Manicule ☞

An open-source, distraction-free Markdown editor for focused writing.

Manicule edits Markdown visually — no preview pane, no compile step, and no AST serialization — while treating the .md file as the single source of truth. Untouched bytes are never rewritten.

plain .md on disk  ·  no account  ·  no telemetry  ·  works offline  ·  Git-friendly  ·  MIT licensed

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Downloads

Grab the latest stable desktop build for macOS, Windows, and Linux from GitHub Releases:

Platform	Format	Architecture	Download
macOS (Universal)	.dmg	Apple Silicon & Intel (works on all Macs)	Download Universal DMG
macOS (Apple Silicon)	.dmg	Apple Silicon (M-series)	Download DMG (ARM64)
macOS (Intel)	.dmg	Intel x86_64	Download DMG (x64)
Windows	.exe	64-bit installer	Download Setup (.exe)
Windows	.msi	64-bit MSI package	Download Package (.msi)
Linux	.AppImage	x86_64 portable	Download AppImage
Linux	.deb	Ubuntu / Debian package	Download .deb

Tip

macOS first-launch note (Gatekeeper)
Manicule is unsigned (no paid Apple Developer certificate), so Gatekeeper may warn on first open.

• Option 1: Right-click (or Control-click) Manicule.app in /Applications, choose Open, then click Open.
• Option 2: Clear quarantine in Terminal:

  xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Manicule.app

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Why this editor?

Typical Markdown editors force a compromise:

Category	Typical behavior	Trade-off
Split-pane	Source text on the left, HTML preview on the right	Split attention: you read in one pane and write in another, with constant visual context switching.
WYSIWYG	Parses Markdown into a rich-text tree (ProseMirror / Slate / Lexical) and re-serializes on save	Lossy round-trip: rewrites list markers, collapses custom whitespace, reformats front matter, and can mangle raw HTML.

Manicule takes a different path: source-of-truth editing with live decorations.

Plain Markdown in CodeMirror 6 is the only document model. We conceal syntax tokens visually and apply typography directly over the source text. You get WYSIWYG ergonomics while keeping 100% byte fidelity with disk and Git.

Correctness invariant: If Manicule ever rewrites a line or marker you did not edit, that is a P0 defect.

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Principles

1. The file is the truth: Plain .md on disk. No proprietary database and no lock-in.
2. Lossless or nothing: Round-tripping any document yields byte-identical output, including line endings, BOM, formatting characters, and whitespace.
3. Local-first and offline-always: No account, no required cloud sync, and zero telemetry.
4. Distraction-free: Minimal chrome, a 78ch measure, and immersive writing modes.
5. Fast at scale: Viewport-scoped decorations plus incremental Lezer parsing.

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Features

• Hybrid Visual Mode (Cmd+1 / Ctrl+1): Live hiding of syntax tokens (**bold**, *italic*, ~~strike~~, `code`, [links](url), # headings) with interactive Notion-style tables, bullet dots (•), checkboxes, and Mermaid diagrams.
• Raw Source Mode (Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2): Syntax-highlighted source editor with zero concealment.
• Split Mode (Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3): Side-by-side visual and source views with synchronized document state.
• Floating Selection Toolbar: A selection bubble for bold, italic, strikethrough, headings, and lists.
• Slash Commands (/): Type / to insert tables, diagrams, callouts, checklists, and code cards.
• Command Palette (Cmd+K / Cmd+P / Ctrl+K / Ctrl+P): Quick search, note switching, and command execution.
• Writing Analytics: Live word count, character count, and reading-time estimate in the status bar.
• Adaptive Themes: Light and dark themes driven by CSS custom properties.
• Atomic Saves: Rust atomic writes (tempfile → fsync → rename) with SHA-256 conflict detection.

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Architecture & Stack

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| L1  EDITOR CORE          CodeMirror 6 + Lezer parser         |
|     buffer · caret · decorations · undo/redo · atomicRanges  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| L2  MARKDOWN PIPELINE    Lezer md grammar + GFM extensions   |
|     incremental parse · decoration mapping · node classifiers|
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| L3  APP UI               React 19 + TypeScript + Zustand     |
|     sidebar · tabs · command palette · status bar · themes   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| L4  DESKTOP SHELL        Tauri v2 (Rust)                     |
|     atomic FS · file watcher · native dialogs · packaging    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

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Quickstart

Prerequisites

• Bun (recommended) or Node.js 20+
• Rust stable toolchain with cargo
• Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS (for native compilation)

Run locally

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/swsarancodes/Maincule.git
cd Maincule

# 2. Install dependencies
bun install

# 3. Start the Tauri desktop app
bun run tauri dev

Run tests

# Round-trip fidelity tests
bun test

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please:

1. Review the relevant spec in docs/ before making architectural changes.
2. Keep round-trip fidelity tests passing (bun test).
3. Keep src/core/ free of React imports.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.

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License

MIT. See LICENSE for the full text.