MDtoLink for VS Code

Publish markdown files to shareable URLs with one command. Works in VS Code and Cursor.

Features

Publish any markdown file to a shareable URL
Update previously published documents with one command
Unpublish documents when you no longer need them
Copy URL of published documents to clipboard
List all your published documents
Status bar shows publish state of the active file
Sidebar TreeView lists all published documents in the workspace
Keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Shift+M (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+M (Win/Linux)

Setup

Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX
Get an API key from app.mdtolink.com/dashboard/account
Run MDtoLink: Set API Key from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P)
Open a markdown file and press Cmd+Shift+M to publish

Commands

Command	Description
`MDtoLink: Publish to MDtoLink`	Publish or update the current markdown file
`MDtoLink: Unpublish from MDtoLink`	Remove a published document
`MDtoLink: Copy MDtoLink URL`	Copy the published URL to clipboard
`MDtoLink: List Published Documents`	Browse all your published documents
`MDtoLink: Set API Key`	Configure your API key
`MDtoLink: Refresh Published Documents`	Refresh the sidebar document list

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`mdtolink.serverUrl`	`https://api.mdtolink.com`	API server URL
`mdtolink.defaultPublic`	`true`	Whether new documents are public by default

How It Works

Published document IDs are tracked in .vscode/mdtolink.json (relative file paths mapped to document metadata)
Re-publishing a file updates the existing document instead of creating a new one
Your API key is stored securely in the OS keychain via VS Code's SecretStorage API
Free plan: 5 documents with auto-generated URLs. Pro plan: unlimited documents with custom slugs

Publishing the Extension

Prerequisites

VS Code Marketplace: Create a publisher at marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage. Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) from dev.azure.com with the Marketplace (Manage) scope.
Open VSX (for Cursor): Create an account at open-vsx.org and generate an access token from your settings page.

Manual Publishing

# From the monorepo root
pnpm install
pnpm build:vscode

# Package the extension
cd apps/vscode
npx @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies

# Publish to VS Code Marketplace
npx @vscode/vsce publish --no-dependencies
# You'll be prompted for your PAT, or set VSCE_PAT env var

# Publish to Open VSX (Cursor)
npx ovsx publish *.vsix
# Set OVSX_PAT env var or pass --pat <token>

Automated Publishing (CI/CD)

A GitHub Actions workflow at .github/workflows/publish-vscode-extension.yml automatically publishes when changes to apps/vscode/ are pushed to main and the version in package.json has been bumped. Same pattern as the Obsidian plugin workflow.

Setup

Add these secrets to your GitHub repository settings:
- VSCE_PAT — Azure DevOps Personal Access Token with Marketplace scope
- OVSX_PAT — Open VSX access token
To release a new version, just bump the version and push:

cd apps/vscode
npm version patch  # or minor, or major
cd ../..
git add apps/vscode/package.json
git commit -m "chore(vscode): bump version"
git push origin main

The workflow will automatically:

Detect the new version (compares package.json version against existing git tags)
Build and package the extension as a .vsix
Publish to the VS Code Marketplace
Publish to Open VSX (for Cursor)
Create the vscode-v{version} git tag
Upload the .vsix as a GitHub Actions artifact

If you push changes to apps/vscode/ without bumping the version, the workflow runs but skips publishing (the tag already exists).

Development

# From the monorepo root
pnpm install

# Watch mode (rebuilds on changes)
pnpm dev:vscode

# One-time build
pnpm build:vscode

# Test in VS Code
# Open apps/vscode/ in VS Code, press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

License

MIT