ColaMD

A free, elegant Markdown editor for humans and AI agents — with real-time sync for AI-generated changes.

Language / 语言: English · 中文 · Website

ColaMD is an open-source, free, lightweight Markdown editor for writing, notes, and documentation.

It offers true WYSIWYG editing, themes, rich-text copy, smart line breaks, PDF and HTML export, and support for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

When Claude Code, Codex, Cola, or another agent edits an open .md file, ColaMD syncs the changes in real time.

Download | Features | Development

Built-in syntax reference, interactive task lists, code blocks, quotes, tables, and smart line breaks.

Twelve built-in themes — six light, six dark — inspired by Bear, Notion, iA Writer, Kindle, Solarized, Nord, Gruvbox, and Dracula.

Each theme is also available as a standalone CSS file in the themes/ folder — download and import it via Theme > Import Theme.

• Live Agent Sync — Changes made by Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or other AI agents appear in the editor in real time.
• Agent Activity Indicator — A subtle titlebar dot shows when an agent is writing and when it has finished.
• True WYSIWYG Editing — Type Markdown and see rich text directly. No split-pane preview.
• File List Panel — Browse Markdown files in the selected folder and its subdirectories. Files created or removed by an agent appear automatically.
• Source Mode — Switch to the raw Markdown source whenever you need to inspect or edit it directly.
• Task Lists — Click checkboxes to complete tasks, or use the keyboard shortcut.
• Highlights & LaTeX — Write ==highlighted text== and render mathematical formulas with KaTeX.
• Search — Find anything in the current document with ⌘/Ctrl+F.
• Smart Line Breaks — Single newlines render as line breaks, matching how people and AI tools write Markdown.
• Rich Text Copy — Copy content with formatting preserved into WeChat, email, and other rich-text editors.
• Themes — Four built-in themes, downloadable themes, and custom CSS imports.
• PDF & HTML Export — Turn your Markdown document into a PDF or a self-contained HTML file when you need a finished copy.
• Portable Image Paths — Local images use safe file:// URLs for display and return to relative paths when saved.
• VS Code Integration — Open the current Markdown file in ColaMD directly from VS Code.
• Minimal by Design — No toolbar, no permanent sidebar, no distractions.
• Cross-Platform — Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

ColaMD does not ask you to change your habits. It works well alongside Obsidian, Typora, VS Code, and other Markdown apps — all sharing the same .md files, with each tool doing what it does best.

Check Releases for the latest builds.

ColaMD is intentionally simple:

• No cloud sync or collaboration
• No AI features built in — it's a viewer/editor for AI-generated content
• No plugin system

One thing, done well.

ColaMD supports custom CSS themes. Download themes from the themes/ folder, or create your own and import via Theme > Import Theme.

Imported themes are saved to ~/.colamd/themes/ and persist across sessions.

git clone https://github.com/marswaveai/colamd.git
cd colamd
npm install
npm run dev

npm run dist:mac
npm run dist:win
npm run dist:linux

• Electron — Cross-platform desktop
• Milkdown — WYSIWYG Markdown (ProseMirror-based)
• TypeScript — Strict mode
• electron-vite — Fast builds

ColaMD will evolve alongside the agent ecosystem:

• v1.1 — Live file reload, file associations, drag & drop, themes
• v1.2 — New icon
• v1.3 — Agent activity indicator, Cmd+click links, rich text copy, smart line breaks, PDF export, theme persistence
• v1.6 — Robust live sync: atomic-save (rename) detection, watcher self-recovery, spellcheck off
• v1.6.1 — Editable task lists (click / ⌘+Enter), ==highlight== syntax, Markdown cheatsheet
• v1.6.2 — Temporarily remove HTML export
• v1.7 — Same-directory file list: switch files in place, live updates when agents create/remove files; search (⌘F) + LaTeX (⌘⇧E) from community PR #14
• v1.7.1 — Task checkbox click fix, centered SVG checkmark, titlebar file-panel toggle button
• v1.7.2 — Playable demo page: Help → 新功能演示 (⌘⇧D), a real directory showcasing each release's features
• v1.7.3 — Demo page becomes a cumulative changelog: resources/demo/changelog.md records every release and opens straight into it
• v1.7.4 — Community-feedback release: file panel improvements, source mode, HTML export, Windows image paths, and a VS Code integration MVP
• Future — More themes, editor integrations, and smoother Markdown workflows

MIT — Free forever.

Built by marswave.ai for a simpler Markdown future.