mdcat

mdcat is a tiny portable linux binary to render markdown from a file (or stdin) to styled ansi for the terminal.

usage examples:

mdcat README.md | less -R # -R is required for less to support ansi styling

printf '# header\n- list item 1\n- list item 2' | mdcat

features

mdcat isn't really a compliant markdown implementation - i made it to render a bit of styling in notes i write on the terminal. the following are currently supported:

• bold with **text**
• italic with *text*
• underline with _text_
• links with [label](destination)
• headers with # text
• lists with - list item or 1. list item (but numbered lists dont render as numbered yet)
• task lists with - [x] list item or - [ ] list item where a checkbox is ticked if the x is present.
• horizontal rules with *** which span the entire terminal width.
• strikethrough with ~~text~~

dependencies

• md4c for markdown parsing
• ansi-term wraps ansi styling
• zig-clap for arg parsing

building

1. install zig 0.13.0
2. clone repo
3. run zig build

if you want a release build:

4. run zig build --release=small

release optimize modes are:

• fast
• safe
• small

the mdcat binary will be in zig-out/bin/mdcat