Zen Marky Reader

A simple macOS app for reading Markdown and HTML files. I know this stuff already exists but I just wanted a simple markdown reader instead of having VSCode opening all the time.

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Install

Requires macOS 14 or later. The download works on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

1. Download the macOS ZIP from the latest release.
2. Unzip it and move Zen Marky Reader.app to Applications.
3. Open Zen Marky Reader.

The app is not notarized yet. If macOS blocks the first launch, try opening it once, then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway, then Open. See Apple's instructions if you need help with this step.

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Use

• Open a Markdown or HTML file with File > Open (⌘O), or drag a file into the app window.
• Use the Aa button in the toolbar to choose Native Reader or Book Reader and set light or dark appearance. The same options are in the View menu.
• In a Markdown task list, click a checkbox to update its marker in the file. Other document text is read-only.
• Right-click a tab to put it in a group. A group has a colored chip with an optional name: click the chip to collapse the group, right-click it to rename or recolor it, and drag it to move the whole group. Groups reopen with the session.
• Each file opens in its own tab. File > Open Files In switches to new windows instead. ⌘T and ⌘N add an empty tab or window, and an empty tab lists your recent files.
• ⌘F finds text in the page. The outline button in the toolbar (⌥⌘O) jumps to a heading.
• The page updates when the file changes on disk, so you can keep it open next to your editor. The reload button in the toolbar (⌘R) reloads it by hand.
• Tabs that are open when you quit reopen on the next launch, at the same scroll position.
• Mermaid diagrams draw in Markdown (a mermaid code block) and in HTML (<pre class="mermaid">). The app uses its own bundled copy of Mermaid; the document's scripts still never run.
• Front matter at the top of a Markdown file is hidden; View > Show Front Matter shows it as one short line. Hover over a code block to copy it.
• File > Print (⌘P) and File > Export as PDF use a light page layout.
• Help > Keyboard Shortcuts (⌘/) lists every shortcut.

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Build from source

Install Xcode or the Apple Command Line Tools, then run:

./scripts/build-app.sh
open "dist/Zen Marky Reader.app"

Run the tests with:

./scripts/test.sh

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License and security

Zen Marky Reader is licensed under MIT. To report a security issue, see the security policy.