Inkline

Inkline turns a Markdown file in VS Code into something that reads like a page. Headings look like headings, tables are tables, checkboxes tick. When you click into a line, its Markdown comes back so you can edit it, then steps aside again when you move on.

Your file stays plain Markdown the whole time. Inkline doesn't convert it, reformat it or add anything to it, so it works as usual with Git, other editors and anything else that reads Markdown.

Getting started

Install Inkline from the Extensions view, then open any .md file and click the Inkline icon at the top right of the editor. The same file reopens in Inkline.

To go back to the plain text editor, open the Command Palette and run Inkline: Reopen in Native Markdown Editor.

VS Code keeps opening Markdown in its usual editor until you choose otherwise. To have every Markdown file open in Inkline, add this to your settings:

"workbench.editorAssociations": {
  "*.md": "inkline.markdownEditor"
}

What you can write

Text. Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, ==highlights==, inline code and links. Links open with ⌘-click (Ctrl-click on Windows and Linux) or the small arrow after them. [[Wikilinks]] and footnotes are styled too.

Lists and checklists. Press Enter to continue a list, and Enter on an empty item to end it. Tab and Shift+Tab indent and outdent, and a numbered item you outdent picks up the next number in the list above it. Task items show a checkbox you can click. Done items are struck through.

Tables. Tables are drawn as real tables, with column alignment and inline formatting. Click a row to edit its source, and click away to see the table again.

Code. Fenced code blocks are highlighted for JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C and C++, PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML, XML and Markdown. Anything you write inside a code block stays as code.

Math. $inline$ and $$block$$ formulas are rendered with KaTeX. Click a formula to edit it.

Callouts. GitHub and Obsidian style callouts, like > [!NOTE], > [!TIP] and > [!WARNING], get a colour and an icon. Put your own title after the marker if you want one.

Images. Images in your workspace show inline. Run Inkline: Insert Image to pick one: Inkline copies it into an .inkline-assets folder in your workspace and writes the link for you. Images from the web show as their Markdown link, not a preview.

HTML. HTML blocks are drawn as HTML, like a README's centred logo or a <details> block; click one to edit its source. Only safe, presentational HTML is drawn: scripts, styles and frames never run, and remote images show their alt text. Inline <kbd>, <sub>, <sup>, <mark>, <b>, <i>, <u>, <s> and <small> are formatted in place.

Everything else. Blockquotes, horizontal rules, <!-- comments --> and %% comments %% are all handled, and YAML frontmatter at the top of a file is set apart as a small metadata block.

Shortcuts

Find and replace search the Markdown source, so they also match text the preview hides, like a link's URL. Moving to a match shows the Markdown around it. Undo, redo and save work the way they do everywhere else in VS Code.

Reading mode

Inkline always opens a file for editing. Press ⌘E (Ctrl+E), click the book button in the tab's title bar, or click Live Preview in the bottom bar to switch that tab to reading mode, and do the same to switch back. While reading, the page stays drawn wherever you click, links open with a plain click, and nothing can change the file; changes made elsewhere still show up. The bottom bar shows Reading while it is on.

Themes

Inkline comes with six themes, each in a dark and a light version: Ink (the default), Paper, Fjord, Dusk, Forest and Mono. Run Inkline: Choose Theme, or click the colour button in an Inkline tab's title bar, to try them; each one shows in your open tabs as you move through the list. The light or dark version follows VS Code's colour theme, unless you set inkline.appearance. Every theme keeps body text, links and code at readable contrast.

Your file, always

Inkline edits the same document VS Code does. Saving, the unsaved-changes dot, Revert File and Git all behave normally. If the file changes on disk while it's open (a git pull, another editor), Inkline shows the new contents and keeps your cursor where it was. Undo only goes through your own edits, so it never undoes a change that came from outside.

If a merge leaves conflict markers in the file, Inkline stops treating that part as Markdown. Each conflict is shown as plain source, with the current and incoming changes in coloured bands and Accept Current, Accept Incoming and Accept Both above it, the same choices VS Code's text editor offers.

Inkline is only an editor. It doesn't have Obsidian's graph, backlinks or plugins.

Settings

Installing

Inkline is on the VS Code Marketplace and on Open VSX, which is where editors like VSCodium and Antigravity get their extensions.

Each release on GitHub also has a .vsix file, for any editor that can install one:

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

Building from source

You'll need Node.js 22 or newer.

npm install
npm run verify

npm run verify type-checks, lints, runs the tests and builds. To work on the editor itself, npm run dev opens it in a browser with a sample document. To run the whole extension, open this folder in VS Code and press F5.

To build a .vsix and install it:

npm run package
code --install-extension inkline-<version>.vsix

Feedback

Found a bug or missing something you use every day? Open an issue.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.