mdsmith — Markdown linter, formatter & data extractor

jeduden

6 installs

Keep your Markdown neat and consistent: inline diagnostics with lightbulb quick fixes, fix-on-save, cross-file link and anchor integrity, generated TOCs / catalogs / includes, frontmatter schemas, and a bundled CLI that extracts Markdown sections as JSON or YAML. The .vsix bundles the mdsmith binary

Installation

Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.

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More Info

mdsmith for VS Code

The extension is a thin LSP client over the bundled mdsmith binary, which it runs with the lsp subcommand. Diagnostics appear inline as squiggles, and every fixable rule contributes a lightbulb quick fix. A whole-buffer fix action runs on demand or on save, with an optional Refactor Preview before edits land. Cross-file navigation extends to Go to Definition, Find All References, workspace symbol search, and a call hierarchy across includes, catalogs, builds, and Markdown links. The mdsmith Command Palette runs Initialize Config, Fix All Markdown, Install Git Merge Driver, Explain Rule on This File, and Show Resolved Config. The .vsix bundles the mdsmith binary for every supported OS and architecture, so no separate install is needed.

Prerequisites

VS Code 1.85 or later.
No separate mdsmith install — the .vsix bundles a binary for every supported platform (Linux, macOS, and Windows on x64 and arm64) and selects yours at startup. It does this by re-using the @mdsmith/cli npm package's own resolver, so the extension and npx @mdsmith/cli always agree on which binary runs.

Override only if you want a specific build: set mdsmith.path to an absolute path (e.g. from go install github.com/jeduden/mdsmith/cmd/mdsmith@latest, npm install -g @mdsmith/cli, or the releases page). The extension falls back to resolving mdsmith on PATH only if your platform was not bundled.

Install

code --install-extension mdsmith-<version>.vsix

Settings

Setting	Default	Purpose
`mdsmith.path`	`"mdsmith"`	Binary path; default runs the bundled per-platform binary. Set an absolute path to override; falls back to PATH only if your platform was not bundled (e.g. `/go/bin/mdsmith`)
`mdsmith.config`	`""`	Override `-c` config path
`mdsmith.run`	`"onType"`	When to lint: `onType` (default), `onSave`, or `off` (off stops automatic linting)
`mdsmith.previewFix`	`false`	Show the diff (Refactor Preview) before fix-on-save writes; quick fixes apply immediately
`mdsmith.trace.server`	`"off"`	LSP trace verbosity

Fix-on-save uses VS Code's native editor.codeActionsOnSave, the same way ESLint does:

{ "editor.codeActionsOnSave": { "source.fixAll.mdsmith": "explicit" } }

With mdsmith.previewFix on, each save shows the diff first.

See the full guide for prerequisites, code actions, troubleshooting, and the performance benchmark.

Building from source

The extension uses Bun for both bundling and tests:

bun install
bun test
bun run build.ts            # one-shot bundle to dist/
bun run build.ts --watch    # rebuild on change

bunx --bun @vscode/vsce package produces the .vsix.

License

MIT.