mdview

a native mac markdown viewer that redraws the moment the file changes on disk. I keep it open next to whatever claude or a script is writing and read along as the words land.

source on github the terminal version: mdw

screenshots

MD View in dark mode with three markdown files open as native tabs
rose pine moon, three files as native tabs
MD View in light mode with the outline sidebar open
rose pine dawn, with the outline open

what it does

  • live reloadchecks the file every 0.4 seconds and keeps your scroll position. changed blocks glow for a moment.
  • native tabsevery mdview file.md joins one window as a real macos tab. drag one out, cmd+1 to 9, cmd+shift+t to reopen.
  • find and outlinea native find bar that survives reloads, and a heading outline with the other files in the folder.
  • focus modehides everything but the page. handy beside a call.
  • renderinggithub-flavored markdown, highlighted code, mermaid diagrams, frontmatter as a card, sortable tables.
  • a viewerthe only edit it makes is ticking a checkbox. writing stays in your editor.

get it

git clone https://github.com/RobertJLora/mdview.git
cd mdview && ./install.sh
mdview notes.md

it's a swift window around a small python server, no xcode project needed. needs macOS 27 and the command line tools. MIT licensed; the bundled marked, highlight.js and mermaid keep their own licenses.