MDView v1.0.0 - Initial Release

MDView v1.0.0 - Initial Release 🎉

Overview

MDView is a Python-based Markdown viewer that converts Markdown files to HTML and displays them in a native GUI window or web browser.

Key Features

• ✅ Native GUI - Beautiful native windows using PyWebView
• ✅ Browser Mode - Fallback to your default web browser
• ✅ Multi-file Support - Tabbed interface for multiple documents
• ✅ Beautiful Styling - GitHub-like rendering with syntax highlighting
• ✅ Cross-platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• ✅ Self-contained Installer - Single file installation with embedded dependencies

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

Download the compressed installer and run:

# Download and extract
gunzip mdview_installer.py.gz

# Run the installer
python3 mdview_installer.py

Manual Installation

git clone https://github.com/richardahasting/mdview.git
cd mdview
pip install -r requirements.txt

What's Included

• mdview_installer.py.gz - Compressed self-contained installer (13.5KB)
• Automatic dependency management (markdown, pywebview)
• Cross-platform PATH configuration
• Existing installation detection
• Multiple installation location options

Usage Examples

# View a single file
mdview README.md

# View multiple files with tabs
mdview docs/*.md

# Force browser mode
mdview -b presentation.md

# View built-in help
mdview -r

Technical Details

• Installer Size: 60KB uncompressed, 13.5KB compressed (77% reduction)
• Dependencies: markdown (required), pywebview (optional for GUI)
• Python Support: 3.6+
• License: Apache 2.0

Architecture

• Single-file design for maximum portability
• Graceful degradation from GUI to browser mode
• Temporary file management with auto-cleanup
• GitHub-style CSS with syntax highlighting
• Multi-file support with tabbed interface (GUI) or index page (browser)

This release represents a complete, production-ready Markdown viewer with modern installation and distribution capabilities.