Markd

Markd is a lightweight native Windows Markdown viewer written in Rust. It uses Win32 for the application shell, the native RichEdit control for display, and pulldown-cmark for Markdown parsing.

Features

• Native Windows window, menu bar, file dialog, and RichEdit viewer
• Open Markdown files from the menu or by passing a file path on the command line
• Basic Markdown rendering for headings, emphasis, strong text, links, lists, quotes, code, code blocks, rules, and tables as readable text
• No web runtime or embedded browser

Build

Install Rust, then run:

cargo build --release

The executable will be written to:

target\release\markd.exe

Run

cargo run -- README.md

Or start the app and choose File > Open.

Installer

A single standalone Windows installer is produced with one command:

cargo dist

This builds the release binary and packages it into a single-file installer (Inno Setup) at:

dist\Markd-Setup-<version>.exe

cargo dist is a cargo xtask: it runs cargo build --release, generates installer\markd.ico from src\assets\icon.png, installs Inno Setup via winget if it isn't already present, and compiles installer\markd.iss.

The installer adds Start Menu (and optional desktop) shortcuts and registers Markd as a handler for Markdown files (.md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd) — including a "Default Apps" entry so Windows can set it as the default.

Notes:

• The app binary is statically linked (+crt-static), so the installed markd.exe is standalone and needs no Visual C++ redistributable.
• Run without administrator rights the installer installs per-user (to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Markd); run elevated it installs per-machine to Program Files. File associations follow the same scope.
• The "Set Markd as the default app for Markdown files" checkbox is on by default; uncheck it to only add Markd to the Open with list.
• The installer is unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn on first run.