md-echo

Minimalist dual-pane Markdown editor & previewer built with egui and eframe

md-echo is a fast, native Markdown editor written in Rust using eframe and egui. It displays side-by-side editing and live preview of Markdown with CommonMark compliance — perfect for quick note editing, technical docs, or journaling.

Features

• Dual-Pane Interface: Edit on the left, preview on the right.
• Live Markdown Rendering: Powered by egui_commonmark.
• File Management: New, Open, Save, Save As, and Exit.
• Unsaved Changes Protection: Confirms before discarding or exiting unsaved work.
• Hotkeys:
  • Ctrl+N — New file
  • Ctrl+O — Open file
  • Ctrl+S — Save
  • Ctrl+Shift+S — Save As
  • Ctrl+Q — Quit
• Configurable Theme & Workspace: Customize colors, accent, and default working directory via config.toml.
• Markdown Tooling: Run linter (Ctrl+Shift+L) and formatter (Ctrl+Shift+F) commands with in-app output.
• Status Bar: Shows file name, save state, and character count.

Installation

You’ll need the latest stable Rust toolchain and GTK development headers:

Fedora / RHEL:

sudo dnf install gtk3-devel

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev

Then install the crate:

cargo install md-echo

Update existing install:

cargo install md-echo --force

Or build locally:

git clone https://github.com/fibnas/md-echo
cd md-echo
cargo run --release

Usage

Run the app:

md-echo

Then:

• Type Markdown in the left pane.
• Watch the formatted output update instantly in the right pane.
• Use the File menu or shortcuts to open/save documents.
• Use the Tools menu or Ctrl+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+F to lint or format with your configured commands.

Opening a File from the Command Line

md-echo can open a file directly when you pass it as an argument:

md-echo notes.md

or with a full path:

md-echo ~/projects/todo.md

If the file exists, it loads into the editor immediately. If it doesn’t, a new blank editor opens with that path ready for saving.

Configuration & Customization

md-echo looks for an optional config file at ~/.config/md-echo/config.toml. Copy docs/config.example.toml to that location as a starting point:

mkdir -p ~/.config/md-echo
cp docs/config.example.toml ~/.config/md-echo/config.toml

• Working Directory: Set working_dir to choose the initial folder for the file tree.

• Colors & Theme: Adjust the [theme] table to switch between dark/light presets and override hex colors:

  [theme]
  base = "dark"
  background = "#1E1E2E"
  text = "#CDD6F4"
  accent = "#89B4FA"
  

• Markdown Lint & Format: Configure [tools] entries with the command arrays to run. Defaults use rumdl if available:

  [tools]
  lint = ["rumdl", "check"]
  lint_use_open_file = false
  format = ["rumdl", "fmt"]
  format_use_open_file = false
  

  Trigger these commands from the Tools menu or with Ctrl+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+F. Results (and formatter output) appear in the Tool Output window.

• Use the current file: Set lint_use_open_file or format_use_open_file to true to execute the command against the file open in md-echo instead of a temporary buffer. The file must be saved (no pending edits) before running these modes.

Tech Stack

• eframe — Native app framework for egui
• egui_commonmark — CommonMark renderer
• egui_extras — Layout helpers
• rfd — Native file dialogs
• Standard library I/O for fast read/write

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. Feel free to fork, tinker, and open an issue or PR if you have improvements.

"Write, preview, and echo your thoughts — all in one window."