showmd

A fast and secure Markdown to HTML rendering tool built with Go. Uses gomarkdown/markdown for parsing and bluemonday for secure HTML sanitization.

Features

• 🚀 Fast Markdown to HTML conversion
• 🔒 Secure HTML output with sanitization
• 📦 Standalone binary - no dependencies needed
• 🌍 Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS)

Quick Start

showmd input.md
md show on http://localhost:4000

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📥 Installation

📦 Step 1: Go to Releases Page

1. Visit the Releases page
2. Download the latest release for your operating system

🧩 Step 2: Download the correct binary

Download the appropriate file for your system:

OS	Architecture	File
Windows	amd64	showmd_windows_amd64.exe
Linux	arm64	showmd_linux_arm64
macOS	arm64	showmd_darwin_arm64

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🧱 Step 3: Rename the binary

Rename the downloaded file to just showmd for consistency.

Windows:

rename showmd_windows_amd64.exe showmd.exe

Linux / macOS:

mv showmd_linux_arm64 showmd
# or
mv showmd_darwin_arm64 showmd

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⚙️ Step 4: Make it executable (Linux / macOS only)

chmod +x showmd

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🌍 Step 5: Move it to a system PATH directory

Windows:

1. Move showmd.exe to a permanent location, e.g. C:\Program Files\showmd\

2. Add that folder to your system PATH:

   • Press Win + S, search Environment Variables

   • Click Edit the system environment variables

   • Click Environment Variables…

   • Under System variables, select Path → Edit → New

   • Add the path:

     C:\Program Files\showmd
     

   • Click OK to save everything.

Linux / macOS:

Move showmd to /usr/local/bin (or any PATH directory):

sudo mv showmd /usr/local/bin/

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✅ Step 6: Verify installation

Run:

showmd --version

If it prints version info or help text, it's installed correctly.

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🛠️ Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24.3 or later
• Node.js with pnpm (v10.12.2+)

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd go-markdown-render

# Install Node.js dependencies
pnpm install

# Build the binary
node build.mjs

The compiled binary will be available in the output directory.

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📖 Usage Examples

Basic Conversion

# Convert markdown from stdin
echo "**Bold text** and *italic*" | showmd

File Conversion

# Convert a markdown file
showmd README.md

# Save to HTML file
showmd README.md > README.html

Pipe from other commands

# Convert curl output
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/user/repo/main/README.md | showmd

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🔧 Technical Details

• Language: Go 1.24.3
• Markdown Parser: gomarkdown/markdown
• HTML Sanitizer: bluemonday
• Build System: Node.js with zx and execa

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📝 License

See LICENSE file for details.

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