MdLive

A live markdown editor for VS Code with split preview, CodeMirror editing, GitHub Flavored Markdown, Obsidian vault support, and one-click sharing.

Why MdLive?

VS Code's built-in markdown preview is read-only, disconnected from the editor, and doesn't understand Obsidian wikilinks. MdLive replaces it with a real-time split editor where the preview is interactive — click checkboxes to toggle task items, double-click any block to jump to its source, and follow wikilinks to navigate your vault.

If you work with markdown daily and want an editor that feels like a tool rather than a viewer, MdLive is for you.

Features

Core Editing

• Split-pane editing — CodeMirror 6 editor on the left, live markdown preview on the right
• Custom editor — opens .md and .markdown files directly in MdLive, no setup required
• GitHub Flavored Markdown — tables, task lists, strikethrough, and syntax-highlighted code blocks
• Find & Replace — Cmd+H opens the search/replace panel
• Full-width preview — toggle to expand the preview panel to fill the editor
• Auto-save — debounced save back to the workspace filesystem
• Status bar — word count, character count, and save state at a glance

Interactive Preview

• Clickable checkboxes — toggle task list items in the preview and the source updates automatically
• Double-click to navigate — double-click any block in the preview to select the corresponding lines in the editor
• Heading anchors — auto-generated slug IDs with hover permalink icons
• Copy code blocks — one-click copy button on every fenced code block

View Modes

• Split — editor and preview side by side (default)
• Editor — full-width CodeMirror editor only
• Preview — full-width markdown preview only
• Diff — side-by-side comparison of saved vs current content

View mode preference is persisted across files and sessions.

Obsidian Integration

MdLive auto-detects Obsidian vaults by checking for a .obsidian/ directory. When working inside a vault:

• Wikilink navigation — click [[Page Name]], [[Page Name|Alias]], or [[Page Name#heading]] to open the linked note
• Same-note headings — [[#heading]] scrolls the current note's preview to the heading
• Smart link resolution — finds files by exact path, basename match, or partial match across the vault
• Standard markdown links — ./relative/path.md, ../path.md, and #heading anchors navigate correctly
• Image embeds (![[image.png]]) render inline; note content transclusion (![[other note]]) is not supported

Sharing

• One-click share — click the share button to upload your markdown and get a shareable URL
• Share works from the toolbar or via MdLive: Share Markdown command
• URL is copied to your clipboard automatically

Screenshots

Split view with rich markdown — headings, code blocks, tables, and task lists rendered side by side:

Interactive preview — click a checkbox in the preview to toggle the source:

Obsidian wikilink navigation — click a [[wikilink]] to navigate between notes:

Quick Start

1. Install from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Open any .md file — it opens automatically in the MdLive editor
3. Or run MdLive: Open Markdown Editor from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P)

Commands

Toolbar Actions

The floating toolbar in the top-right corner provides:

• Split / Editor / Preview — switch between view modes
• Diff toggle — compare saved content against current edits
• Share — upload and share current markdown

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or later

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release history.

License

Apache 2.0