Clean, stable, long‑term Markdown editing
Built by ZFordDev

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Overview

SnapDock is a lightweight Markdown editor built with Electron and powered by markdown‑it.
It delivers a clean, modern writing experience with a layout inspired by professional editors — but without the bloat.

SnapDock feels closer to a traditional writing app than a developer tool.
It’s designed for clarity, stability, and long‑term reliability, making it ideal for notes, documents, and everyday writing.

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🛡️ Long‑Term Support (LTS)

SnapDock is a Long‑Term Support application.

The architecture is intentionally stable and complete.
Future updates focus exclusively on:

• Bug fixes
• Safety improvements
• Performance tuning
• Minor quality‑of‑life refinements

SnapDock will not undergo major rewrites or experimental feature additions.
This ensures:

• Predictable behaviour
• Long‑term reliability
• Consistent performance
• A stable writing environment you can trust

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📁 Project Structure

SnapDock/
│
├── main.js                 # Electron main process
├── preload.js              # Secure API bridge
├── index.html              # App shell
├── package.json
│
├── assets/                 # Icons, banners, screenshots
│
├── src/
│   ├── modules/
│   │   ├── ui/             # UI logic (themes, view mode, editor sync)
│   │   ├── file/           # File handling (open, save, tabs, workspace)
│   │   ├── system/         # Updater + system utilities
│   │   └── markdown.js     # Markdown rendering engine
│   │
│   └── styles/
│       ├── base/           # Reset + layout
│       ├── components/     # Editor, tabs, sidebar, footer
│       ├── markdown/       # Highlighting + markdown styling
│       └── themes/         # Light, Dark, Solarized, Arctic

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Download & Install

Simply run the installer for your OS. Once installed, SnapDock will open automatically.

SnapDock includes an auto‑update feature — download once and update inside the app.

Note: WSL cannot run the in‑app updater and requires manual updates. WSL is not recommended for SnapDock, but it does work.

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Build From Source

npm install
npm run build

Then look inside dist/ for your OS build and run it. SnapDock will open once ready.

Note: When building in WSL, AppImage builds can take a long time. If you're still waiting after 30 minutes, assume it has stalled and try again.

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System Requirements

SnapDock is lightweight and runs on virtually any modern system.

Operating System

• Windows 10 or later
• Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch, Mint, Pop!_OS, etc.)
• WSL is supported, but the in‑app updater is disabled
• macOS support is not currently available

Hardware

• CPU: 1 core minimum (2 cores recommended)
• Memory: 512 MB minimum (1 GB recommended)
• Disk Space: 750 MB minimum (1 GB recommended)

Performance SnapDock typically uses ~180 MB RAM and under 1% CPU during normal editing, making it suitable even for low‑power laptops, VMs, and older hardware.
If anyone tests SnapDock on a Raspberry Pi, we’d love to hear how it performs.

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Screenshots

Light (Windows)	Dark (Windows)
Solarized (Linux)	Arctic (Linux)

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✅ Features

• Modern Markdown rendering (tables, code blocks, callouts, footnotes, etc.)
• Stable tabbed editing
• Integrated file‑tree dock
• Four themes with a clean drop‑up selector
• Recent files with workspace‑aware history
• Theme‑accurate live preview
• PDF export
• Automatic update checker
• Workspace‑aware behaviour without forced auto‑restore
• Minimal, distraction‑free interface

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⚠️ Known Issues

1. PDF export: Fully functional, but advanced layout tuning is still planned
2. macOS builds: Packaging and testing are in progress; macOS support is not guaranteed yet
3. Linux builds: .deb and AppImage are supported, but behaviour may vary across distributions; feedback is encouraged
4. Preview mode: Some advanced Markdown features may render differently between themes

(Note: “rapid switching may override unsaved changes” has been removed — it is no longer an issue as of 2.3.0.)

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🔧 Maintenance & Stability

SnapDock is actively maintained with a focus on:

• Stability
• Bug fixes
• Performance tuning
• Platform compatibility

Major feature expansion is intentionally limited to preserve the LTS identity.

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Recent Changes

• Fixed workspace close safety
• Fixed tab‑close freeze caused by blocking dialogs
• Improved unsaved‑changes detection
• Preview mode now updates correctly when switching tabs
• Updated dependency stack
• Marked SnapDock as Stable with a clear LTS roadmap

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Contribute

SnapDock is built to grow — and contributions of all kinds are genuinely appreciated.

• Pull Requests: Features, fixes, refactors
• Issues: Bugs, suggestions, questions
• First‑Time Contributors: Look for issues tagged good first issue or help wanted — they’re intentionally designed to be approachable

If you’re new to open‑source, this is a great place to start. The project is clean, well‑structured, and we’re happy to guide you through your first PR.

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Community Contributors

SnapDock is built with the help of our community.

• @misbahmansoori — Default .md extension for new files (#27), file‑tree empty state (#34), Lite Mode code block fixes (#35)
• @Abmarne — Improved Solarized theme contrast (#25)
• @Karel-cz — Added close button to the Help popup (#36)

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License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and share.
Please keep the original notice.

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⭐ SnapDock V3 (Coming Soon)

SnapDock V3 is the next major evolution of the editor.
It focuses on improved performance, a refreshed UI, and a more modern architecture designed for long‑term growth.

V3 is also planned to support:

• Windows Store distribution
• Snap Store distribution (Linux)
• .deb and AppImage builds (as today)

macOS support is not currently planned due to the high cost of development on the platform, but may be considered if requested.

V2 and V3 Will Remain Separate

SnapDock V2 will continue to receive Long‑Term Support (LTS) updates.
V2 will not automatically upgrade into V3 — both versions will exist side‑by‑side.

• V2 remains the stable, minimal, long‑term Markdown editor
• V3 introduces new UI, improved performance, and modern features

Users can choose the version that best fits their workflow.

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Explore More

follow the links to find out more

ZFordDev — the projects that shape the platform

staxdash — explore the brand and discover more tools

Ko‑Fi — support the work, help the platform grow

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Thanks for reading.