File viewer in desktop app shows raw markdown instead of rendered formatting

[billquilt]

Summary

The file viewer in the Claude Code desktop app shows .md files as raw text, including visible #, **, and other markdown syntax. There doesn't appear to be a setting to toggle rendered formatting.

Why this matters

A large share of what Claude Code reads, writes, and displays is markdown: session outputs, agent reports, PRDs, READMEs, design docs. For many workflows the file viewer is the first place a user reviews what Claude has produced. Displaying raw markdown there makes the output harder to skim and review, and often sends users out to a second editor (VS Code, Cursor, Obsidian) just to read a file the desktop app already knows how to open.

Given that the preview pane already renders HTML, PDFs, and images, rendered markdown in the file viewer feels like a natural extension.

Request

Add rendered markdown display for .md and .markdown files in the desktop app's file viewer. Ideally with a toggle between rendered and raw views, since editing tasks still benefit from seeing raw syntax.

Current workaround

Right-click → Open in → external editor. Works but breaks flow, especially when reviewing multiple files Claude has written.

Environment

• Claude Code desktop app (macOS)

[yuvalrakavy]

+1 on this. Adding two angles that aren't in the original issue:

1. Migration from VS Code. I recently moved to the Claude Code desktop app from running Claude Code in the VS Code integrated terminal. In VS Code, rendered Markdown preview was built-in and I used it constantly for reviewing specs, PRDs, and design docs that Claude produced. Losing that on the desktop app has been one of the bigger friction points of the migration — reviewing a document is the moment you actually evaluate Claude's work, so making that review faster has an outsized impact on the feedback loop. A Source/Preview toggle (VS Code / GitHub style) would match what most of us who came from VS Code or similar editors already expect.

2. Easy full-screen / expanded-reading mode. Alongside the preview, there should be a low-friction way to expand the previewed document to full screen (or at least a much larger reading pane) — for example, a dedicated button or keyboard shortcut on the file window. When you're actually reading a spec or report end-to-end, the current file pane is too narrow to read comfortably, and having to resize or pop the file into an external editor defeats the point of previewing it in-app.

[MarcelViennyTech]

+1 on this — I'd add a specific use case that strengthens the argument:

I use Claude Code as the primary interface for a large Markdown-based knowledge vault (meeting notes, 1:1 summaries, person profiles, initiative docs — hundreds of files, Obsidian-compatible with YAML frontmatter and [[wiki-links]]). Claude Code already handles writing these files beautifully via skills and agents. The missing piece is reading them — today I have to keep Obsidian open alongside Claude Code just to review the rendered output of files Claude just produced.

A few extensions worth considering if a rendered view lands:

• Hide YAML frontmatter in rendered mode (or collapse to a metadata pill).
• Resolve [[wiki-links]] as clickable vault-relative links — this is a de-facto standard thanks to Obsidian/Foam/Logseq and would close the loop for knowledge-base workflows.
• Mermaid diagrams — commonly embedded in PRDs and architecture docs.
• GFM task lists (- [ ] / - [x]) — critical for action-item tracking.

With these, Claude Code could realistically replace Obsidian as a front-end for a personal or team knowledge base, not just a code editor.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.