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Local-first by design
Your files live on disk in normal folders. No proprietary database, no cloud account, no migration when the app shuts down.
Local-first · Desktop · Free
The Markdown editor that works the way you expect.
Simple MD edits, reads, and renders Markdown the way you'd hope a desktop app would.
No cloud account. No proprietary store. Your .md files
stay right where you put them.
Why Simple MD
Calm, capable, and on your side.
Built for people who keep their notes in folders and want them to stay there. No lock-in, no surprise migrations, no "we've decided to deprecate the desktop app."
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Four view modes
Display, Text, Hybrid (true WYSIWYG), and Split — switch instantly without changing apps or losing your place.
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Math & charts inline
First-class KaTeX for inline and block LaTeX. Drop a fenced chart block of JSON and it renders as a real chart.
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Folder workspaces
Open a folder, get a real file tree. Right-click to rename, move, or delete — all changes go straight to the filesystem.
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OS file association
Set Simple MD as your default for .md, .markdown, .mdown, and .mkd. Double-click in Finder or Explorer — it just opens.
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On-device AI
An optional local AI assistant runs Gemma 4 entirely on your machine. Insert, replace, or append straight into the document.
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HTTPS import
Paste any HTTPS URL — including github.com/.../blob/... links — and Simple MD fetches the raw Markdown safely.
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Fast at scale
Built on CodeMirror 6 and ProseMirror. Big notes scroll smoothly; preview rendering stays off the typing critical path.
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Lossless round-trip
Hybrid mode preserves your Markdown exactly. Edit visually, save, and your source stays clean.
Four ways to look at one file
One document. Four modes. Zero lock-in.
The active document is always front and center. Switch modes with the tabs in the top bar, or with a keyboard shortcut — your cursor and scroll position come along.
Display
Read-only render
Polished typography, GitHub-flavored Markdown, syntax-highlighted code, KaTeX math, and inline charts. Distraction-light reading and proofing.
Text
Raw Markdown source
Pure source editing in CodeMirror 6 with syntax highlighting, list continuation, and bracket matching. Power users feel right at home.
Hybrid
True WYSIWYG, lossless
Edit rich text directly while Markdown stays the source. Powered by Milkdown / ProseMirror with lossless round-trip.
Split
Source on the left, preview on the right
Type in raw Markdown and watch the rendered version update beside you. Synchronized scrolling, no fuss.
Inline charts
Charts that live inside your notes.
Drop a fenced chart block with a JSON spec and Simple MD renders it as a real Recharts visualization in
preview and hybrid mode — bar, line, area, and pie supported. The source stays plain Markdown,
so the file is still readable in any other editor on earth.
- JSON-backed, version-control friendly
- Series and axes inferred when omitted
- Errors render an inline panel — never throw
Local AI assistant
An assistant that stays on your machine.
Optional, opt-in, and entirely local. Simple MD bundles a tiny llama-server sidecar
and downloads either Gemma 4 E2B (~5 GB) or E4B (~2.5 GB) on first use. Nothing
leaves your machine. Ever.
- Active document auto-attached as context
- Insert · Replace · Append straight into the editor
- Replace shows a side-by-side diff before committing
- License-gated by Google's Gemma terms · one-time
Math, done right
LaTeX that just shows up.
Inline $…$ and block $$…$$ render through KaTeX in
Display, Hybrid, and Split mode. No plugin to install, no server to reach, no shimmer
of "fetching fonts" — Simple MD bundles everything it needs.
- Inline and block math
- Friendly errors — bad LaTeX renders red, never breaks the doc
- Print-quality output for export to PDF or HTML
The full list
Everything Simple MD does, on one page.
If you've shopped for a Markdown editor before, you know the dance. Here's the unvarnished feature checklist — no asterisks, no "coming soon."
- Display mode — read-only render with GFM, syntax highlighting, KaTeX math.
- Text mode — raw Markdown in CodeMirror 6 with syntax highlighting.
- Hybrid mode — true WYSIWYG via Milkdown / ProseMirror, lossless Markdown round-trip.
- Split mode — source on the left, rendered preview on the right.
