A Tiny Rust‑Based Open‑Source Markdown Editor Built for AI Workflows

Why the author needed a better workflow

After repeatedly copying large project documents into Claude Code and dealing with fragmented files across three folders, the author realized the manual process of opening each file, selecting all, and re‑formatting code blocks was tedious and error‑prone.

Discovering marka.md

Browsing GitHub, the author found marka.md, described as a "local‑first markdown editor with live preview, reading mode, diagrams, themes, and context bundles". The key feature for AI work is the Context Tray sidebar.

How Context Tray simplifies AI prompting

Users drag related Markdown files into the Context Tray, which shows each file’s word and token count. Clicking Copy Context Bundle concatenates the files (preserving relative paths) into a single text block that can be pasted directly into Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any local model, providing the AI with the full context in one step.

Comparison with previous manual method

Previously the author had to open each file, copy‑paste into a temporary document, then copy again, or hand the entire folder to the AI and hope it guessed the important parts. marka.md reduces this to two actions: drag‑and‑drop and copy.

Usability and UI details

The editor offers a split‑view with live rendering, decent Java syntax highlighting, Mermaid diagram support, and a set of keyboard shortcuts (e.g., ⌘. for reading mode, ⌘⇧. for editor mode). Themes are grouped and support opacity adjustments, improving night‑time readability.

File management includes a sidebar file tree, drag‑and‑drop reordering, tabs, tags, and a command palette invoked with ⌘K, similar to VS Code. CSV preview is built‑in, allowing quick inspection of data tables without leaving the editor.

Installation experience

On macOS the author installed via Homebrew with a single command: brew install --cask mattenarle10/tap/marka-md On Windows the installer triggered SmartScreen warnings due to the lack of a code‑signing certificate, requiring the user to click "Run anyway".

The project is MIT‑licensed, written in Rust using the Tauri framework, resulting in a small binary that starts quickly, unlike heavier Electron‑based apps.

Real‑world usage

Working on a Spring Boot project, the author split documentation into README.md, a database design file, and an API spec. Previously this required three separate copy actions to feed Claude; with the Context Tray, dragging the three files and copying the bundle delivers the complete project context in about thirty seconds instead of several minutes.

Limitations

PDF export is currently a print‑to‑PDF process that yields acceptable but not professionally typeset results. The Windows build lacks a signing certificate, so SmartScreen warnings persist.

Conclusion

After a week of use, the author finds marka.md cannot replace all existing tools but appreciates the reduction in repetitive copy‑paste operations, recommending it to anyone with similar documentation‑to‑AI needs.