md-echo

Minimalist dual-pane Markdown editor & previewer built with egui and eframe

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md-echo is a fast, native Markdown editor written in Rust using eframe and egui. It displays side-by-side editing and live preview of Markdown with CommonMark compliance — perfect for quick note editing, technical docs, or journaling.

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Features

• Dual-Pane Interface: Edit on the left, preview on the right.
• Live Markdown Rendering: Powered by egui_commonmark.
• File Management: New, Open, Save, Save As, and Exit.
• Unsaved Changes Protection: Confirms before discarding or exiting unsaved work.
• Hotkeys:
  • Ctrl+N — New file
  • Ctrl+O — Open file
  • Ctrl+S — Save
  • Ctrl+Shift+S — Save As
  • Ctrl+Q — Quit
• Configurable Theme & Workspace: Customize colors, accent, and default working directory via config.toml.
• Markdown Tooling: Run linter (Ctrl+Shift+L) and formatter (Ctrl+Shift+F) commands with in-app output.
• Status Bar: Shows file name, save state, and character count.

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Installation

You’ll need the latest stable Rust toolchain and GTK development headers:

Fedora / RHEL:

sudo dnf install gtk3-devel

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev

Then install the crate:

cargo install md-echo

Update existing install:

cargo install md-echo --force

Or build locally:

git clone https://github.com/fibnas/md-echo
cd md-echo
cargo run --release

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Usage

Run the app:

md-echo

Then:

• Type Markdown in the left pane.
• Watch the formatted output update instantly in the right pane.
• Use the File menu or shortcuts to open/save documents.
• Use the Tools menu or Ctrl+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+F to lint or format with your configured commands.

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Opening a File from the Command Line

md-echo can open a file directly when you pass it as an argument:

md-echo notes.md

or with a full path:

md-echo ~/projects/todo.md

If the file exists, it loads into the editor immediately. If it doesn’t, a new blank editor opens with that path ready for saving.

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Configuration & Customization

md-echo looks for an optional config file at ~/.config/md-echo/config.toml. Copy docs/config.example.toml to that location as a starting point:

mkdir -p ~/.config/md-echo
cp docs/config.example.toml ~/.config/md-echo/config.toml

• Working Directory: Set working_dir to choose the initial folder for the file tree.

• Colors & Theme: Adjust the [theme] table to switch between dark/light presets and override hex colors:

  [theme]
  base = "dark"
  background = "#1E1E2E"
  text = "#CDD6F4"
  accent = "#89B4FA"

• Markdown Lint & Format: Configure [tools] entries with the command arrays to run. Defaults use rumdl if available:

  [tools]
  lint = ["rumdl", "check"]
  lint_use_open_file = false
  format = ["rumdl", "fmt"]
  format_use_open_file = false

  Trigger these commands from the Tools menu or with Ctrl+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+F. Results (and formatter output) appear in the Tool Output window.

• Use the current file: Set lint_use_open_file or format_use_open_file to true to execute the command against the file open in md-echo instead of a temporary buffer. The file must be saved (no pending edits) before running these modes.

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Tech Stack

• eframe — Native app framework for egui
• egui_commonmark — CommonMark renderer
• egui_extras — Layout helpers
• rfd — Native file dialogs
• Standard library I/O for fast read/write

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License

Licensed under the MIT License.

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. Feel free to fork, tinker, and open an issue or PR if you have improvements.

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"Write, preview, and echo your thoughts — all in one window."