Inkdown

Inkdown is a beta VS Code extension for editing rendered Markdown without leaving VS Code.

It is built for developers who want Obsidian or Typora style readability while keeping plain .md files, wikilinks, and repo-native workflows inside VS Code.

Current v0.1 capabilities:

• custom live editor for .md files
• CodeMirror 6 live editor inside the custom editor
• inline preview for common Markdown syntax when the cursor is elsewhere
• rendered links and wikilinks are clickable
• wikilink completion and definition in Live Editor (F12 / Cmd/Ctrl+Click)
• outline tree for the current document
• backlinks tree for the current document
• explicit source-editor fallback command
• explicit note creation from unresolved wikilinks

Why Inkdown:

• edit Markdown in a live editor instead of bouncing between raw source and preview
• keep notes as plain .md files inside your existing workspace
• navigate with wikilinks, outline, and backlinks without leaving VS Code
• render math and Mermaid inline while preserving Markdown as the source of truth

Live Editor Markdown coverage:

• headings and blockquotes
• Markdown links, auto links, and wikilinks
• unordered/ordered/nested lists
• task list checkbox interaction with write-back (- [ ] / - [x])
• GFM tables
• fenced code blocks (with block rendering when not editing)
• images (http(s), data, relative path, workspace-absolute path)
• strikethrough (~~text~~)
• footnotes
• inline and block math ($...$, $$...$$) with fallback on error
• Mermaid fenced blocks with diagram rendering and fallback on error

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build:

npm run compile

Test:

npm test

Package a VSIX with auto version bump (default patch):

make package

Choose bump type when needed:

make package BUMP=minor

Package a VSIX without bumping the version:

make package-no-bump

By default, packaging keeps the latest 3 .vsix files and deletes older ones. Override the retention count when needed:

VSIX_KEEP=5 make package

Run in VS Code:

1. Open this folder in VS Code.
2. Start the Run Inkdown launch configuration.
3. In the Extension Development Host, open a Markdown file inside a workspace folder.
4. The file should open in Inkdown Live Editor by default. If not, run Inkdown: Open Live Editor.
5. If you need raw Markdown editing, run Inkdown: Open Source Editor.

Sample manual QA workspace:

• open sample-workspace/README.md as a separate workspace folder in the Extension Development Host
• verify live editing, outline, backlinks, ambiguous wikilinks, and unresolved note creation against that sample set
• run Markdown rendering acceptance steps in docs/test-docs.md

Known Limits

• this is currently a beta release focused on the core live-editing workflow
• undo/redo is currently handled by the embedded editor first; VS Code command-level history integration still needs hardening
• native HTML rendering is disabled (markdown-it uses html: false)
• backlinks index is in-memory only
• multi-root workspaces are not fully optimized