| name | md2html |
| description | Convert long-form Markdown (plan, spec, system design, RFC, runbook, postmortem, brainstorm, notes) into a single self-contained HTML page with Mermaid diagrams, syntax-highlighted code, step timelines, callouts, sidebar TOC. Claude-orange light+dark theme. Multi-language. Portable across Claude Code / Codex / Antigravity / any AI agent. |
| trigger | /md2html |
/md2html
Convert a verbose Markdown document into a single, self-contained HTML file that a tired human can actually scan: diagrams instead of paragraphs, step cards instead of numbered lists, callouts for the parts that matter.
Usage
/md2html <file.md> # output .html at same path as source .md
/md2html <file.md> --out X.html # custom output path
/md2html # if no arg, ask user which file
Output path rule: By default, the output .html file is written to the same directory as the source .md, with the same basename but .html extension. E.g. docs/release-notes-v1.md → docs/release-notes-v1.html.
Skill files (resolved relative to this SKILL.md)
template.html — HTML skeleton with embedded CSS (Claude orange light+dark), Mermaid CDN, Highlight.js CDN, KaTeX CDN, theme toggle, TOC sidebar, footer. Contains {{PLACEHOLDER}} strings and <!-- COMMENT --> slots.
components.md — catalog of HTML snippets you must copy verbatim (step cards, callouts, mermaid blocks, pros-cons, comparison cards, collapsibles, code blocks, formula examples).
latex.md — LaTeX / KaTeX writing and verification rules. Read this file only when the source document contains formulas or formula-like technical expressions.
examples/ — at least one reference <doc>.md → body-only <doc>.html pair. Read one to calibrate component composition before starting.
You MUST read components.md and one example pair before writing output. Do not read the full template.html; read only the main/content/footer contract around <main class="content" id="main">, <!-- CONTENT_START -->, <!-- CONTENT_END -->, and <footer class="doc-footer"> if you need to confirm insertion points. If formulas are present, you MUST also read latex.md. Do not invent CSS classes or skip the catalog.
What you must do when invoked
Follow these steps in order. Do not skip.
Step 1 — Resolve inputs
- Determine the source file from the user's invocation. If none given, ask: "Tệp
.md nào cần convert?" and stop.
- Read the source
.md fully.
- Read
components.md from the same directory as this SKILL.md.
- Read one example pair under
examples/ to calibrate component composition. The example HTML is body-only and intentionally omits template CSS and scripts.
- Do not read the full
template.html; only inspect the main/content/footer contract if needed.
- If the source document contains formulas or formula-like technical expressions, read
latex.md from the same directory as this SKILL.md before generating HTML.
Step 2 — Analyze the source document
Do this analysis silently in your head (or as one short summary line to the user). Identify:
-
Language of the source — detect from the actual prose, not the filename. Set <html lang="..."> to the ISO 639-1 code (en, vi, zh, ja, ko, es, fr, de, ru, ar, th, …) and translate every UI label to that language.
Common samples (extend to any language using the same scheme):
| Key | EN | VI | ZH (中文) | JA (日本語) | KO (한국어) | ES (Español) |
|---|
| TOC title | Contents | Mục lục | 目录 | 目次 | 목차 | Contenido |
| Read-time | ~N min read | ~N phút đọc | ~N 分钟阅读 | ~N 分で読了 | ~N분 소요 | ~N min de lectura |
| Recommended | ★ Recommended | ★ Đề xuất | ★ 推荐 | ★ 推奨 | ★ 추천 | ★ Recomendado |
| Key point | Key point | Ý chính | 要点 | 要点 | 핵심 | Idea clave |
| Pros | ✓ Pros | ✓ Ưu điểm | ✓ 优点 | ✓ 長所 | ✓ 장점 | ✓ Ventajas |
| Cons | ✕ Cons | ✕ Nhược điểm | ✕ 缺点 | ✕ 短所 | ✕ 단점 | ✕ Desventajas |
| Print tooltip | Print / Save PDF | In / Lưu PDF | 打印 / 保存 PDF | 印刷 / PDF 保存 | 인쇄 / PDF 저장 | Imprimir / Guardar |
| Theme tooltip | Toggle theme | Đổi theme | 切换主题 | テーマ切替 | 테마 전환 | Cambiar tema |
| Source: prefix | Source: | Nguồn: | 来源: | ソース: | 소스: | Fuente: |
For any language not listed, translate using the same conventions. The "Recommended" badge is configured via the --rec-label CSS variable set on (no per-language CSS needed) — see below.