- Folder workspaces — open a folder, browse the tree, edit in place.
- Right-click rename / delete — straight from the sidebar tree.
- Standalone file open — open one
.mdwithout adding its parent folder. - Tabbed editing — multiple documents open, drag to reorder.
- Scratchpads — unsaved drafts via the
+on the tab strip. - Recent files & workspaces — eight slots each, persisted locally.
- Inline charts — fenced
chartJSON renders as bar / line / area / pie. - KaTeX math — inline and block LaTeX, bundled offline.
- Code highlighting — fenced code blocks rendered with syntax colors.
- GitHub-flavored Markdown — tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks.
- HTTPS Markdown import — including auto-conversion of GitHub blob URLs.
- OS file association — default app for
.md,.markdown,.mdown,.mkd. - External file change banner — see and reload edits from other apps safely.
- Status bar — word, line, and character counts plus the current path.
- Local AI assistant — optional Gemma 4 E2B / E4B, runs entirely on-device.
- AI document mutation — Insert / Replace / Append assistant replies into the editor.
- Side-by-side replace preview — diff before destructive AI edits.
- Sandboxed remote fetch — HTTPS only, 10 MB cap, content-type validation.
- Sanitized preview HTML — no surprise script execution from untrusted Markdown.
- Cross-platform — macOS, Windows ARM64, and Windows x86_64 builds.
Download
Pick your platform.
Free and unbundled. No installer dark patterns, no wrapper, no "agree to 17 things first." Just an app you double-click.
macOS
Universal · Apple Silicon & Intel
Native build for Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 and later). Ships as a signed zip — extract and run the included Install Simple MD.command.
Windows · ARM64
Windows on ARM
Native build for Surface Pro X, Copilot+ PCs, and other ARM-based Windows machines. No emulation, full speed.
Download for Windows ARM
Windows · x86_64
Windows Intel / AMD
For the rest of the Windows world: 64-bit Intel and AMD processors. Ships as a signed .exe installer.
On Linux? No prebuilt binaries yet — clone the repo and build it yourself. It's a
npm install && npm run tauri:build away.
View build instructions on GitHub
Looking for older builds, checksums, or release notes? See the releases page on GitHub.
Simple MD is open source.
Read the code, file an issue, send a pull request, or fork it and make it your own. The whole app — Rust backend, React frontend, build pipeline — lives at github.com/robrighter/simple-md.
Common questions
Quick answers.
The full guide lives in the docs — these are the questions people ask first.
Where do my notes live?
Wherever you put them. Simple MD opens a folder you already have (or a single .md file) and edits the actual files on disk. There is no proprietary database, no .simplemd store, and no cloud account.
The filesystem is the source of truth. If you uninstall Simple MD tomorrow, your notes are still where they always were.
Is Simple MD free and open source?
Yes — both. Simple MD is free to download and use on every supported platform, and the full source lives at github.com/robrighter/simple-md. Read the code, file an issue, send a pull request, or fork it.
Does the AI assistant send my notes anywhere?
No. The AI assistant is opt-in and runs entirely on your machine. We bundle a tiny llama-server sidecar and download a Gemma 4 model file (E2B, ~5 GB, or E4B, ~2.5 GB) on first run. Inference happens locally; nothing leaves the device.
If you never click the AI button, no model is downloaded and no AI code runs.
Can I use Simple MD without installing the AI?
Absolutely. The AI assistant is one button in the sidebar. Ignore it and Simple MD is a clean, fast, fully-featured Markdown editor. The model is only fetched the first time you accept the Gemma terms and pick a variant.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The only network features are HTTPS import (when you paste a URL) and the one-time AI model download. Everything else — editing, rendering, charts, math, file operations — works fully offline.
What about Linux?
Linux is in scope per the spec but not yet a published build. Tauri makes it cheap to ship — once macOS and Windows are stable, Linux .deb and AppImage bundles are next.
Do you collect telemetry?
No. Simple MD does not phone home. There is no analytics SDK, no crash uploader, no "anonymous usage" toggle. The app makes network requests only when you explicitly ask it to (HTTPS import, model download).