md-viewer
| Crates.io | md-viewer |
| lib.rs | md-viewer |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| created_at | 2026-01-24 20:40:29.741185+00 |
| updated_at | 2026-01-24 20:40:29.741185+00 |
| description | Fast, lightweight markdown viewer for Linux with tabs, file explorer, and live reload |
| homepage | https://github.com/aydiler/md-viewer |
| repository | https://github.com/aydiler/md-viewer |
| max_upload_size | |
| id | 2067454 |
| size | 301,292 |
adiler (aydiler)
documentation
https://github.com/aydiler/md-viewer#readme
README
md-viewer
A fast, lightweight markdown viewer for Linux built with Rust and egui. Designed for distraction-free reading with excellent typography and syntax highlighting.
Features
Rendering
- GitHub Flavored Markdown - Full GFM support including tables, task lists, and footnotes
- Syntax Highlighting - 200+ languages via syntect with beautiful color schemes
- Images & SVG - Embedded image support (PNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG)
- 60 FPS Rendering - Smooth scrolling with viewport-based lazy rendering
- Typography - 1.5x line height for optimal readability (WCAG 2.1 compliant)
Navigation
- Tab System - Open multiple documents with tab bar (Ctrl+Click links to open in new tab)
- File Explorer - Hierarchical sidebar showing markdown files in the directory
- Outline Sidebar - Click-to-navigate table of contents from document headers
- Per-Tab History - Back/forward navigation within each tab (Alt+Left/Right)
- Internal Links - Navigate between markdown files with relative links
View
- Dark & Light Themes - Toggle with Ctrl+D
- Zoom - 50% to 300% zoom (Ctrl++/-/0 or Ctrl+Scroll)
- Live Reload - Auto-refresh on file changes when watching is enabled
Usability
- Drag and Drop - Drop markdown files onto the window to open
- Native Dialogs - System file picker integration
- Session Persistence - Remembers open tabs, theme, zoom, and sidebar state
- Cross-Platform - Works on X11 and Wayland
Screenshots
Dark Mode
File explorer, document outline, and tabbed browsing
Light Mode with Syntax Highlighting
Code blocks with 200+ language support via syntect
Dark Mode with Code
Consistent syntax highlighting across themes
Keyboard Shortcuts
Tab Management
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+T | New tab (open file dialog) |
| Ctrl+W | Close current tab |
| Ctrl+Tab | Next tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Previous tab |
| Ctrl+1-9 | Switch to tab 1-9 |
Navigation
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+O | Open file dialog |
| Alt+Left | Navigate back in history |
| Alt+Right | Navigate forward in history |
| Click link | Navigate in current tab |
| Ctrl+Click link | Open link in new tab |
View
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+D | Toggle dark/light mode |
| Ctrl+Shift+E | Toggle file explorer |
| Ctrl+Shift+O | Toggle outline sidebar |
| Ctrl++ / Ctrl+= | Zoom in |
| Ctrl+- | Zoom out |
| Ctrl+0 | Reset zoom to 100% |
| Ctrl+Scroll | Zoom with mouse wheel |
File Operations
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| F5 | Toggle file watching |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit application |
Installation
Arch Linux (AUR)
# Using yay
yay -S md-viewer-git
# Using paru
paru -S md-viewer-git
Snap Store
sudo snap install md-viewer
Cargo (crates.io)
cargo install md-viewer
From Source
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/aydiler/md-viewer
cd md-viewer
# Build release binary
cargo build --release
# Install to ~/.local/bin (optional)
make install
System Dependencies (Arch Linux)
sudo pacman -S --needed \
base-devel clang pkg-config \
libxcb libxkbcommon openssl \
gtk3 fontconfig dbus zenity \
xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
Usage
# Open a file
md-viewer README.md
# Open with live reload (auto-refresh on file changes)
md-viewer README.md --watch
md-viewer README.md -w
Technical Details
- Binary size: ~8.7 MB (includes syntax highlighting, image support, X11+Wayland)
- Startup time: < 200ms
- Rendering: 60 FPS with viewport-based clipping
- Memory: Uses mimalloc for improved allocation performance
- Platform: Linux (X11 and Wayland via glow backend)
Built With
- eframe/egui - Immediate mode GUI framework
- egui_commonmark - Markdown rendering (vendored fork with typography improvements)
- syntect - Syntax highlighting
- notify - File watching
- rfd - Native file dialogs
License
MIT