MarkdownRender

Minimal native macOS app for previewing Markdown files and exporting them as PDFs.

Features

• Open local .md and .markdown files
• Register as a Finder "Open With" option for Markdown files once installed
• Render Markdown in a native SwiftUI app using WebKit
• Export the rendered preview to PDF
• Resolve relative image paths from the source file's folder

Build

For local development:

swift run MarkdownRender

To build a local .app bundle:

./scripts/build_app.sh

The bundle is written to dist/MarkdownRender.app.

Replace the installed app in /Applications with the rebuilt bundle so macOS can refresh its file-handler metadata.

Notes

• The renderer supports common Markdown syntax: headings, paragraphs, lists, blockquotes, code fences, links, images, bold, italic, and inline code.
• The renderer is intentionally small and does not aim for full CommonMark compatibility.
• The build script ad-hoc signs the local app bundle. Developer ID signing and notarization are still required for warning-free distribution to other Macs.