Docs Foundry

USA / Costa Rica

Cloud2BR

Last updated: 2026-02-25

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DocFoundry is an open-source Electron desktop app for writing and previewing Markdown documentation with a live split-pane editor, local folder tree, safe local saves, container-only development for contributors, and installable binaries for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Table of contents

• What's included
• Repository tree
• Roadmap
• Mode 1: Container-only development
• Mode 2: End-user desktop app install
• GitHub Pages
• Pipelines included
• Quality & Testing

What's included

DocFoundry ships multi-tab editing, split-pane live preview, a command palette, workspace-wide search, in-file find and replace, a document outline, file operations (create, rename, delete), auto-save, HTML export, zen mode, resizable panes, a keyboard shortcuts overlay, a status bar (word count, reading time, cursor position), breadcrumbs, and full Markdown rendering (headings, bold/italic, lists, task lists, tables, code blocks, blockquotes, images, links, horizontal rules, strikethrough, highlight, footnotes). The app includes unsaved-change protection on close, a file watcher for external changes, native menus with keyboard accelerators, and a secure architecture (contextIsolation, no nodeIntegration, validated file paths).

For the full changelog and per-version details, see Releases.

Note

Desktop releases are published when you push a v* tag or when you manually run .github/workflows/release-desktop.yml with a tag_name input.

Expand repository tree

DocFoundry/
├── src/
│   ├── main.js               # Electron main process (IPC, menu, file watcher)
│   ├── preload.js            # Secure IPC bridge (contextBridge)
│   ├── lib/
│   │   └── workspace-path.js # Secure path validation
│   └── renderer/
│       ├── index.html        # Desktop app shell (welcome + workspace)
│       ├── styles.css        # Full UI styling
│       ├── renderer.js       # Tabs, palette, search, outline, editor logic
│       └── markdown.js       # Shared Markdown→HTML parser (UMD)
├── build/
│   ├── icon.svg              # App icon source
│   └── generate-icons.sh     # SVG to PNG/ICO/ICNS converter
├── docs/
│   ├── .nojekyll
│   ├── index.html            # GitHub Pages overview page
│   ├── downloads.html        # Download/install guide backed by GitHub Releases
│   ├── roadmap.html          # Public roadmap view on GitHub Pages
│   └── feedback.html         # Public feedback page routed to a separate GitHub repo
├── tests/
│   ├── smoke.test.mjs        # Structure, security, and feature-surface tests
│   ├── markdown.test.mjs     # Markdown parser tests
│   └── workspace-path.test.mjs # Path validation tests
├── scripts/
│   └── setup.sh              # OS detection and Docker validation
├── .github/
│   ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
│   ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
│   │   ├── bug_report.md
│   │   └── feature_request.md
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── deploy-pages.yml
│       ├── release-desktop.yml
│       ├── auto-fill-pr.yml
│       ├── update-md-date.yml
│       ├── update_date.py
│       ├── use-visitor-counter.yml
│       └── cleanup-pages-history.yml
├── Dockerfile.dev            # Container dev image (node:20-bookworm)
├── Makefile                  # setup, dev, lint, format, test, package targets
├── vitest.config.mjs         # Vitest configuration
├── eslint.config.mjs         # ESLint flat config (v9+)
├── .prettierrc               # Prettier configuration
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
├── SECURITY.md
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Roadmap

Live roadmap page: Docs Foundry Roadmap Product feedback page: Docs Foundry Feedback

Important

The feedback page prepopulates requests in the GitHub Pages UI and routes them into Cloud2BR/docs-foundry-feedback. The production flow opens a prefilled issue there and lets that repo process it with a GitHub Actions intake workflow after submission.

Mode 1: Container-only development

This mode is for maintainers and contributors who do not want local Node.js or npm installation.

1. Install Docker Desktop or Docker Engine.

2. Run:

   make setup

3. Open a dev shell:

   make container-shell

make setup now does this:

• Detects the OS.
• Verifies Docker availability.
• Builds the dev image.
• Installs project dependencies only inside the container.

Mode 2: End-user desktop app install

This mode is for users who just want to install and run DocFoundry.

• macOS outputs: .dmg (recommended), .zip (advanced/manual fallback)
• Windows outputs: NSIS installer, .zip
• Linux outputs: AppImage, .deb, .tar.gz

Build artifacts go to release/

Platform	Release files	Recommended install path	First-run notes	Build command
macOS	.dmg, .zip	Download the .dmg from GitHub Releases and drag DocFoundry.app into Applications. Use the .zip only as a fallback.	The app is unsigned, so Gatekeeper may block the ZIP build. If macOS says the app is damaged, run xattr -cr /Applications/DocFoundry.app after moving it to Applications, or run xattr -cr /path/to/DocFoundry.app on the extracted app bundle before opening it.	make package-mac
Windows	NSIS installer, .zip	Use the NSIS installer for the normal install flow. Use the ZIP when you want a manual or portable-style extraction.	Windows SmartScreen may show a warning because the installer is not code-signed. Click More info → Run anyway to continue.	make package-win
Linux	AppImage, .deb, .tar.gz	Use the package format that matches your environment: AppImage for portable use, .deb for Debian/Ubuntu installs, or .tar.gz for manual extraction.	AppImage usually needs chmod +x before running. For .deb, install with sudo apt install ./DocFoundry.deb or the generated filename in release/. Linux packaging is intended to run from the container workflow.	make package-linux

For a local multi-platform packaging pass from a compatible host environment, use make package.

GitHub Pages

This repo includes a Pages workflow in .github/workflows/deploy-pages.yml and publishes docs/index.html.

1. Push repository to GitHub.
2. Open Settings > Pages.
3. Set source to GitHub Actions.
4. Push to main.
5. Wait for Deploy GitHub Pages workflow completion.

Pipelines included

• .github/workflows/deploy-pages.yml: deploys GitHub Pages.
• .github/workflows/release-desktop.yml: builds desktop binaries on macOS, Windows, Linux and publishes a tagged GitHub Release on v* tags or manual dispatch with tag_name.
• .github/workflows/update-md-date.yml: updates README date automatically.
• .github/workflows/use-visitor-counter.yml: updates README visitor badge.
• .github/workflows/cleanup-pages-history.yml: cleans old Pages workflow runs.

Quality & Testing

Run code quality checks and tests inside the container:

make lint       # ESLint
make format     # Prettier
make test       # Vitest

Refresh Date: 2026-04-13