v1.8.3

Skrive 1.8.3 — Dual mode

This is a foundational release. Skrive has always been about rendered writing in plain files you own — but living up to both halves of that at once created a quiet tension. To give you rich, formatted writing while keeping every document as Markdown, Skrive had to translate your document back into Markdown text on every save. That translation fought the rich features, and it meant your file could shift under you in small ways you never asked for.

Dual mode resolves it. From now on, the file type decides how you write — and each type does one job honestly.

Two ways to write

Markdown (.md) — source mode.
.md files are now exactly what they look like: plain Markdown text you edit directly, with a live rendered preview beside it (source, split, or preview — your choice). Skrive shows you the preview but never rewrites the file. What you typed is what's on disk, byte for byte. If you keep your notes in Markdown, this is the trustworthy plain-text editor you wanted — nothing translated, nothing lost.

Skrive documents (.folio) — rich mode.
.folio is Skrive's own document format, and it's what powers full rendered, WYSIWYG writing. When you want formatting to just be formatting — not ## and ** you're constantly re-parsing — a .folio holds it natively. One file per document, formatting preserved as itself instead of being squeezed back into Markdown text on every keystroke. This is where Skrive's rich writing lives and grows.

What .folio means — and why it isn't a trap

A native format usually means lock-in. This one doesn't, on purpose.

• Its schema is documented and open.
• Every .folio exports in one click to Markdown, HTML, plain text, or RTF.
• You can convert existing files in — Markdown, HTML, or text become a rich Skrive document, and your original is left untouched.
• Skrive collects nothing.

Open in, open out, guaranteed export. Proprietary doesn't have to mean predatory — the deal is simple: you can always leave with everything.

Plain text, treated as plain text

.txt files now open in a real plain-text mode — no guessed formatting, no misleading preview — and show up in the sidebar with their own icon. Create one from New text file, or just open the ones you already have.

Take your writing anywhere

• Export any Skrive document to Markdown, HTML, plain text, or RTF, straight into your project folder. Faithful where the format allows, honest where it can't be.
• Convert to Skrive document brings a Markdown, HTML, or text file into rich mode — the original stays put.

Also in this release

• A refined text cursor, sized to the type rather than the line height.

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The bigger picture: this release frees rich writing to grow without fighting the file underneath it, while keeping the promise that made Skrive worth using — your writing lives in plain files you own, and it goes wherever you do.