MDK VDC Process Lab
Install MDK with WinGet
winget install --id=earubioc.MDK -e A clean Markdown editor with live preview, PDF export, themes and document comparison. No ads, no account.
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README
MDK: Markdown editor
A clean, no-nonsense Markdown editor for Windows: no ads, no paywalled features, no
account required. Open and edit .md/.txt, turn selected lines into headings and
Markdown structure with one click, and export or print straight to a properly formatted
PDF. Fully skinnable interface (ships with the VDC Process Lab identity as the default,
or go fully generic/custom), available in Spanish and English.
Free and open source (MIT) because most Markdown editors out there bury basic formatting behind ads or a paid tier. MDK doesn't.
Website: https://earubioc.github.io/mdk/
See CHANGELOG.md for the version history.
Download
Go to Releases and download the latest .exe:
MDK-Setup-X.X.X.exe: wizard-based installer (Desktop/Start Menu shortcuts). Recommended for most users; it updates itself automatically.- Microsoft Store: mdk Markdown Editor (signed by Microsoft, updated through the Store)
- winget:
winget install earubioc.MDK(once the package is approved in the winget catalog) MDK-portable.exe: runs directly, nothing to install.
Requirements
- Node.js 18+ and npm (only needed for development/packaging, not to run the compiled app)
- Windows 10/11, 64-bit
Development
npm install
npm start
This opens the app in an Electron window over the code in src/.
Building the Windows executable
npm run dist # builds portable + NSIS installer
npm run dist:portable # portable .exe only (no install needed)
npm run dist:installer # NSIS installer only (Desktop/Start Menu shortcut)
The artifacts land in release/. To install on another machine you only need to share
the final .exe (MDK-Setup-X.X.X.exe or MDK-portable.exe); everything else release/
leaves behind (win-unpacked/, .yml, .blockmap) is internal build support. See
manual_para_dummies.md for a no-jargon walkthrough (Spanish).
If electron-builder fails with a winCodeSign "symbolic link" error, enable Windows
"Developer Mode" (Settings → Privacy & Security → For developers) or run the terminal as
Administrator — this step signs the .exe and stamps MDK's own name/icon onto it, and
needs one of those two permissions on Windows.
Every push to main runs an automatic validation (GitHub Actions,
.github/workflows/ci.yml). Every vX.Y.Z tag builds the installer and the portable
executable and publishes them as a GitHub Release (.github/workflows/release.yml).
Structure
MDK/
├── main.js # Electron main process: window, menu, file dialogs, PDF export, language
├── preload.js # secure bridge (contextBridge) between main and renderer
├── src/
│ ├── index.html # tabbar, search bar, formatting toolbar, sidebar, panes, modals
│ ├── style.css # app styles + skin variables
│ ├── renderer.js # documents/tabs, formatting, skins, language, search, zoom, PDF
│ ├── markdown.js # dependency-free Markdown → HTML converter
│ └── i18n/strings.js # Spanish/English dictionary shared between main and renderer
├── .github/workflows/ # CI (validation) and Release (build + publish to GitHub)
├── package.json # scripts and electron-builder configuration
├── LICENSE # MIT
├── CHANGELOG.md # version history
└── manual_para_dummies.md # no-jargon guide (build, install, associate .md), Spanish
Usage
- Language: Spanish/English, auto-detects the system language on first launch; switch anytime from the ES/EN button or the "Language" menu, no restart needed
- Tabs: multiple documents open at once: new tab (Ctrl+N), close (Ctrl+W), reorder by dragging; closing a tab with changes asks Save / Don't save / Cancel
- File: Open (Ctrl+O), Save (Ctrl+S), Save as (Ctrl+Shift+S)
- Formatting: select one or more lines and press H1/H2/H3 in the toolbar (or
Ctrl+1/2/3) to turn them into a heading (
#,##,###); Ctrl+0 reverts to plain text. Bold (Ctrl+B), italic (Ctrl+I), inline code (Ctrl+E), list (Ctrl+L), quote (Ctrl+Shift+Q) - Editor / Preview / Split: three view modes — Editor only (Ctrl+Shift+E), Preview only (Ctrl+Shift+V), or both side by side (Ctrl+Shift+B), with a draggable divider
- Tables: standard Markdown pipe tables (
| col | col |) render in the preview and the exported PDF, including column alignment (:---,---:,:---:); in the preview you can also drag column borders to resize them for easier reading (visual only, it doesn't change the file) - Compare documents: pick 2 open tabs and view them side by side (⧉ button or Ctrl+Shift+C), each side with its own Editor/Preview toggle, with an optional lock to scroll both panels together
- Open a file: double-click a
.md/.markdownfile (MDK registers the association on install), drag a file onto the window, or use File → Open recent for your last files - Document outline: ☰ button shows/hides the heading structure (Ctrl+); clicking an item jumps to that line
- Search: Ctrl+F, next/previous within the search bar
- Zoom:
− 16px +buttons in the toolbar (Ctrl+= / Ctrl+-) - Dark mode: ☾ button (Ctrl+Shift+D)
- Skins: 🎨 button: VDC Process Lab, Generic, Ocean, Forest, Reading (cream paper, serif), or a custom skin (your own colors and typography)
- Document info: ⓘ button: words, characters, lines, estimated tokens, and what's new
- Export to PDF: "Export PDF" button or Ctrl+P: saves a
.pdfwith the active skin - Print: Ctrl+Shift+P opens the native Windows print dialog
- Page setup: "Page…" button: paper size (Letter, Oficio, Legal, A4, A5, A3), orientation and margins, used by PDF export and printing; the "Sheet" button previews the document as a sheet of that size
- Math: LaTeX formulas inline (
$E=mc^2$) and as blocks ($$ ... $$), rendered as equations in the preview, comparison and PDF (built-in converter; covers fractions, roots, sums, integrals, matrices and more)
License
MIT, see LICENSE. Free to use, copy, modify, and redistribute, including
commercially, with the sole condition of keeping the copyright notice.