Markview
About
Native macOS markdown preview + MCP server for Claude Code. Swift/SwiftUI, GFM, Mermaid, syntax highlighting. No Electron.
Details
- License
- MIT
Explore
- GitHub Flavored Markdown via swift-cmark (tables, strikethrough, autolinks, task lists, footnotes)
- Mermaid diagrams — flowcharts, sequence, Gantt, ER, and pie charts
- Syntax highlighting via Prism.js (18 languages)
- Quick Look integration — spacebar-preview .md files in Finder without opening the app
- Markdown linting with 9 built-in rules and status bar diagnostics
- Live split-pane editor with WKWebView rendering and bidirectional scroll sync
- File watching with DispatchSource — works with VS Code, Vim, and other editors
- Local image rendering — inlines relative paths like 
- Export to HTML and PDF
- HTML sanitizer — strips scripts, event handlers, and XSS vectors
- Drag and drop — drop any .md file onto the window to open
- Find & Replace — Cmd+F / Cmd+Option+F
- Format on save — auto-applies lint fixes
- Auto-save, word count, line numbers, scroll position preservation
- Dark mode — system/light/dark theme options, 18 configurable settings
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
MarkviewCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
One command to wire MarkView into every Claude Code session:
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview
That's it. Claude can now call preview_markdown to render any markdown string in a native macOS window, or open_file to open any .md file directly.
| Tool | What it does |
|------|-------------|
| preview_markdown | Render markdown content in a live-reloading MarkView window |
| open_file | Open an existing .md file in MarkView |
Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"markview": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["mcp-server-markview"]
}
}
}
> Note: MCP servers belong in ~/.claude.json (Claude Code) or claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop), not ~/.claude/settings.json.
brew install --cask paulhkang94/markview/markview
bash scripts/bundle.sh --install
Creates MarkView.app in /Applications and registers it with Launch Services for right-click > Open With in Finder.
bash scripts/install-cli.sh
Creates mdpreview and md symlinks in ~/.local/bin/.
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"markview": {
"markview": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-server-markview"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"markview": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-server-markview"
]
}
}
&color=green)
Native macOS markdown preview with MCP server for Claude Code. Claude writes markdown — MarkView renders it live, in a real native window, while you work.
> Versions: The macOS app (app badge) and the npm MCP wrapper (npm badge) are versioned independently. App releases happen when the Swift binary changes; npm patches happen for MCP server improvements. Both badges always show the latest of each.
| Preview only | Editor + Preview |
|:---:|:---:|
| 
| 
|
Quick Start — Claude Code
One command to wire MarkView into every Claude Code session:
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview
That's it. Claude can now call preview_markdown to render any markdown string in a native macOS window, or open_file to open any .md file directly.
| Tool | What it does |
|------|-------------|
| preview_markdown | Render markdown content in a live-reloading MarkView window |
| open_file | Open an existing .md file in MarkView |
Claude Desktop Setup
Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"markview": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["mcp-server-markview"]
}
}
}
> Note: MCP servers belong in ~/.claude.json (Claude Code) or claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop), not ~/.claude/settings.json.
Installation
Homebrew (recommended)
```bash
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