markdown-viewer

What This Skill Does

The markdown-viewer skill provides a high-performance, real-time rendering environment for Markdown files, specifically optimized for AI pair-programming workflows. By creating a lightweight, local-only server, it allows AI agents to push document updates directly to your default web browser without manual refreshing. It supports advanced syntax, including GitHub Flavored Markdown, Mermaid diagrams, and KaTeX math equations, ensuring that complex documentation, technical specifications, and project plans are always visually accurate and readable. Because it operates entirely locally on 127.0.0.1, it ensures that your sensitive project files remain on your machine, adhering to strict privacy standards while providing a fluid, instantaneous feedback loop during coding sessions.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, follow these steps:

1. Run the installation command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/parkertoddbrooks/markdown-viewer.
2. Ensure the global npm package is installed: npm install -g @wipcomputer/markdown-viewer.
3. Launch the server using mdview &.
4. Verify the server is running by navigating to http://127.0.0.1:3000 in your browser.

Use Cases

This tool is ideal for developers and technical writers who rely on AI agents to draft documentation or code structures. Use it to preview README files, generate live technical architecture diagrams via Mermaid, or review complex mathematical documentation using KaTeX. It is also perfect for "AI-assisted blogging," where you and your agent iterate on content that requires immediate visual confirmation of formatting, tables, and lists. It significantly reduces the friction of switching between IDE code views and rendered documents.

Example Prompts

1. "Open my project's README.md in the markdown viewer and keep it open so I can see your changes in real-time as you write the documentation."
2. "I need to visualize the system architecture. Please update the README.md with a Mermaid flow chart and ensure the markdown-viewer displays the rendered result immediately."
3. "Open the documentation file at ./docs/api-spec.md in the markdown viewer and switch to dark mode so I can review the API structure comfortably."

Tips & Limitations

To maximize performance, always start the server without a directory lock (use mdview bare) to maintain flexibility across your workspace. If you encounter issues where the browser stalls, perform a hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R). Remember that this is a local-only tool; it does not serve pages to the internet, which is a major security benefit but means it is not a solution for hosting public documentation. Use the --root flag if you want to strictly containerize your viewing session to a specific subdirectory for added security in multi-user environments.