Distraction-free Markdown reader
For the age of LLM-generated content.
LLMs generate Markdown. Lots of it — notes, docs, wikis, research dumps. mdfocus gives you a clean, focused way to read it all. Point it at any folder and start reading. No build step, no config, no distractions.
Live-reloading, table of contents, syntax highlighting, and Mermaid diagrams included.
| mdfocus is... | mdfocus is NOT... |
|---|---|
| A reader for your Markdown files | A static site generator |
| For consuming LLM-generated content | For publishing docs to the web |
| Zero-config, instant startup | A build pipeline |
| Distraction-free, focused interface | A blogging platform |
If you want to build and deploy documentation, use Docusaurus, VitePress, or Astro. If you want to read your Markdown right now with zero friction — use mdfocus.
npx mdfocus ~/notesOpen http://localhost:4242 — that's it!
npm install -g mdfocus
mdfocus ~/claude-exports
mdfocus ~/chatgpt-docs
mdfocus ~/wikiUsage: mdfocus [options] [root]
Arguments:
root Folder to read from (default: current directory)
Options:
-p, --port <number> Port to listen on (default: 4242)
-h, --help Display help
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🧘 Focus Mode | Clean, minimal interface — just your content, nothing else |
| 🚦 Reading Status | Mark files with 🟡 🟢 🔴 or none — track what you've read |
| 📑 Table of Contents | Auto-generated from headings for quick in-page navigation |
| 🔄 Live Reload | Changes to .md / .mdx files reflect instantly |
| 🎨 Syntax Highlighting | Beautiful code blocks for 100+ languages |
| 📊 Mermaid Diagrams | Flowcharts, sequence diagrams, ERDs, and more |
| 📝 GitHub Flavored Markdown | Tables, task lists, footnotes, alerts |
| 🖼️ Asset Serving | Images and files from your Markdown directory |
| 💾 Scroll Memory | Remembers your position in tree and content |
| 🌙 Dark Mode | Easy on the eyes, day or night |
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough | ✅ |
| Links (internal & external) | ✅ |
| Images | ✅ |
| Code blocks with syntax highlighting | ✅ |
| Tables | ✅ |
| Task lists | ✅ |
| Blockquotes | ✅ |
| Horizontal rules | ✅ |
| Mermaid diagrams | ✅ |
| Footnotes | ✅ |
| GFM Alerts | 🚧 |
| Math (LaTeX) | 🚧 |
- Bun — JavaScript runtime & package manager
- Just — Command runner (
brew install just) - Node.js — For build tooling
git clone https://github.com/tzador/mdfocus.git
cd mdfocus
bun installjust dev ./samplesStarts the backend and React dev server with HMR.
just buildOutputs production bundle to backend/dist/.
mdfocus/ # Bun monorepo
├── backend/ # Backend server (Express)
├── common/ # Shared types & Zod schemas
├── frontend/ # React app (Vite + Tailwind)
└── samples/ # Example Markdown files
MIT © tzador