mkdocs-zen-mode 0.1.1

Zen Mode toggle for MkDocs Material — distraction-free reading

mkdocs-zen-mode

Zen Mode for MkDocs Material — distraction-free reading with a single click.

A plugin that adds a Zen Mode toggle to MkDocs Material sites. When activated, it hides the navigation sidebar, table of contents, header, footer, and tabs — leaving only the content centered for comfortable, distraction-free reading.

Features

• Toggle button in the header (next to search)
• Hides navigation, TOC, header, footer, and tabs
• Centers content at a configurable max-width (default: 780px)
• Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Z (configurable)
• State persists across pages and reloads via localStorage
• Works with navigation.instant (SPA mode)
• Smooth CSS transitions
• Floating exit button when header is hidden
• Fully configurable: choose what to hide
• Dark mode compatible

Installation

pip install mkdocs-zen-mode

Quick Start

Add to your mkdocs.yml:

plugins:
  - search
  - zen-mode

That's it! A toggle button will appear in the header.

Configuration

All options are optional:

plugins:
  - zen-mode:
      enabled: true              # Master switch (default: true)
      max_width: "780px"         # Content width in zen mode
      shortcut: "Alt+Z"          # Keyboard shortcut
      storage_key: "mkdocs-zen-mode"  # localStorage key
      button_position: "header"  # "header" or "none"
      hide_header: true          # Hide the top header bar
      hide_footer: true          # Hide the footer
      hide_tabs: true            # Hide navigation tabs
      hide_toc: true             # Hide table of contents (right sidebar)
      hide_nav: true             # Hide navigation (left sidebar)
      hide_announce: true        # Hide the announce bar
      transition_duration: "0.3s"  # CSS transition speed

Examples

Keep the TOC visible in zen mode:

plugins:
  - zen-mode:
      hide_toc: false

Use a custom keyboard shortcut:

plugins:
  - zen-mode:
      shortcut: "Ctrl+Shift+Z"

Only use the keyboard shortcut (no visible button):

plugins:
  - zen-mode:
      button_position: "none"

Manual Installation (without plugin)

If you prefer not to use the plugin system (or for MkDocs 2.0+), you can manually add the CSS and JS:

1. Copy mkdocs_zen_mode/assets/zen-mode.css to docs/stylesheets/zen-mode.css
2. Copy mkdocs_zen_mode/assets/zen-mode.js to docs/javascripts/zen-mode.js
3. Replace the {{...}} placeholders in both files with your desired values
4. Add to mkdocs.yml:

extra_css:
  - stylesheets/zen-mode.css
extra_javascript:
  - javascripts/zen-mode.js

5. Add the toggle button to your overrides/main.html header block.

Compatibility

• MkDocs Material 9.x (primary target)
• MkDocs >= 1.4
• Degrades gracefully on non-Material themes (keyboard shortcut and FAB still work)
• Python 3.9+

Development

git clone https://github.com/nitaibezerra/mkdocs-zen-mode.git
cd mkdocs-zen-mode
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v

License

MIT