What md-boss is (and isn’t)

md-boss is a fast, focused Markdown reader and editor built specifically for Windows. It pairs the CodeMirror 6 editing engine with a live, GitHub-flavored preview pane, a full workspace file-tree sidebar, multi-tab editing, and a clean interface available in English and Greek. There are no accounts, no cloud sync, and no plugin marketplace — install it, open a file or folder, and start writing.

Knowing these boundaries up front sets expectations: md-boss trades extensibility for simplicity and speed.

Installation

md-boss ships as a Windows NSIS installer. Download it, run it, and launch md-boss from the Start menu like any other application. On first launch, the app opens with a single blank Untitled-1 tab and default settings — system theme, split view, English interface.

Interface tour

The window is organized into five regions:

1. Toolbar (top) — formatting buttons, view-mode switch, theme switch, language switch. Doubles as the window’s drag handle.
2. Tab bar — one tab per open document, plus a “+” to create a blank tab.
3. Sidebar (togglable) — a workspace file tree, or Recent Files / Recent Folders when no folder is open.
4. Editor / Preview — shown in Edit, Split, or Preview mode.
5. Status bar — path, dirty state, word count, character count, reading time, cursor position.

A reconstruction of the toolbar’s button order, left to right.

Working with files and tabs

Opening files

• Open File Ctrl+O — native picker filtered to .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mdx, with an “All Files” option for anything else.
• Open Folder Ctrl+Shift+O — opens a folder as a workspace and populates the sidebar with a recursive Markdown file tree (noise folders like node_modules and .git are skipped automatically, to depth 6).
• Drag and drop — drop a .md file on the window to open it as a new tab.
• Recent Files / Recent Folders — the 10 most recent of each, shown in the sidebar when no workspace is open. Your last folder reopens automatically on next launch.

Managing tabs

Every open document is a tab with its own independent undo/redo history and cursor position, so switching tabs never loses your place. A dirty tab shows a dot indicator; closing a dirty tab or quitting with unsaved tabs prompts a confirmation — the quit prompt even tells you how many files have unsaved changes.

Saving and exporting

• Save Ctrl+S — writes to the current path.
• Save As… Ctrl+Shift+S — writes to a new path.
• Export as HTML… — renders the active document into one self-contained HTML file, styles inlined, ready to email or host.

The workspace sidebar

Opening a folder turns the sidebar into a full file-tree browser: folders before files, both sorted alphabetically, Markdown files only. Click any file to open or focus its tab.

Right-click a tree item for New File, New Folder (on folders), Rename, Reveal in Explorer, and Delete — delete moves the item to the Recycle Bin, never a permanent removal. Rename happens inline in the tree. The workspace header shows the folder name with a “×” to close the workspace without closing any open tabs.

Editing Markdown

The editor runs on CodeMirror 6 with the official Markdown language mode: syntax-aware highlighting for headings, bold/italic/strikethrough, links, inline code, blockquotes, lists, and rules; fenced code blocks are highlighted by their own language right inside the editor (a ```js block reads as JavaScript, not plain text); bracket matching, drop-cursor, and independent undo/redo per tab. Tab indents rather than shifting focus out. Find/Replace opens with Ctrl+F. The editor font is Cascadia Code (falling back to Consolas), sized 10–28px.

Formatting toolbar & Insert menu

Wrap actions work across multiple cursors at once. With nothing selected, placeholder text is inserted and pre-selected so you can start typing immediately.

Live preview & Markdown support

Preview is rendered with markdown-it plus a curated set of GitHub-flavored extensions, re-rendering 120ms after you stop typing. Supported: headings with clickable anchors, bold/italic/strikethrough, blockquotes, nested ordered & unordered lists, task lists with checkboxes, tables, syntax-highlighted fenced code blocks, inline code, auto-linkified URLs (all links open externally, never in-app), images, horizontal rules, footnotes, and typographic niceties like smart quotes and en/em dashes.

All rendered HTML is sanitized before display, and raw HTML in your source is not executed. Not supported: math typesetting (KaTeX/MathJax) and Mermaid diagrams.

View modes

Toggle with Ctrl+Shift+P (cycles Edit → Split → Preview):

• Edit — editor only, full width
• Split — editor and preview side by side with synced scrolling (default)
• Preview — rendered output only, full width

Themes & appearance

Cycle with Ctrl+Shift+D (System → Light → Dark → System):

• System — follows Windows’ light/dark setting live
• Light — white background, dark text, blue accents
• Dark — near-black background, light text, lighter blue accents

Both palettes extend across the editor’s syntax colors, preview pane, and scrollbars — no mixed-theme state. Font size (10–28px, via zoom) is the one adjustable visual setting; there’s no custom CSS or theme editor.

Interface language

The interface is available in English and Greek (Ελληνικά), switchable instantly via the EN / ΕΛ toggle. Switching updates every label, tooltip, and dialog, rebuilds the native menu bar in the new language, and is remembered on next launch.

The status bar

Always visible at the bottom: file path (or “Untitled”) with a dirty-state marker, word count, character count, estimated reading time (~200 wpm, minimum 1 minute), and cursor position as line/column.

Settings that persist automatically

There’s no separate “save settings” step — md-boss remembers, between sessions: theme, interface language, editor font size, view mode, window size & position, up to 10 recent files and 10 recent folders, and the last workspace folder (restored automatically).

Complete keyboard shortcut reference

Strikethrough, Image, Code Block, Quote, Bullet/Numbered/Task List, Table, Horizontal Rule, and Export as HTML have no default shortcut — use the toolbar or Insert/File menu.

Menu reference

Tips for getting the most out of md-boss

• Open a folder, not just files. A workspace gives you the file tree, right-click management, and fast switching — most valuable for multi-file projects like documentation sets or notes vaults.
• Use Split view while writing prose. Synced scrolling shows how formatting renders without leaving the keyboard.
• Lean on shortcuts for headings and inline formatting — Ctrl+1/2/3, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, Ctrl+K — the fastest path without touching the mouse.
• Export to HTML before sharing outside Markdown-aware tools. The export is one self-contained file, ideal for emailing or archiving a finished document exactly as it renders in md-boss.
• There’s no auto-save. Build the Ctrl+S habit, especially before switching tabs or quitting.

Frequently asked questions

Does md-boss support math equations or diagrams?

No. There’s no KaTeX/MathJax math rendering and no Mermaid diagram support in the current version.

Can I install plugins or extensions?

No. md-boss has a fixed, curated feature set with no plugin system.

What file types can I open?

.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mdx are recognized natively; the Open dialog also lets you open any file as plain text with Markdown highlighting applied.

Is my data stored in the cloud?

No. md-boss works entirely offline against local files, with no account system and no telemetry.

Does deleting a file in the sidebar delete it permanently?

No — it moves to the Windows Recycle Bin, so it’s recoverable.

Is md-boss available for macOS or Linux?

Not currently — it’s distributed as a Windows installer only.

What happens if a file changes outside md-boss while it’s open?

md-boss detects the change and prompts you to reload it; reloading discards unsaved edits in that tab, so it asks for confirmation first.

About & publishing data

md-boss is developed by Konstantinos Kourentzes. Find version info and author details any time via Help → About md-boss.