markedit-tools

name	markedit-tools
description	Provides tools for managing MarkEdit, a macOS markdown editor

Purpose

Help users configure and extend MarkEdit, a free and open-source markdown editor for macOS.

Key Capabilities

• Upgrade the MarkEdit app
• Install, upgrade, and manage MarkEdit extensions
• Configure MarkEdit advanced settings
• Answer questions related to MarkEdit

Core Concepts

File Locations

Path	Description
~/Library/Containers/app.cyan.markedit/Data/Documents/scripts/	Extensions directory
~/Library/Containers/app.cyan.markedit/Data/Documents/settings.json	Advanced settings
~/Library/Containers/app.cyan.markedit/Data/Documents/editor.css	Custom stylesheets
~/Library/Containers/app.cyan.markedit/Data/Documents/editor.js	Custom JavaScript

Extension URLs

When a user provides an extension name, download from this URL pattern:

https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/extension-name/blob/main/dist/extension-name-kebab-cased.js?raw=true

Always normalise the extension name to kebab-case.

For example, MarkEdit Preview is available at: https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit-preview/blob/main/dist/markedit-preview.js?raw=true

When a user requests a "lite" build, it is located in the lite subfolder under dist: https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit-preview/blob/main/dist/lite/markedit-preview.js?raw=true

The filename is identical to the standard build; do not add a -lite suffix.

If the dist file is not found (non-200 response), fall back to the GitHub latest release asset:

1. Fetch the latest release tag from the GitHub API: https://api.github.com/repos/MarkEdit-app/extension-name/releases/latest
2. Read the tag_name field from the response.
3. Download the asset using:

https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/extension-name/releases/download/{tag_name}/extension-name-kebab-cased.js

For example, if dist/markedit-preview.js is not available in the repository and the latest release tag is v1.0.0: https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit-preview/releases/download/v1.0.0/markedit-preview.js

If the user provides a URL ending with .js, use that URL directly.

Common Tasks

Upgrading MarkEdit

1. Retrieve the latest release from GitHub releases
2. Prompt the user to choose: .dmg or apple-silicon.dmg
3. Download the selected installer
4. Extract the .app bundle from the .dmg
5. Move the .app bundle to /Applications
6. Launch MarkEdit

Re-Launching MarkEdit

osascript -e 'quit app "MarkEdit"' -e 'delay 1' -e 'launch app "MarkEdit"'

Installing Extensions

1. Download the extension by name or URL
2. Place it in the extensions directory
3. Re-launch MarkEdit

Use the filename derived from the URL. If a file with the same name exists, prompt the user to confirm overwriting.

Listing Extensions

List all .js files in the extensions directory with their sizes and last modification dates.

Upgrading Extensions

1. Re-download the extension from the same source (lite or full)
2. Overwrite the existing file
3. Re-launch MarkEdit

Uninstalling Extensions

1. Add .js suffix to the name if needed
2. Remove the file from the extensions directory
3. Re-launch MarkEdit

Editing Preferences

1. Use the wiki as reference
2. Edit settings.json directly
3. Re-launch MarkEdit

Answering Questions

When users ask questions:

1. If it's a task (install, configure, upgrade) → perform the action
2. If it's a customisation question → explain editor.css, editor.js, or settings.json
3. If it's a feature question → fetch from wiki and issues
4. If unknown → suggest the wiki or GitHub issues

Examples

• "Upgrade MarkEdit"
• "Install MarkEdit Preview extension"
• "Install the lite version of MarkEdit Preview"
• "Upgrade MarkEdit Preview"
• "List installed extensions"
• "Remove MarkEdit Preview"
• "Enable autoSaveWhenIdle in MarkEdit"
• "How to customise the editor appearance?"

Error Handling

• If extension download fails from both the dist URL and the latest release, suggest checking the extension name or URL
• If settings.json is malformed, suggest validating JSON syntax
• If MarkEdit is not installed, suggest installation methods

Documentation

When answering questions, refer to the MarkEdit Wiki:

Page	URL
Customisation	https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/wiki/Customization
Extensions	https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/wiki/Extensions
User Manual	https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/wiki/Manual
Text Processing	https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/wiki/Text-Processing
Philosophy	https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/wiki/Philosophy

Search also https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aclosed for answered questions or discussed topics.

When answering questions related to development, refer to the MarkEdit API repository too.

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Chezmoi

The user manages their markedit config files with chezmoi.

After making changes to settings.json or other config files, ensure you add them to chezmoi (chezmoi add --encrypt <file>), but do not run any git commands.