Initial commit: md-manuscript editor

Rust/egui desktop app: draggable markdown file list, editor, git sync, per-file chapter titles, and native ODT export. Includes README and Debian 12 (Surface) install guide. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-25 15:17:42 -05:00
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+# md-manuscript
+
+A small desktop application for Debian that treats a directory of markdown files
+as an ordered manuscript.
+
+* **Left pane** — every `*.md` file in the workspace directory, in a manual order
+  you set by **dragging the `⠿` handle** up and down.
+* **Right pane** — a markdown text editor for the selected file (optional live
+  preview via the *Preview* checkbox).
+* **Order + contents are saved and version-controlled with git.** The order lives
+  in `order.json` inside the workspace, so it syncs along with the files.
+* **Export** the whole manuscript as a single concatenated `.odt` file, with a
+  chapter heading before each file's content.
+
+Built in Rust with [`egui`](https://github.com/emilk/egui)/`eframe`. The ODT
+writer is native (no `pandoc`/LibreOffice needed at runtime).
+
+## Build
+
+```sh
+cargo build --release
+# binary: target/release/md-manuscript
+```
+
+Requires a Rust toolchain. The GUI needs a normal desktop session (X11 or
+Wayland) with OpenGL — the usual runtime libraries on Debian:
+
+```sh
+sudo apt install libgl1 libxkbcommon0 libwayland-client0 libx11-6
+```
+
+(Only needed to *run* the GUI; building does not require them.)
+
+## Install
+
+```sh
+install -Dm755 target/release/md-manuscript ~/.local/bin/md-manuscript
+```
+
+Optionally add a desktop launcher at
+`~/.local/share/applications/md-manuscript.desktop`:
+
+```ini
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Name=md-manuscript
+Exec=md-manuscript
+Categories=Office;TextEditor;
+Terminal=false
+```
+
+## Use
+
+1. Set the **Workspace** path in the top bar (default: `~/Manuscript`) and press
+   **Open**. The directory is created if it does not exist.
+2. Press **Init git** once to make the workspace a git repository. To sync with
+   another machine, add a remote yourself:
+   ```sh
+   cd ~/Manuscript
+   git remote add origin <url>
+   git push -u origin main
+   ```
+   After that, the **⟳ Sync (git)** button commits all changes, `pull --rebase`s,
+   and pushes.
+3. Create files with **＋ New**, edit on the right, `Ctrl+S` (or the Save button)
+   to write to disk. Drag the `⠿` handles to reorder.
+4. Set the **Chapter title** for the open file if you want to override the
+   auto-derived one (the field shows the automatic title as a hint). Leaving it
+   blank falls back to the file's first level-1 heading (`# ...`), or the file
+   name. Titles are saved to `titles.json` and sync with git.
+5. Set the **Export** path and press **Export ODT** to produce the concatenated
+   document. Each file becomes a chapter headed by its (overridden or automatic)
+   title; the source's leading `# heading` is consumed as that title slot.
+
+## Files the app writes
+
+| Location | Purpose |
+|---|---|
+| `<workspace>/*.md` | your manuscript files |
+| `<workspace>/order.json` | the manual ordering (committed to git) |
+| `<workspace>/titles.json` | chapter-title overrides (committed to git) |
+| `~/.config/md-manuscript/config.json` | last workspace, export path, prefs |
+
+## Markdown supported in ODT export
+
+Headings, paragraphs, **bold**, *italic*, ***both***, `inline code`, fenced/indented
+code blocks (monospace, whitespace preserved), ~~strikethrough~~, ordered and
+unordered (nested) lists, block quotes, horizontal rules, and links. Images are
+rendered as a text placeholder (not embedded).