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Show HN: leaf – a terminal Markdown previewer with a GUI-like experience

46 points by RivoLink 6mo ago

RivoLink 6mo ago
Hi HN, I built leaf, a Markdown previewer that runs entirely in the terminal. It supports keyboard/mouse navigation, syntax highlighting, tables, checkboxes, clickable links, search, table of contents, local Markdown links, inline images, Mermaid diagrams, and LaTeX-to-Unicode rendering. It works on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Termux. GitHub: https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf I’d appreciate feedback on the UX, missing features, and performance on large Markdown files.
- mfgadv99 6mo ago
  [flagged]
- yboris 6mo ago
  Please consider adding a screenshot directly into the README (rather than a separate link). Also maybe a single paragraph at the top describing the project rather than jumping into `install`.
  - RivoLink 6mo ago
    Thanks for your feedback. I added the screenshot and a short description inside it.
- benj111 6mo ago
  Why a previewer rather than an editor that updates as you write? Do you have a specific use case? It seems to me that markdown is for writing with the ultimate output supposedly being html. Having a viewer of the markdown doesn't seem to add anything. Whereas making it an editor makes it more of a rich text editor. I'm not particularly saying youre wrong, more posing a philosophical question.
  - RivoLink 6mo ago
    There are both "open in editor" and "watch" modes. The idea is not to replace an editor, but to complement it: - "open in editor" lets you edit the file with your preferred editor - "watch" automatically refreshes the preview when the file changes So you can keep your usual workflow while having a fast, structured preview directly in the terminal.
SupLockDef 6mo ago
`pandoc "$@ | lynx -stdin` and I save you from 225 potential supply chain attack crates. `cargo audit` finds 3 vulnerabilities, you should fix them. Blazing safe.
- leephillips 6mo ago
  Glow is also an excellent markdown viewer for the terminal, and it’s in most repositories.
- jonaustin 6mo ago
  or just use glow which is golang. https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  These vulnerabilities have been fixed in the latest release. Thanks for pointing it out!
timetraveller26 6mo ago
cool project, how does it compare to glow? https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow
- fragmede 6mo ago
  If this project doesn't have open issues going back a year that are unanswered, it's doing better than glow. I forked glow to fix this one specific rendering bug, because the maintainers didn't respond to my bug report. I can't say that my fork is any better maintained, because no one is using it, but glow isn't maintained and has bugs so I wouldn't hold it up as anything other than abandonware.
- kseistrup 6mo ago
  For one thing, glow doesn't do math equations.
  - RivoLink 6mo ago
    Good point! Glow doesn’t support math equations, but leaf does.
    - kseistrup 6mo ago
      And leaf's math display is better than that of mdterm, IMHO.
DonaldPShimoda 6mo ago
> Features: > <bullet> <checkbox> description 1 > <bullet> <checkbox> description 2 > ... Like... why are we doing this. What is the purpose of having a bunch of green checkbox emojis in the already bulleted list of features. The only thing it tells me is that an LLM was probably used extensively in building this project.
- localhoster 6mo ago
  Forgot m-dashs and the arch.md file
  - DonaldPShimoda 6mo ago
    I don't think the em-dashes are particularly out of place in a list like this, though it's not the style I use. I didn't realize ARCHITECTURE.md was an LLM thing (though I suppose I would've if I'd opened it); I'll have to keep my eyes open for that one in the future too.
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  I’ve updated the Features section.
jasonpeacock 6mo ago
I used to use Glow, but now I'm enjoying mdterm: https://github.com/bahdotsh/mdterm https://github.com/bahdotsh/mdterm
RivoLink 6mo ago
Thanks everyone for the feedback, this was super helpful. I’m already working on improvements based on your comments.
dhruv3006 6mo ago
This is an interesting approach - I guess you did not move away to a gui - but tried to have a guy-like experience in the terminal only - in https://voiden.md/ https://voiden.md/ we do have a gui with blocks for api testing.
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  Thanks for the feedback! You're absolutely right. The goal was to create a GUI-like experience directly in the terminal. Your project looks really interesting too.
RivoLink 6mo ago
Quick follow-up for macOS users: I opened an issue to test the “open in editor” feature: - Shift+E should select/configure the editor - Cmd+E should open the current Markdown file in the selected editor Tested on Linux/Windows/Android so far. Feedback from macOS users would be really helpful: https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf/issues/51 https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf/issues/51
kseistrup 5mo ago
Now available from AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/leaf-markdown-viewer-bin https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/leaf-markdown-viewer-bin
- RivoLink 5mo ago
  Thanks again for this, really appreciate it!

