MDForge

Transform VS Code into a Typora-like WYSIWYG Markdown editor with GitHub-style rendering, Mermaid diagrams and rich task lists.

MDForge opens .md / .markdown files in a clean visual editor where the Markdown renders in place as you type. It is built on Milkdown (ProseMirror + remark) and is fully open source (MIT) — no paid tiers, no telemetry.

Status

🚧 Early scaffold (v0.0.1). The foundation is in place; features are being built against SPEC.md.

Working now:

• Custom editor for .md / .markdown (opt-in) with two-way sync to the file.
• WYSIWYG editing: headings, bold/italic/strikethrough, quotes, lists, links, images, code blocks, GFM tables.
• Clickable task lists (- [ ] / - [x]).
• Mermaid diagrams and KaTeX math.
• GitHub-style theme that follows the VS Code light/dark theme.

Planned (see SPEC.md): custom [~] "in progress" checkbox state, slash commands, GitHub alerts, outline panel, wikilinks, and more.

Development

npm install
npm run build      # compiles the extension (tsc) + bundles the webview (esbuild)

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host, open a Markdown file, right-click it and choose Open with MDForge (or run the command MDForge: Open with MDForge, or press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Alt+M).

Watch mode during development:

npm run watch:ext      # extension TypeScript
npm run watch:webview  # webview bundle

Architecture

Acknowledgements

• Milkdown — WYSIWYG engine (MIT)
• Mermaid — diagrams (MIT)
• KaTeX — math (MIT)

License

MIT © 2026 tribaud