A rich, source-preserving Markdown/MDX editor for VS Code. Edit as rich
text — headings, bold, lists, links, custom JSX components — and the file
on disk stays exactly as you wrote it. No silent reformatting on save.
Amarantha registers as an optional editor for .md/.mdx files — it
won't replace VS Code's built-in text editor automatically.
Open a .md or .mdx file.
Right-click the editor tab (or the editor title bar) → Reopen Editor
With… → Amarantha.
Use the toolbar in the editor title bar to toggle between rich text and
source, show/hide frontmatter, and change typography.
Features
Source-preserving. Formatting you didn't touch — list marker style,
quote style, line wrapping — isn't rewritten out from under you.
Custom components, inline. MDX components like diagrams or embeds
render right alongside your prose, driven by a simple JSON config
(amarantha.config.json at your workspace root) rather than hardcoded
support. Editing that config file gets autocomplete, hover docs, and
validation for free.
Native VS Code integration. Undo/redo, the dirty indicator, and
Ctrl/Cmd+S all come from VS Code itself — the open document is always
the source of truth.
Image paste/drop. Pasted or dropped images are saved to an assets/
folder next to the document and linked automatically.
Typography. Pick from bundled fonts (Geist, Inter, IBM Plex, and
more) or your own Fontsource ID / system font.
Theme-aware. Colors follow VS Code's own active color theme rather
than a separate picker.
Known limitations
No dedicated diff view yet — VS Code's built-in plain-text diff still
opens for .md/.mdx files via git.
Development
This extension lives in a monorepo alongside Amarantha's other hosts
(desktop, web, Chrome). See the
repository for the
full source and docs/decisions.md
for design rationale.
To run from source:
Open the repo root (amarantha-md-editor) as your VS Code
workspace — the F5 launch config lives there, pointing at this package.
Press F5 ("Run Amarantha Extension"). This builds the extension
(npm run build:vscode) and opens an Extension Development Host
window.
In that window, follow the Usage steps above.
Issues and PRs welcome — this project is early and moving fast, so it's
worth opening an issue before a large change.
