Quickstart

Get up and running with MarkView in minutes

Quickstart

This guide will help you get started with MarkView quickly. You’ll learn how to open files, navigate documents, switch themes, and use the powerful keyboard shortcuts to enhance your workflow.

Make sure you’ve completed the installation guide before proceeding.

Your first Markdown file

Let’s start by viewing your first Markdown file in MarkView:

1. Launch MarkView

   Open the MarkView application from your applications menu or by running the binary:

   # macOS
   open /Applications/MarkView.app
   
   # Linux
   ./markview
   
   # Windows
   markview.exe
   

   You’ll see the main window with an empty state:

   ![Empty MarkView window with prompt to load files]

2. Load a Markdown file

   There are several ways to open a file in MarkView. Choose the method that works best for you:

   Method 1: Drag and drop

   Simply drag any .md or .markdown file from your file explorer and drop it into the MarkView window.

   Method 2: Upload button

   Click the upload button (↑ icon) in the left sidebar and select a file from the dialog.

   Method 3: Command line

   Launch MarkView with a file path:

   ./markview path/to/your/file.md
   
3. View the rendered content

   Once loaded, your Markdown file appears in the main content area with beautiful styling and syntax highlighting.

   The file name appears in the left sidebar, and if your document has headings, an outline appears in the right sidebar.

Opening multiple files

MarkView excels at managing multiple Markdown documents simultaneously:

1. Load multiple files

   You can add more files using any of the methods mentioned above:

   # Open multiple files from command line
   ./markview README.md CONTRIBUTING.md LICENSE.md
   

   Or drag multiple files at once into the window.

2. Switch between files

   Click any file name in the left sidebar to view it, or use the quick search:

   Press Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on macOS) to open the file search palette.

   Type to filter files and press Enter to open the selected file.

Working with directories

Load an entire directory of Markdown files at once:

1. Load a folder

   From the UI:

   Click the folder button (📁 icon) in the left sidebar and select a directory.

   From the command line:

   # Open all Markdown files in a directory
   ./markview ~/Documents/notes
   
   # Open files in the current directory
   ./markview .
   
2. Browse the loaded files

   All .md and .markdown files from the directory appear in the sidebar.

   Use the search bar (Ctrl+K) to quickly find specific files in large directories.

Running in development mode

If you’re contributing to MarkView or want to try the latest features, run it in development mode:

1. Navigate to the project directory

   Open your terminal and change to the MarkView source directory:

   cd /path/to/markview
   
2. Start the development server

   Run the Tauri development command:

   bun run tauri dev
   

   This starts both the Next.js development server and the Tauri application:

   $ bun run tauri dev
   
   > next dev
   
   ▲ Next.js 16.1.6
   - Local: http://localhost:3000
   
   ✓ Ready in 1.2s
   
   Running BeforeDevCommand (next dev)
   Compiling markview v0.1.0
   Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 3.45s
   
3. Make changes and see them live

   With development mode running, you can:

   • Edit React components and see changes instantly with hot reload
   • Modify Rust backend code (requires recompilation)
   • Test new features before building production binaries

   Changes to TypeScript/React files reload automatically. Rust changes require stopping and restarting the dev server.

Using keyboard shortcuts

MarkView includes powerful keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation:

File search

Press Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on macOS) to open the file search palette:

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🔍 Search files...              │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│ > README.md                     │
│   CONTRIBUTING.md               │
│   docs/installation.md          │
│   docs/quickstart.md            │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

• Type to filter the list
• Use ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to navigate
• Press Enter to open the selected file
• Press Esc to close the palette

Theme switching

Press Alt+T to open the theme selector:

┌────────────────────┐
│ Select Theme       │
├────────────────────┤
│ ⬜ Light           │
│ ⬛ Dark            │
│ 🌊 Ocean           │
│ 🌲 Forest          │
│ 🌅 Sunset          │
│ 💜 Purple          │
│ 🌙 Midnight        │
└────────────────────┘

• Type to filter themes
• Use ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to navigate
• Press Enter to apply the selected theme
• Press Esc to close without changing

Your theme preference is automatically saved and persists across application restarts.

Exploring the interface

Left sidebar

The left sidebar provides quick access to:

• Upload buttons: Load individual files or entire folders
• Search bar: Quick access to file search (Ctrl+K)
• Theme selector: Switch between visual themes
• File list: All loaded Markdown files

Main content area

The center panel displays your rendered Markdown with:

• GitHub Flavored Markdown: Tables, task lists, strikethrough
• Syntax highlighting: Beautiful code blocks with language detection
• Copy buttons: One-click copying for all code blocks
• HTML rendering: Safe rendering of embedded HTML
• Mermaid diagrams: Automatic rendering of flowcharts and diagrams

Right sidebar (outline)

When viewing a document with headings, the right sidebar shows:

• Table of contents: Automatically generated from your headings
• Clickable links: Jump to any section instantly
• Nested structure: Reflects your document hierarchy (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

Code examples

MarkView provides excellent support for code blocks with syntax highlighting:

Basic code block

Create a code block with triple backticks and a language identifier:

```javascript
function greet(name) {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
}

greet('MarkView');
```

This renders as:

function greet(name) {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
}

greet('MarkView');

Supported languages

MarkView supports syntax highlighting for all major programming languages:

# Python example
def fibonacci(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return n
    return fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2)

print(fibonacci(10))

// Rust example
fn main() {
    let numbers = vec![1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
    let sum: i32 = numbers.iter().sum();
    println!("Sum: {}", sum);
}

# Shell script example
for file in *.md; do
  echo "Processing $file"
  ./markview "$file"
done

Inline code

Use single backticks for inline code: const x = 42;

GitHub Flavored Markdown features

MarkView fully supports GitHub Flavored Markdown syntax:

Tables

Feature	Supported	Notes
Tables	✅	Full formatting support
Task lists	✅	Interactive checkboxes
Strikethrough	✅	Use ~~text~~
Autolinks	✅	Automatic URL detection

Task lists

• Install MarkView
• Open your first file
• Explore all themes
• Try keyboard shortcuts

Strikethrough

Old text is replaced with new text.

Command line usage

Once you’ve built MarkView, you can integrate it with your terminal workflow:

Open a specific file

# Open a single file
./markview README.md

# Open with absolute path
./markview /Users/username/Documents/notes.md

Open multiple files

# Load multiple files at once
./markview README.md CHANGELOG.md TODO.md

Open a directory

# Load all Markdown files in a directory
./markview ~/Documents/notes

# Load files in current directory
./markview .

Add to PATH (optional)

For convenient access from anywhere, add MarkView to your PATH:

# Linux/macOS: Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/markview/src-tauri/target/release"

# Or create a symlink
sudo ln -s /path/to/markview/src-tauri/target/release/markview /usr/local/bin/markview

Now you can run MarkView from any directory:

markview README.md

Next steps

You’re now familiar with the basics of MarkView! Here are some resources to explore next:

Keyboard shortcuts

Master all the keyboard shortcuts for maximum productivity

Features

Explore advanced features and customization options

Themes

Learn about the built-in themes and how to customize them

Contributing

Help improve MarkView by contributing to the project

Tips and tricks

Drag multiple files: You can drag and drop multiple files simultaneously. Select them in your file explorer and drag them all at once.

Link preview: Hover over internal Markdown links to see a preview of the linked file’s content without leaving your current document.

Fast theme switching: Press Alt+T, then use arrow keys and Enter. You can change themes in under a second!

Persistent state: MarkView remembers your theme preference even after closing the app.

When opening directories, only .md and .markdown files are loaded. Other file types are ignored.