openmd 1.4.1

Fast Markdown previewer with GitHub-dark theme, sidebar TOC, multi-file tabs, and .openmd.css theming

openmd

Markdown for humans — not AI models.

I got tired of reading raw Markdown with less or opening VS Code/Cursor just to see it nicely rendered. So I built openmd.

Run openmd *.md (or any Markdown files) from the shell and a window pops up with:

• Tabs for multiple files (up to 6)
• Live reload when you save in your editor
• Mermaid diagrams and KaTeX math
• Collapsible navigation sidebar (TOC)
• Full customization via .openmd.css

No browser, no TUI — just proper rendering with nice fonts and styles. It runs in the background so the window stays completely independent.

Built this for myself and I use it every day - because nice-looking text matters! 🤣

GitHub: RufusLin/openmd

Warning - Lazy Maintainer: Yeah, not a fan of reading PRs, but will pay attention to issues to fix bugs. Feel free to fork, but remember to give credit, please.🙏🏻

X: @rufuslinjapan

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Usage

# Open a single file
openmd README.md

# Open multiple files (each in its own tab)
openmd doc1.md doc2.md doc3.md

# No arguments — interactive picker (choose from .md files in current directory)
openmd

# Glob expansion
openmd docs/*.md

Shell aliases (optional)

Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc for quick access to remote files:

# Remote preview via SSH (requires a 'home' SSH alias in ~/.ssh/config)
remotemd() {
    local remote_path="$1"
    local filename=$(basename "$remote_path")
    local tmp_file="/tmp/remote_preview_${filename}.md"
    scp "home:$remote_path" "$tmp_file" && \
    openmd "$tmp_file" >/dev/null 2>&1 &
}

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What it looks like

(Click any image to enlarge)

Features

• GitHub-dark theme — comfortable reading in low-light environments. BUT! Change it to whatever you like in .openmd.css
• Live reload — the preview updates instantly when the file is saved; no manual refresh needed
• Mermaid diagrams — fenced ```mermaid blocks render automatically via CDN
• KaTeX math — Formulae? inline $…$ and display $$…$$ expressions render out of the box
• Collapsible sidebar TOC — hierarchical, of course; click any heading to jump to it
• Multi-file tabs — pass multiple .md files (even *.md globs) and each opens in its own tab, max 6
• Interactive file picker — run with no arguments and choose from .md files in the current directory via a curses-based picker — no need to copy and paste file names
• Remote preview — optional remotemd shell alias pulls a file from a remote host via scp and opens it instantly
• Keyboard shortcuts — Esc closes the window; arrow keys navigate the sidebar

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Requirements

• macOS, Linux, Posix
• Python 3.8+
• PySide6
• Markdown
• BeautifulSoup4

Note: Mermaid and KaTeX require an internet connection to load from CDN.

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Installation

pip (recommended)

pip install openmd

After installing, the openmd command is available in your shell.

From source

git clone https://github.com/RufusLin/openmd.git
cd openmd
pip install -e .

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Keyboard shortcuts in sidebar

Key	Action
Esc	Close the preview window
↑ / ↓	Navigate the sidebar TOC
Return	Jump to selected section

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License

MIT