MindmapMD

Your mindmap is just Markdown.

Edit it in VS Code or on the web, share it with a link, take the plain .md anywhere. Open any .md and the map is the editor — Tab branches, type to name a node, Enter adds a sibling, drag to re-parent. Every change writes straight back to the file, and any edit to the file redraws the map. No proprietary format, no lock-in.

A mindmap built live in VS Code — from the title "Kyoto trip", five colour-coded branches (See, Eat, Do, Go, Plan) and their nodes are typed out, a photo is pasted straight onto a node, then the finished map is flipped to its plain-Markdown source

The map is the editor

No split screen, no preview pane — the mindmap is the editor, and the .md file is the only artifact.

Tab adds a child · Enter a sibling · Space edits a node
T cycles to-do state · \ folds a branch · arrow keys navigate
Click selects, double-click edits, drag to move a branch, drop a file onto a node to attach it — or paste an image straight onto a node (Ctrl+V)
Press ? in the map for the full shortcut overlay

All keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
`Ctrl+K Ctrl+M` / `Cmd+K Cmd+M`	New Mindmap (a VS Code command, not a map key)
`Tab`	Add a child node
`Enter`	Add a sibling node
`Space` / `F2`	Edit the selected node
`Shift+Enter`	Line break while editing
`Delete` / `Backspace`	Delete the selection
`t`	Cycle task state (none → `[ ]` → `[x]`)
`\`	Fold / unfold a branch
Arrow keys	Move the selection (an arrow with nothing selected picks the centre)
`Shift+Arrows`	Extend the selection
`Ctrl/Cmd+A`	Select every node
`Ctrl/Cmd+C` / `X` / `V`	Copy / cut / paste nodes as Markdown
`Ctrl/Cmd+Z` / `Y`	Undo / redo
`F`	Fit the whole map in view
`0`	Zoom to 100% at the centre node
`?`	Toggle the shortcut overlay

Mouse: right-drag or wheel pans/zooms the canvas, left-drag draws a selection marquee, dragging a node re-parents its whole branch.

What Markdown works

Headings (#–######) and nested bullet lists are the map's structure; everything else — paragraphs, tables, fenced code, Mermaid, KaTeX — renders inside the nearest node. A note authored as a mindmap round-trips losslessly. Arbitrary Markdown (a README, an essay) still opens fine, but the first structural edit normalizes its formatting (bullet markers, indentation, line endings), and an edit that can't be written back safely is refused with a message rather than risking your file.

It's just Markdown

No lock-in. Your mindmap is one plain .md file — no proprietary format, no export. Any editor, any OS, Git-friendly forever.
Your AI tools already work on it. Let the AI tools in your editor read and rewrite the file — the map reflows the moment it's saved.
Rich content inline. Tasks, links, images, tables, fenced code, Mermaid, and KaTeX ( $…$ , $$…$$) all render inside nodes.
Local-first & offline. Runs entirely on your machine — no analytics, no telemetry, no network calls. Your .md files never leave your computer.

Publish straight from the editor

Run MindmapMD: Publish Mindmap and get one link anyone can open — public or private, free. Publish again and the same link updates. Embed a live, interactive map in any page or doc, or download the Markdown back anytime and keep editing.

On Free, locally-stored images stay on your machine (uploading them is a Pro feature) — images linked by URL always publish.

Publishing, embeds & the web editor → mindmapmd.app

Install

In VS Code, open the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X), search for MindmapMD, and click Install. Or from the command line:

code --install-extension mindmapmd.mindmapmd

Use

MindmapMD: New Mindmap (Ctrl+K Ctrl+M / Cmd+K Cmd+M, or the Command Palette) asks what the map is about. The name becomes the centre node and the file name, so the file is right from the moment it exists — the box opens on a provisional name, so Enter works straight away.
Or right-click any .md → MindmapMD: Open as Mindmap.
The title-bar icon flips between the mindmap and the Markdown source in the same tab.

The single top-level # heading becomes the centre node.

Privacy

Core editing is fully local: no analytics, no telemetry, no network calls, and your .md files never leave your computer. The only network activity is the one you trigger yourself — running Publish Mindmap sends that map (and, on Pro, its images) to mindmapmd.app. See the privacy policy.

Support & Feedback

Bug reports / feature requests: https://github.com/mindmapmd/feedback/issues (the public issue tracker — MindmapMD's source itself is not published there)
Contact: mau@mindmapmd.app
Site: https://mindmapmd.app

License

MindmapMD is proprietary software, free of charge for personal and commercial use. Redistribution, reverse-engineering, modification, and use to develop competing products are not permitted. See LICENSE for the full agreement.