46 points by RivoLink 6mo ago

Hi HN, I built leaf, a Markdown previewer that runs entirely in the terminal. It supports keyboard/mouse navigation, syntax highlighting, tables, checkboxes, clickable links, search, table of contents, local Markdown links, inline images, Mermaid diagrams, and LaTeX-to-Unicode rendering. It works on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Termux. GitHub: https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf I’d appreciate feedback on the UX, missing features, and performance on large Markdown files.

mfgadv99 6mo ago
[flagged]
yboris 6mo ago
Please consider adding a screenshot directly into the README (rather than a separate link). Also maybe a single paragraph at the top describing the project rather than jumping into `install`.
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  Thanks for your feedback. I added the screenshot and a short description inside it.
benj111 6mo ago
Why a previewer rather than an editor that updates as you write? Do you have a specific use case? It seems to me that markdown is for writing with the ultimate output supposedly being html. Having a viewer of the markdown doesn't seem to add anything. Whereas making it an editor makes it more of a rich text editor. I'm not particularly saying youre wrong, more posing a philosophical question.
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  There are both "open in editor" and "watch" modes. The idea is not to replace an editor, but to complement it: - "open in editor" lets you edit the file with your preferred editor - "watch" automatically refreshes the preview when the file changes So you can keep your usual workflow while having a fast, structured preview directly in the terminal.

SupLockDef 6mo ago

`pandoc "$@ | lynx -stdin` and I save you from 225 potential supply chain attack crates. `cargo audit` finds 3 vulnerabilities, you should fix them. Blazing safe.

leephillips 6mo ago
Glow is also an excellent markdown viewer for the terminal, and it’s in most repositories.
jonaustin 6mo ago
or just use glow which is golang. https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow
RivoLink 6mo ago
These vulnerabilities have been fixed in the latest release. Thanks for pointing it out!

timetraveller26 6mo ago

cool project, how does it compare to glow? https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow

fragmede 6mo ago
If this project doesn't have open issues going back a year that are unanswered, it's doing better than glow. I forked glow to fix this one specific rendering bug, because the maintainers didn't respond to my bug report. I can't say that my fork is any better maintained, because no one is using it, but glow isn't maintained and has bugs so I wouldn't hold it up as anything other than abandonware.
kseistrup 6mo ago
For one thing, glow doesn't do math equations.
- RivoLink 6mo ago
  Good point! Glow doesn’t support math equations, but leaf does.
  - kseistrup 6mo ago
    And leaf's math display is better than that of mdterm, IMHO.

DonaldPShimoda 6mo ago

> Features: > <bullet> <checkbox> description 1 > <bullet> <checkbox> description 2 > ... Like... why are we doing this. What is the purpose of having a bunch of green checkbox emojis in the already bulleted list of features. The only thing it tells me is that an LLM was probably used extensively in building this project.

localhoster 6mo ago
Forgot m-dashs and the arch.md file
- DonaldPShimoda 6mo ago
  I don't think the em-dashes are particularly out of place in a list like this, though it's not the style I use. I didn't realize ARCHITECTURE.md was an LLM thing (though I suppose I would've if I'd opened it); I'll have to keep my eyes open for that one in the future too.
RivoLink 6mo ago
I’ve updated the Features section.

jasonpeacock 6mo ago

I used to use Glow, but now I'm enjoying mdterm: https://github.com/bahdotsh/mdterm https://github.com/bahdotsh/mdterm

RivoLink 6mo ago

Thanks everyone for the feedback, this was super helpful. I’m already working on improvements based on your comments.

dhruv3006 6mo ago

This is an interesting approach - I guess you did not move away to a gui - but tried to have a guy-like experience in the terminal only - in https://voiden.md/ https://voiden.md/ we do have a gui with blocks for api testing.

RivoLink 6mo ago
Thanks for the feedback! You're absolutely right. The goal was to create a GUI-like experience directly in the terminal. Your project looks really interesting too.

RivoLink 6mo ago

Quick follow-up for macOS users: I opened an issue to test the “open in editor” feature: - Shift+E should select/configure the editor - Cmd+E should open the current Markdown file in the selected editor Tested on Linux/Windows/Android so far. Feedback from macOS users would be really helpful: https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf/issues/51 https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf/issues/51

kseistrup 5mo ago

Now available from AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/leaf-markdown-viewer-bin https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/leaf-markdown-viewer-bin

RivoLink 5mo ago
Thanks again for this, really appreciate it!