron	Electron

Inkwell is built with Tauri, which uses your system's native WebView instead of bundling an entire Chromium browser. This is why it's 30x smaller than Electron-based alternatives while still feeling snappy.

Features

Welcome screen

Split editor + rendered preview

• Split editor + preview — Write Markdown on the left, see rendered output on the right. Scroll sync keeps both panes aligned.
• Syntax highlighting — Powered by CodeMirror 6 with full Markdown grammar support.
• Light & dark themes — Toggle with one click, or follow your system preference.
• File associations — Double-click any .md file on your system to open it directly in Inkwell.
• Drag & drop — Drop a Markdown file onto the window to open it.
• Live file watching — If another program edits your file, Inkwell reloads it automatically.
• Keyboard shortcuts — Cmd/Ctrl+S save, Cmd/Ctrl+O open, Cmd/Ctrl+N new, Cmd/Ctrl+B bold, Cmd/Ctrl+I italic, and more.
• Word count & cursor position — Always visible in the status bar.
• Recent files — Quick access to your last 20 files from the welcome screen.
• Resizable split pane — Drag the divider to adjust editor/preview ratio.
• GFM support — Tables, task lists, strikethrough, and fenced code blocks render correctly.
• Responsive layout — Adapts to narrow windows automatically.

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Rust 1.77+
• Platform-specific dependencies:
  • Linux: libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev
  • macOS/Windows: No extra dependencies

Build

git clone https://github.com/Amoner/inkwell.git
cd inkwell
npm install
npm run tauri build

The compiled app will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Development

npm run tauri dev

Architecture

inkwell/
├── src/                    # Frontend (Vite + vanilla JS)
│   ├── editor/             # CodeMirror 6 setup, keymaps, theme
│   ├── preview/            # markdown-it renderer, scroll sync
│   ├── state/              # Observable app state, settings persistence
│   ├── ui/                 # Split pane divider
│   ├── utils/              # Debounce utility
│   ├── styles/             # CSS (variables, layout, themes)
│   └── main.js             # App entry point
├── src-tauri/              # Backend (Rust + Tauri 2.0)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── commands/       # IPC commands (file ops, dialogs, recent files)
│   │   ├── platform/       # Desktop-specific code (file watcher)
│   │   └── lib.rs          # App setup and plugin registration
│   └── tauri.conf.json     # Tauri configuration
└── .github/workflows/      # CI/CD for all platforms

Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript with no framework. CodeMirror 6 handles editing, markdown-it handles rendering, DOMPurify sanitizes preview HTML.

Backend: Rust handles file I/O, native dialogs, file watching, and window management through Tauri's IPC bridge.

License

MIT