Files
md-manuscript/README.md
T
landon 2b401b9a3b Add editor text zoom slider
A Zoom slider (with Reset) above the editor scales the monospace font
from -50% to +200%, defaulting to 0%. The editor keeps infinite desired
width inside a vertical-only scroll area, so text wraps to the pane at
any zoom with no horizontal scrolling. The zoom level persists in config.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-26 15:21:27 -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`) — type it,
or click **📂** to pick a folder in a native file browser — 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. Use the **Zoom** slider
above the editor to scale the editor text (0% = default; **Reset** returns to
it). Text always wraps to the pane width, so there is no horizontal scrolling.
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 a `# Title:` line in the header, and if there is none, to
the chapter's **position in the left pane** followed by a period (`1.`, `2.`,
…). Tick **Zero-pad #** in the top bar to pad those numbered titles with
leading zeros to a uniform width (e.g. `03.` when there are 12 chapters).
Titles are saved to `titles.json` and sync with git.
5. Set the **Export** path (type it, or click **📂** to choose the `.odt` file in a
native save dialog) and press **Export ODT** to produce the concatenated
document. Each file becomes a chapter headed by its title, optionally followed
by a caption from its `# Slug:` line. **Every chapter starts on a new page**
(the first chapter excepted, so there is no blank leading page).
The status bar shows a live **word count** for the current file, plus the net
words added (or removed) to it since the current session started. The count
updates as you type, including unsaved edits.
## Header stripping on export
Manuscript files often carry editorial notes and metadata above the prose that
should not appear in the finished document. On export, each file is cleaned up:
* **HTML comments** (`<!-- ... -->`, including multi-line ones) are removed.
* **The header block** — everything above the **Draft marker** line (set in the
top bar; default `### Rough Draft:`) — is dropped. From that header:
* `# Title:` becomes the chapter heading (unless a manual override is set), and
* `# Slug:` becomes an italic caption printed beneath the heading.
Any other header text is discarded. Files with no marker line are exported
whole, but stray `# Title:` / `# Slug:` lines are still lifted out. Clear the
Draft marker field to disable header splitting entirely.
For example, this source file:
```markdown
# Title: The Gate
# Slug: in which the door will not open
<!-- remember to foreshadow the key -->
outline: she arrives, she knocks, nothing
### Rough Draft:
The prose that actually gets exported begins here.
```
exports as a chapter titled **The Gate**, captioned *in which the door will not
open*, containing only the prose below the marker.
## 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).