MDV

A native macOS markdown editor with live syntax highlighting and a clean reading experience.

Download

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What is MDV?

MDV is a lightweight markdown editor for macOS that renders syntax inline as you type. There's no split pane or preview toggle — you edit and read in the same view. Markdown symbols hide when you move your cursor away, giving you a distraction-free writing surface.

Features

Editor

• Inline syntax highlighting — headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, code, links, and block quotes render in place
• Syntax marker hiding — #, *, ` and other markers disappear when the cursor leaves the line
• Inline table editing — tables render as styled grids with right-click to add/remove rows and columns
• Keyboard shortcuts — Cmd+B bold, Cmd+I italic, Cmd+K link

Navigation

• Table of contents sidebar — auto-generated from headings, toggle with Cmd+Shift+T
• Click-to-navigate — jump to any section from the TOC

Markdown Support

• Headings (H1–H6)
• Bold, italic, bold-italic, strikethrough
• Inline code and fenced code blocks
• Links with clickable rendering
• Ordered and unordered lists
• Block quotes
• Tables (GFM pipe syntax)
• Horizontal rules

Appearance

• Light, Dark, and System themes with warm, balanced color palettes
• Adjustable font size (12–24pt)
• Adjustable content width (500–1000pt)

QuickLook Extension

Preview markdown files directly in Finder without opening the app.

Auto-Updates

Built-in update checking via Sparkle with EdDSA-signed releases.

File Types

.md .markdown .mdown .mkd

Requirements

macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later.

Install

1. Download MDV-x.x.dmg from Releases
2. Drag MDV.app to Applications
3. Open MDV

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/jayl930/MDV.git
cd MDV
xcodebuild -scheme MDV -configuration Release

Requires Xcode 16+ and Swift 5.

Tech Stack

• SwiftUI + AppKit (NSTextView with NSLayoutManager for rendering)
• Apple Swift Markdown for parsing
• Sparkle for auto-updates
• Core Text for font handling and CJK support

License

MIT