Step 3 — Build the output HTML from the template
Use template.html as the page skeleton. Do not rewrite the template by hand and do not regenerate its style, script, SVG sprite, footer, or layout.
The overall structure is:
1. Copy template.html to the output path.
2. Replace known placeholders across the copied output file.
3. Replace <!-- TOC_ENTRIES --> with generated TOC links.
4. Replace the content slot between <!-- CONTENT_START --> and <!-- CONTENT_END -->.
5. Verify the generated output.
Phase 1: Copy the template
Copy template.html to the output path with the platform's normal file-copy command. The copied file is the only file to edit.
cp /absolute/path/to/template.html /absolute/path/to/output.html
Do not read the full template into the conversation. The placeholder contract is listed below and the content insertion markers are stable.
Phase 2: Replace placeholders
Replace these placeholders in the copied output file. Values come from Step 2 analysis and must match the source language:
{{LANG}} → ISO 639-1 code: en / vi / zh / ja / ko / es / …
{{DIR_ATTR}} → dir="rtl" for RTL languages; empty string for LTR languages
{{REC_LABEL}} → text shown on the "Recommended" comparison-card badge
{{TITLE}} → title used in both <title> and .doc-title
{{SUBTITLE}}
{{DOC_TYPE}} → universal uppercase code: PLAN, SPEC, SYSTEM DESIGN, RFC, RUNBOOK, POSTMORTEM, BRAINSTORM, NOTES
{{SOURCE_FILE}} → basename of source, e.g. plan.md
{{DATE}} → ISO date or localized "Updated "
{{READ_TIME}} → localized reading time
{{BRAND_LABEL}} → localized doc-type label for the topbar
{{PRINT_TOOLTIP}} → localized print tooltip
{{THEME_TOOLTIP}} → localized theme-toggle tooltip
{{TOC_TITLE}} → localized TOC title
{{CLOSE_LABEL}} → localized "Close"
{{SKIP_LINK_LABEL}} → localized skip-to-content link text
{{FOOTER_NOTE}} → localized source attribution
Phase 3: Replace TOC and content slot
- Replace
<!-- TOC_ENTRIES --> with one <a> per H2/H3 (see §2 in components.md).
- Replace only the content between
<!-- CONTENT_START --> and <!-- CONTENT_END --> with generated section HTML.
- Preserve the
<!-- CONTENT_START --> and <!-- CONTENT_END --> markers in the output file.
- Do not modify anything outside known placeholders,
<!-- TOC_ENTRIES -->, or the content slot.
Guidelines per section:
- Start with
<h2 id="..."> or <h3 id="..."> matching the TOC entry.
- Use ONE primary component per logical chunk.
- Preserve original meaning and technical identifiers.
- Use snippets from
components.md; do not invent CSS classes.
- Write LaTeX formulas as semantic text.
template.html already contains KaTeX assets and render logic.
Step 4 — Verify
After writing, do a targeted sanity check:
- Every
id="..." referenced in the TOC exists on a heading.
- No leftover
{{PLACEHOLDER}} strings.
<!-- TOC_ENTRIES --> is gone.
- The content slot contains generated section HTML between
<!-- CONTENT_START --> and <!-- CONTENT_END -->.
- Mermaid blocks have valid syntax (use
flowchart, sequenceDiagram, erDiagram, stateDiagram-v2, or gantt — never bare graph without direction).
- No
<script> or <style> tags were added during generation. Mermaid, Highlight.js, and KaTeX are already part of template.html.
