Markdown Vault

A native Markdown notes app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone that manages files and folders the way Obsidian does — open any local folder and your notes stay as plain .md files on disk. On the Mac it presents a VS Code-style workspace — activity bar, explorer, editor, and embedded terminals — with a live Edit · Split · Preview editor, slash commands, interactive todos, and an extension marketplace (including an LLM-powered Wiki).

Features

• 📁 Open any folder as a vault — fully compatible with your existing Obsidian vault. Notes are plain .md files; nothing is locked into a proprietary store.
• 🌳 File & folder management — sidebar tree with create / rename / delete for notes and folders.
• ✍️ Live preview editor — switch between Edit, Split, and Preview; autosaves as you type.
• 🖼 Images, Bear‑style — renders standard ![alt](path.png) and Obsidian embeds ![[image.png]], resolved relative to the note or anywhere in the vault.
• 📊 Tables, Notion‑style — GitHub‑flavoured pipe tables render as clean, bordered grids.
• ✅ Lists, checklists, code blocks, block quotes & headings — the everyday Markdown you actually use.
• 💬 Feedback (via WhatsApp), About, and Settings tabs.
• 🍏 One codebase, three platforms — SwiftUI multiplatform: macOS app, plus universal iPad / iPhone.

🖥 Mac: VS Code-style workspace

• 🧭 Activity bar · Explorer · Editor · Terminal — collapsible, drag-resizable panels and a single-row title bar with a centered command/search bar (⌘P quick-open, ⌘B side bar, ⌃` terminal).
• 💻 Embedded terminals — multiple tabbed shells, each opening in the vault directory (powered by SwiftTerm).
• ⚡ Slash commands — type / for Markdown snippets (heading, todo, table, code, link…) and emoji.
• ☑️ Interactive todos — click a checkbox in Preview to toggle it, Obsidian-style.
• 🧩 Extension marketplace — browse / install / uninstall extensions:
  • Wiki (LLM) — turn the vault into a Karpathy-style self-maintaining wiki (ingest → query → lint) driven by Claude Code in the terminal.
  • GitHub — sign in and commit/push your vault via the gh CLI.
• 🤖 AI-friendly — a Tools/mdwiki CLI plus CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md let AI agents create and update Markdown content deterministically.

Screenshots

iPhone — Open a Vault	iPhone — Editor	iPad — Split + Preview

Tech Stack

Area	Choice
Language	Swift 5.9
UI	SwiftUI (multiplatform: iOS 17+ / macOS 14+)
Markdown	Custom dependency‑free block parser + native SwiftUI rendering
Editor	NSTextView source editor with a / slash-command menu
Terminal	SwiftTerm embedded login shells (macOS)
File access	Bookmarks (fileImporter); desktop build runs non-sandboxed for terminals
Tooling	Tools/mdwiki CLI · CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md agent guides
Project gen	XcodeGen (project.yml)

Architecture

Sources/
├─ MarkdownVaultApp.swift   # @main App + macOS menu commands (⌘N / ⌘O)
├─ RootView.swift           # TabView: Vault · Feedback · About · Settings
├─ Theme.swift              # Brand tokens + reusable card surface
├─ VaultStore.swift         # ObservableObject: vault, file tree, CRUD, bookmarks, image resolution
├─ FileNode.swift           # File/folder tree model
├─ VaultView.swift          # NavigationSplitView: sidebar tree + detail
├─ MarkdownEditorView.swift # Edit · Split · Preview, insert tools, autosave
├─ MarkdownParser.swift     # GFM-ish block parser
├─ MarkdownPreview.swift    # Native rendering (images, tables, lists, code…)
├─ FeedbackView.swift       # Title + Message → WhatsApp
├─ AboutView.swift          # App / Developer / Version
└─ SettingsView.swift       # Vault management + display preferences
Resources/SampleVault/      # Bundled onboarding vault (notes + image)

Getting Started

Requirements: macOS 14+, Xcode 26+, and XcodeGen (brew install xcodegen).

git clone https://github.com/alfredang/markdownapp.git
cd markdownapp
xcodegen generate           # creates MarkdownVault.xcodeproj from project.yml
open MarkdownVault.xcodeproj # build & run for My Mac, an iPad, or an iPhone

Run from the command line instead:

# macOS
xcodebuild -scheme MarkdownVault -destination 'platform=macOS' build
# iOS Simulator
xcodebuild -scheme MarkdownVault -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17' build

On first launch the app opens a bundled Sample Vault so you can explore immediately. Use Open Folder… to point it at your own (or Obsidian) vault.

Obsidian Compatibility

Markdown Vault reads and writes the same plain files Obsidian does — point both apps at the same folder and they stay in sync on disk. Image embeds use Obsidian's ![[file]] shorthand as well as standard Markdown, so notes render the same in either app.

Developer

Tertiary Infotech Academy Pte Ltd — tertiaryinfotech.com

License

MIT