Gloss - VS Code Extension
Gloss through your markdown without touching it.
A distraction-free markdown reader for VS Code with Merrily integration for browsing operational documents.
Features
Reading Mode
- Auto-preview on open — Markdown files open in preview mode by default
- Close source tab — Automatically closes the editor tab, leaving only the preview
- Edit command — Press
Cmd+Shift+E to switch to edit mode
- Pattern matching — Configure which files open in reading mode
Merrily Integration
Browse your operational documents and Merrily data directly in VS Code:
- Local Documents — Browse your operations folder (or any folder)
- Pitches — View pitches from your Merrily instance
- Cycles — View cycles and their status
- Retrospectives — Read cycle retrospectives
All documents open in Gloss's distraction-free reading mode.
Configuration
{
// Reading mode
"gloss.enabled": true,
"gloss.patterns": ["**/*.md", "**/*.markdown"],
"gloss.exclude": ["**/CHANGELOG.md"],
"gloss.zenMode": false,
"gloss.closeSourceTab": true,
"gloss.showStatusBar": true,
// Merrily integration
"gloss.merrily.localFolder": "/path/to/operations",
"gloss.merrily.apiUrl": "http://localhost:3000",
"gloss.merrily.apiToken": "your-jwt-token"
}
Commands
| Command |
Keybinding |
Description |
Gloss: Edit This File |
Cmd+Shift+E |
Switch from preview to editor |
Gloss: Toggle Reading Mode |
— |
Enable/disable globally |
Gloss: Open in Reading Mode |
— |
Open current file in preview |
Gloss: Merrily: Configure Local Folder |
— |
Set your docs folder |
Gloss: Merrily: Connect to API |
— |
Connect to Merrily instance |
Gloss: Merrily: Disconnect |
— |
Disconnect from API |
The Gloss sidebar shows:
📁 Local Documents — Your configured folder tree
- Subfolders expand to show contents
- Click any
.md or .mdx file to open in reading mode
- Icons indicate document type (💡 pitch, 📊 retro, 🎯 strategy, etc.)
📝 Pitches — Pitches from Merrily API
🔄 Cycles — Cycles with status badges
📊 Retrospectives — Published retrospectives
Privacy
No telemetry, no analytics, no network requests except to your configured Merrily instance.
All data stays local or goes only to your own API.
Development
cd extension
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host
License
MIT
