Markdown Preview

When the Viewer opens a .md or .markdown file, it switches from plain syntax-highlighted source to a prettified markdown preview. This mode renders markdown elements with styled formatting, making documentation files readable without leaving the terminal.

Rendered Elements

Headers

Headers are rendered with a single block prefix character that varies by level:

█ H1 Heading       (AZURE, bold, underlined)
▓ H2 Heading       (AZURE, bold)
▒ H3 Heading       (Green, bold)
░ H4-H6 Heading    (Green)

The descending block density (FULL > DARK SHADE > MEDIUM SHADE > LIGHT SHADE) creates visual weight that distinguishes heading levels at a glance. Header text is rendered bold (H1-H3) with H1 additionally underlined.

Bullets and Lists

• Unordered lists render with standard bullet characters, indented per nesting level.
• Ordered lists render with their original numbering preserved.

Nested lists maintain correct indentation relative to their parent.

Blockquotes

Blockquotes are prefixed with a vertical bar on each line:

┃ This is a blockquote.
┃ It can span multiple lines.

The BOX DRAWINGS HEAVY VERTICAL character provides a clean visual margin. Nested blockquotes stack the bar prefix (one bar per nesting level).

Code Blocks

Fenced code blocks are rendered with syntax highlighting using the tree-sitter grammar identified by the code fence token. A ```rust block is highlighted as Rust, ```python as Python, and so on. Blocks without a fence token or with an unrecognized token render as plain text.

Code blocks are visually distinct from the surrounding prose through indentation and background contrast.

Tables

Tables are rendered with box-drawing characters for borders:

┌──────────┬───────────┐
│ Column A │ Column B  │
├──────────┼───────────┤
│ value 1  │ value 2   │
│ value 3  │ value 4   │
└──────────┴───────────┘

Column widths are calculated from the content. Header rows are visually separated from data rows by a horizontal rule.

Inline Styling

Inline styles nest correctly – ***bold italic*** produces bold italic text.

Line Numbers

Markdown preview mode renders with no line numbers. The gutter width is set to zero, giving the rendered content the full width of the Viewer pane. This matches the reading-oriented intent of markdown preview – line numbers are useful for source code, not for documentation.

Edit Mode Interaction

When you press e to enter Edit Mode on a markdown file, the preview is replaced with the raw markdown source rendered with standard syntax highlighting (using the Markdown tree-sitter grammar). This shows the actual markup characters – #, *, `, |, and so on – so you can edit them directly.

Exiting edit mode (via Esc) returns to the prettified preview, re-rendering the file with any changes you made.