Markdown Viewer

A simple, single-binary web server that acts as a file browser and Markdown renderer.

Features

• 2-Pane View: A persistent, expandable file tree on the left and a content viewer on the right.
• Single Binary: All UI assets (CSS, JavaScript, HTML templates) are embedded directly into the executable; no installation or external dependencies required.
• Local First: Serves files and directories from the current location where you run it, with a self-contained UI.
• Markdown Rendering: Renders Markdown files with GitHub-like styling, built-in syntax highlighting, and bundled Mermaid diagram support.
• Secure by Default: Includes protection against directory traversal attacks and sanitizes HTML to prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS).
• Graceful Shutdown: Shuts down safely via a UI button or Ctrl+C.

Usage

1. Download the latest mdv binary for your operating system from the Releases page.
2. Run the executable from your terminal:

   ./mdv

3. Open your web browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8888 (or the port you specify).

Configuration

mdv can be configured using a config.json file or command-line flags. The configuration is loaded in the following order of precedence (later ones override earlier ones):

1. Default values
2. config.json in $HOME/.config/mdv/
3. config.json in the current working directory
4. Environment variables (prefixed with MDV_, e.g., MDV_PORT=9000)
5. Command-line flags

For an example configuration file, see config.json.example.

Command-Line Options

• -p, --port int: Specifies the port to listen on (default 8888).
• -o, --open: Automatically opens the default web browser to the application URL upon startup.
• -d, --dir string: Specifies the root directory to serve (default ".").
• -h, --help: Displays the help message.
• --version: Displays the application version.

Build from Source

To build the project from source, you need to have Go and Make installed.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/magifd2/markdown-viewer.git
   cd markdown-viewer

2. Build the mdv binary:

   make build

   The mdv binary will be generated in the bin/<OS>-<ARCH>/ directory (e.g., bin/darwin-arm64/mdv).
3. Run the application:

   make run

   This will build and then run the mdv application.

For cross-platform builds, see the Makefile for more options (make help).

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Third-Party Licenses

This project bundles third-party software components. Their licenses and attribution notices are available in the NOTICE.md file included in the distribution.