Powered Plain Text

Powered Plain Text is a VS Code extension for structured plain-text, Markdown, and LaTeX writing. It highlights discourse markers, shows optional logic symbols, and helps you scan notes, drafts, and arguments more easily.

What It Does

• Highlights transition words, sequence markers, quotes, titles, parenthetical content, and numbers for better readability and structure
• Adds display-only symbol hints such as →, ⇒, ⇄, ⊕, ◆, and ① before corresponding transition words and sequences
• Includes built-in writing profiles for general, academic, journal, and notes styles, with customizable transition and sequence word lists
• Provides the command Powered Plain Text: Auto Format to insert blank lines around structural transitions

Supported Files

Rich Text mode:

• .txt
• .rtxt
• .rich

LaTeX enhancement:

• .tex
• .latex

Markdown enhancement:

• .md

For .tex and .latex, keep the file in LaTeX mode. The extension adds highlighting and symbol hints without replacing the LaTeX language.

For .md, keep the file in Markdown mode. The extension adds its own hints and highlighting without replacing Markdown's base styling.

Quick Start

1. Download and install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Open a file with a supported extension or create a new file, keeping the language mode as Rich Text, Markdown, or LaTeX as appropriate.
3. Start typing. Highlighting and symbol hints apply automatically.
4. Run Powered Plain Text: Auto Format when you want automatic paragraph breaks.

Settings

Configure the extension in settings.json. The main options are:

• poweredPlaintext.writingProfile: general, academic, journal, or notes
• poweredPlaintext.enableSymbolHints: show or hide symbol hints
• poweredPlaintext.customTransitionWords: add words for causation, result, contrast, addition, summary, and example
• poweredPlaintext.customSequenceWords: add words for starters, continuers, and terminators
• poweredPlaintext.autoFormatParagraphBreakWords: extra words that trigger a blank line in Auto Format

Example:

{
	"poweredPlaintext.writingProfile": "notes",
	"poweredPlaintext.enableSymbolHints": true,
	"poweredPlaintext.customTransitionWords": {
		"contrast": ["by comparison", "反过来看"]
	},
	"poweredPlaintext.customSequenceWords": {
		"starters": ["first claim", "第一点"],
		"terminators": ["final takeaway", "最后结论"]
	},
	"poweredPlaintext.autoFormatParagraphBreakWords": ["to conclude", "for now"]
}

Minimal example:

{
	"poweredPlaintext.customTransitionWords": {
		"contrast": ["by comparison", "反过来看"]
	}
}

Profile guide:

• general: balanced defaults for everyday writing
• academic: stronger support for formal argumentation and paper-style transitions
• journal: better defaults for reflective writing and daily logs
• notes: shorthand-friendly defaults for note taking and quick summaries

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or higher

Development

Requires Node.js 18+ and npm 9+ for local development.

npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the extension in a new Extension Development Host window and test it in a supported file.

Release Notes

See CHANGELOG.md.