Airalogy Markdown Studio

Airalogy Markdown Studio is a professional VS Code extension designed for editing and previewing AIMD (Airalogy Markdown) protocol files — an extended Markdown format for defining experimental protocols with interactive templates like variables, steps, and checkpoints. It provides a modern, "Scientific Minimalist" preview interface to help scientists and researchers visualize their experimental workflows.

Features

• Interactive Timeline Preview: Visualize your protocol as a sleek, card-based timeline.
• Scientific Minimalist Design: High-fidelity UI inspired by professional lab design tools, offering high contrast and reduced visual clutter.
• Unified Rendering Engine: Powered by Remark/Rehype and Vue.js for robust and extensible document parsing.
• Python Backend Integration: Binary sidecar architecture for advanced features like AI assistance and data export.
• Real-time Synchronization: The preview updates instantly as you edit your .aimd files.
• Smart Variable Highlighting: Easily identify and interact with protocol variables.
• Theme Support: Choose between Modern, Journal, Clinical, and Westlake themes with full dark mode support.
• Status Bar Integration: Quick access to preview commands directly from the status bar.

Usage

1. Open any file with the .aimd extension.
2. Click the AIMD Preview button in the status bar (bottom right).
3. Alternatively, use the preview icon in the editor title bar or the context menu.

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• aimd.preview.buttonText: Customize the status bar button text.
• aimd.preview.buttonIcon: Change the status bar icon (uses VS Code Codicons).
• aimd.preview.buttonPriority: Adjust the position of the status bar button.
• aimd.pythonMode: Switch between bundled (pre-compiled) and system Python environments.
• aimd.systemPythonPath: Path to the system Python executable (auto-synced with Python extension).

Requirements

• VS Code version 1.74.0 or higher.
• Python 3.8+ (Optional: The extension bundles pre-compiled binaries for Win/Mac/Linux, but a local Python installation can be used for development).

Release Notes

0.4.5

Smart dependency management:

• Intelligent Error Handling: Assigner failures with missing packages now show one-click install buttons.
• uv First: All installations default to uv package manager for speed and reliability.
• Python Version Check: Warns if Python < 3.13 (required by Airalogy SDK) with actionable options.
• Homebrew Detection: Recognizes macOS Homebrew Python and guides users to proper installation methods.

0.4.4

Project structure improvements:

• New Logo: Updated extension icon with refreshed branding.
• Consolidated Backend: Merged airalogy_mock and aimd_studio modules into python/ directory for cleaner project structure.
• Migrated to Organization: Source code now hosted at github.com/airalogy/studio.

0.4.3

Critical Fix:

• Missing Module in Package: Included airalogy_mock directory in the extension package. This resolves the backend crash when switching to System Python ("airalogy_mock not found" / "NoneType object is not callable").

0.4.2

Features and improvements:

• Environment Management: Seamless switching between Bundled and System Python.
• Dependency Handling: Automatic check and install prompts for airalogy package.
• Session Persistence: Active sessions now survive backend restarts and environment switches.

0.4.1

Bug fixes for Windows binary:

• airalogy SDK: Fixed missing SDK in compiled binaries causing Record mode errors.
• Version Endpoint: Added backend version info for debugging.

0.3.2

Bug fixes and packaging improvements:

• Dependency Bundling: Fixed missing runtime dependencies (e.g., unified) in packaged extension using esbuild.
• Improved Reliability: Resolved "Cannot find module" errors on fresh installations.

0.3.1

CI/CD automation and build pipeline:

• Multi-Platform Binaries: Automated PyInstaller builds for Win/Mac/Linux.
• Auto Publishing: GitHub Actions for automatic marketplace releases.

0.3.0

Python backend integration:

• Binary Sidecar Pattern: Python backend via JSON-RPC over stdio.
• Backend Bridge: Seamless TypeScript-Python communication.

0.2.0

Major update focusing on UI refinement and architecture modernization:

• Scientific Minimalist Redesign: A cleaner, more professional look.
• Unified Renderer: Robust parsing using the Unified ecosystem.
• Vue.js Integration: Completely rewritten preview interface using Vue.
• Enhanced Reliability: Fixed numerous parsing and display bugs.

0.1.0

Initial release of AIMD Studio:

• Basic syntax highlighting for .aimd files.
• Advanced Timeline Preview with card-based layout.
• Experimental ProFlow-style rendering.
• Status bar and editor title integration.

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Happy Experimenting!