LightMD

LightMD is a lightweight WYSIWYG Markdown editor for quick writing, editing, and reviewing .md files without opening a full IDE.

It is built with Tauri, Rust, SolidJS, and Milkdown, with native file dialogs, Markdown file associations, draft recovery, and Mermaid diagram preview.

Why

Markdown editors often sit at one of two extremes: a full development environment that feels too heavy for a small edit, or a plain text editor that loses the structure of the document while you write.

LightMD is the middle path: fast to open, native-feeling on the desktop, and focused on the core Markdown workflow.

Highlights

• Inline WYSIWYG editing: edit rendered Markdown directly with a Milkdown / ProseMirror editor.
• Source mode: switch to raw Markdown whenever precision matters.
• Fast startup path: the app shell renders first; the heavier editor stack, toolbar commands, and Mermaid fullscreen tools are loaded lazily.
• Blank new documents: new files start empty, with a visual placeholder instead of starter text inserted into the document.
• Native desktop workflow: open, save, Save As, drag-and-drop, recent files, single-instance handoff, and .md / .markdown file association.
• Draft recovery: untitled documents are auto-saved after idle time and restored on next launch.
• Mermaid diagrams: live preview for fenced mermaid blocks, plus fullscreen zoom/pan and SVG / PNG clipboard export.
• CommonMark + GFM: headings, lists, tables, task lists, strikethrough, code blocks, links, and images.
• Security-conscious rendering: Mermaid SVG output is sanitized, and the app uses a strict Content Security Policy.

Install

macOS

Download the latest macOS build from Releases.

For Apple Silicon Macs, download the LightMD_*_aarch64.dmg asset.

After installing, macOS can use LightMD as the default editor for .md and .markdown files.

Build From Source

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+
• Rust stable
• Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS
• WebView2 on Windows

git clone https://github.com/ak40u/light-md-editor.git
cd light-md-editor
npm install
npm run tauri build

Build artifacts are written to:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Development

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run tauri dev

Useful commands:

Command	Purpose
npm run typecheck	Type-check the Solid / TypeScript frontend
npm run build	Build the frontend with Vite
npm run tauri dev	Run the desktop app in development mode
npm run tauri build	Create release bundles

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows / Linux.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + N	New document
Cmd/Ctrl + O	Open file
Cmd/Ctrl + S	Save
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S	Save As
Cmd/Ctrl + R	Reload current file from disk
Cmd/Ctrl + /	Toggle source mode
Cmd/Ctrl + \	Toggle sidebar
Cmd/Ctrl + + / =	Increase editor zoom
Cmd/Ctrl + -	Decrease editor zoom
Cmd/Ctrl + 0	Reset editor zoom

Architecture

LightMD is a small desktop application with a native Rust shell and a webview frontend.

Layer	Technology	Responsibility
Desktop runtime	Tauri 2	App lifecycle, windows, bundling
Backend	Rust	File I/O, recent files, drafts, OS events
Frontend	SolidJS, TypeScript, Vite	App state and UI
Editor	Milkdown, ProseMirror	WYSIWYG Markdown editing
Markdown	CommonMark, GFM	Markdown features and serialization
Diagrams	Mermaid, DOMPurify	Diagram rendering and SVG sanitization
Styling	Tailwind CSS 4, custom CSS	Dark desktop UI

The frontend talks to Rust through Tauri IPC commands. File association, drag-and-drop, and single-instance handoff are normalized into the same open-file event path.

Project Status

LightMD is an active personal desktop-app project. The current release is focused on macOS, while the codebase keeps Windows support in scope through Tauri and CI checks.

See docs/project-changelog.md for release history.

License

MIT