Markdown Book Builder

Build PDF and EPUB books from a folder of Markdown files.

Features

• Right-click a folder in the Explorer and build PDF, EPUB, or both
• Combines .md and .markdown files in natural filename order
• Supports markdown-book.json and book.order.json
• Renders Mermaid fenced code blocks through Mermaid CLI before Pandoc runs
• Uses high-resolution PNG Mermaid diagrams for PDF and SVG Mermaid diagrams for EPUB
• Saves output to your operating system Downloads folder by default
• Uses temporary Mermaid and Puppeteer config files only inside .book-build/<build-id>
• Uses local desktop tools only: Pandoc, Mermaid CLI, Chrome/Chromium, and a PDF engine
• Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux desktop VS Code

Requirements

• EPUB builds require Pandoc
• PDF builds require Pandoc and a PDF engine such as xelatex
• Mermaid rendering requires Mermaid CLI only when Mermaid code blocks exist
• Mermaid CLI browser rendering can use detected Google Chrome or a configured Chromium executable

Install the tools with the package manager appropriate for your OS:

• macOS: official installers, MacTeX, npm, or your preferred package manager
• Windows: official Pandoc installer, MiKTeX or TeX Live, npm
• Linux: your distribution packages, TeX Live packages, npm

The extension does not bundle or install these tools.

Usage

Right-click a folder in the VS Code Explorer, then choose Markdown Book Builder.

Commands:

Configuration File

Place markdown-book.json in the selected folder:

{
  "title": "Apaya Quant Learning",
  "author": "Raghav Khunger",
  "outputName": "Apaya-Quant-Learning",
  "outputDirectory": "~/Downloads",
  "recursive": false,
  "toc": true,
  "tocDepth": 3,
  "numberSections": true,
  "chromePath": "",
  "pdf": {
    "pageSize": "a5",
    "fontSize": "12pt",
    "margin": "14mm",
    "lineStretch": 1.15,
    "engine": "xelatex",
    "mermaidFormat": "png",
    "mermaidScale": 2
  },
  "epub": {
    "mermaidFormat": "svg"
  },
  "mermaid": {
    "enabled": true,
    "htmlLabels": false,
    "theme": "default",
    "backgroundColor": "transparent",
    "scale": 2,
    "concurrency": 2
  }
}

Use book.order.json for explicit chapter order:

{
  "files": ["01-introduction.md", "02-market-data.md", "03-backtesting.md"]
}

Remote Workspaces

For Remote SSH, Dev Containers, or WSL, install Pandoc, Mermaid CLI, and the PDF engine in the remote environment where the extension host runs.

Privacy

Markdown Book Builder runs entirely locally. Markdown content is passed only to local Pandoc and Mermaid CLI processes.