After verification passes, automatically open the output file in the user's default browser:
- macOS:
open <file>.html
- Linux:
xdg-open <file>.html
Then report back to the user with:
- Output file path
- 1-line summary of what changed (e.g. "Rendered 7 sections: 1 mermaid flow, 2 step timelines, 4 callouts. ~6 phút đọc.")
Critical rules
- Never paraphrase technical content into vague prose. A step
chạy migration 0042_user_schema.sql must remain that exact filename — don't change to chạy migration mới.
- One component per chunk. Don't wrap a callout inside a step card inside a collapsible. Keep nesting flat.
- Mermaid > prose for any flow ≥ 3 hops. If the source says "A gọi B, B gọi C, C ghi DB", make a diagram.
- Key-point highlights are rare. Max 1 per H2 section, ideally 2-3 total per document.
- UI text follows the detected source language — including for non-EN/non-VI sources (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, etc). Use the language sample table in Step 2 or translate equivalently. Code, commands, file names, library names, error messages stay verbatim regardless of language.
- External assets are restricted. Do not add external file references during generation. Mermaid, Highlight.js, and KaTeX are already included in
template.html.
- Do not modify
template.html or components.md while generating output — those are the skill's source of truth. Only edit the copied output .html.
- Use SVG icons only — never emojis. Every icon is
<svg class="..."><use href="#i-NAME"/></svg> referencing the sprite at the top of <body>. See §13 in components.md for the catalog. No emoji glyphs anywhere in callouts, doc-meta, topbar, or body content.
- Anchor links and copy-to-clipboard auto-inject via JS — do NOT add them manually. Just give H2/H3 a proper
id, and put code in <pre><code>. The template's boot script handles the rest.
- Wrap wide tables in
.table-wrap — see components.md §14b. Tables ≥ 4 columns or with long cells need the wrapper for mobile scroll.
- Use
<figure> + <figcaption> for images with descriptive alt. See components.md §14a.
- LaTeX formulas must remain semantic text. When formulas are present, use LaTeX delimiters and KaTeX rendering as defined in
latex.md; do not convert formulas to images, SVG drawings, screenshots, or vague prose.
Cross-AI compatibility
This skill is designed to run identically on:
- Claude Code — install at
~/.claude/skills/md2html/ (this directory, symlinked or copied). Invoke with /md2html <file>.
- Codex CLI — copy
SKILL.md content to ~/.codex/prompts/md2html.md, keep template.html and components.md at a stable absolute path, update the file references in SKILL.md if needed. Invoke with /md2html.
- Antigravity — add SKILL.md as a custom prompt/agent instruction, ensure the agent has Read/Write tool access to the skill folder.
The default external dependencies are mermaid, highlight.js, and KaTeX via CDN (resolved at HTML open time, not at skill execution time). No npm/pip install is required for the skill itself.
Edge cases
- Source has no headings — wrap content in one
<h2 id="content">Nội dung</h2> and infer logical breaks from blank lines + topic shifts.
- Source has existing mermaid code blocks — keep them, just rewrap in
<figure class="diagram"> with caption.
- Source has HTML embedded — pass through as-is inside
<div> if safe, else escape.
- Source is very short (< 200 words) — leave
<!-- TOC_ENTRIES --> empty and keep the template structure intact. The template script hides the empty TOC.
- Source is very long (> 5000 words) — collapse low-priority sections by default with
<details>.
- Output file already exists — overwrite. The source
.md is canonical; HTML is regenerated artifact.
Anti-patterns
- ❌ Rewriting the template by hand — copy
template.html to the output path and replace only known placeholders, <!-- TOC_ENTRIES -->, and the content slot.
- ❌ Reading the full
template.html into the conversation — use the placeholder contract and stable content markers instead.
- ❌ Adding new CSS via
<style> in generated output — extend template.html instead and tell the user.
- ❌ Translating proper nouns or code identifiers.
- ❌ "Improving" the source by adding info not in the original.
- ❌ Reporting success without running Step 4 verification.