Graphoscope - A lens for your Markdown

why-i-built-this.md

Why I built this

Hi 👋 - I'm Styves. I live in Markdown files. Notes, plans, docs, journals: everything I write ends up in a .md. And working with Claude every day generates mountains more of it.

I just wanted to read them. Fast. Beautifully. Double-click a file and it's there - no vault to set up, no editor to open, no preview pane to toggle. The tools I tried all wanted to be something bigger than a viewer. I wanted something smaller, and better at this one thing.

So I built it myself. One person, way too many evenings, and an unreasonable amount of care for tiny details nobody asked for.

The goal was simple: the best Markdown viewer in the whole damn world.

You'll be the judge of that. But it's made with love, I use it every single day, and maybe it's exactly what you've been missing too.

Lots of QOL

A reader
that respects your eyes

Open a file and it just looks right.
Typography, spacing and color tuned for long-form reading.

Live reload

Edit in any editor and the view updates the instant you save.

Command palette

Fuzzy-search every command, theme, setting and open file from one keystroke.⌘K

15 full themes

The classics you love - Dracula, Tokyo Night, Nord and more... plus a few hand-crafted themes of my own.

Wiki-links & backlinks

[[Note]], aliases and #headings resolve across your whole Obsidian vault. See what links back.

Mermaid diagrams

Flowcharts, sequence and Gantt diagrams render live - and recolor to match your active theme.

Copy as anything

Copy any section as plain text, Markdown, rich text or HTML - paste it wherever it's going.

Split view

Compare two documents side-by-side, vertically or horizontally, each pane independently navigable.⌘D

Zen & full screen

Hide all the chrome and spotlight the passage you point at - read long documents one bite at a time.⇧⌘Z

Live outline

An auto-built heading tree that follows you as you scroll and jumps anywhere instantly.⌘→

PDF & HTML export

Turn any document into a polished, theme-styled PDF or a self-contained HTML file.

Markdown source view

Flip between the rendered document and the raw Markdown underneath, any time.⌘M

Image lightbox

Click any image to zoom and pan in a full-window lightbox. Esc puts it back.

Syntax highlighting

Beautiful code blocks with one-click copy buttons and a light/dark aware color scheme.

Sidebar tabs

Keep a stack of documents open and jump straight to any of them.⌘1–9

Front matter, handled

YAML properties render as a tidy, collapsible block at the top - data when you want it, out of the way when you don't.

Power tools

Built by someone
who lives in Markdown

Every one of these exists because I wanted it for myself first.

Command palette

Everything, one keystroke away

Press ⌘K and start typing. Jump to an open file, switch theme, split the view, export - all fuzzy-matched, no menu-hunting.

Commands, settings, themes and open tabs in one list
Smart fuzzy ranking - "theme dracula" lands instantly
Recent files surface right where you expect them

[ screenshot 2 ]

Replace with images/palette.png

For terminal people

A file browser that feels like home

Press ⌘⇧O and you get a terminal-style opener: type a path, filter as you go, arrow through the listing, hit Return. No Finder dialog, no mouse, no friction.

Type / to dive into folders, Esc to bail - just like a shell
Instant filtering as you type, Tab to autocomplete
And for the real shell: gscope file.md opens any file straight from your terminal

# one-line install from inside the app, then:

gscope release-notes.md

Browse Files - ⌘⇧O

›~/notes/graphoscope/rel

📁 assets/

📁 drafts/

📄 release-notes.md

📄 release-plan.md

📄 roadmap.md

↓↑ navigate · tab complete · ⏎ open · / descend · esc close

Obsidian-friendly

Your vault's links, alive

Graphoscope understands [[wiki-links]] the way Obsidian does - resolving across your entire vault - and shows you the backlinks pointing at the note you're reading.

Aliases and heading targets: [[Note#Section|Label]]
Whole-vault resolution when a .obsidian folder is present
Backlinks panel in the inspector - click to jump

[ screenshot 3 ]

Replace with images/backlinks.png

Split view & diagrams

Compare, diagram, focus

Read two files side by side, render Mermaid diagrams that match your theme, and drop into Zen mode when you just want the words.

Vertical or horizontal split, fully independent panes
Live Mermaid flow / sequence / Gantt diagrams
Click any image for a zoom-and-pan lightbox

[ screenshot 4 ]

Replace with images/split.png

For keyboard lovers

Your hands
never leave the keys

Everything in Graphoscope has a shortcut. Here are the ones you'll use a hundred times a day.

Open file⌘O

Browse files (terminal-style)⌘⇧O

Command palette⌘K

Find in document⌘F

Split view⌘D / ⌘⇧D

Jump to any open tab⌘1–9

Toggle Markdown source⌘M

Zen mode⇧⌘Z

Sidebar / outline⌘← / ⌘→

Zoom in / out / reset⌘+ − 0

Close file⌘W

Get out of anythingesc

The name

So... what's a graphoscope?

A graphoscope is a Victorian parlor instrument: a folding wooden stand with a large magnifying lens, used to view photographs and documents in delicious detail. You'd slide a print behind the lens and suddenly it was bigger, sharper, easier to admire.

That felt like the right name for this app - an instrument you point at a document to see it at its best.

[ graphoscope photo ]

Replace with images/graphoscope.jpg

A lens for your Markdown.

Why I built this

A reader
that respects your eyes

Live reload

Command palette

15 full themes

Wiki-links & backlinks

Mermaid diagrams

Copy as anything

Split view

Zen & full screen

Live outline

PDF & HTML export

Markdown source view

Image lightbox

Syntax highlighting

Sidebar tabs

Front matter, handled

Built by someone
who lives in Markdown

Everything, one keystroke away

A file browser that feels like home

Your vault's links, alive

Compare, diagram, focus

Your hands
never leave the keys

Dress it however you read best

So... what's a graphoscope?

The best Markdown viewer
in the whole damn world.

Why I built this

A readerthat respects your eyes

Live reload

Command palette

15 full themes

Wiki-links & backlinks

Mermaid diagrams

Copy as anything

Split view

Zen & full screen

Live outline

PDF & HTML export

Markdown source view

Image lightbox

Syntax highlighting

Sidebar tabs

Front matter, handled

Built by someonewho lives in Markdown

Everything, one keystroke away

A file browser that feels like home

Your vault's links, alive

Compare, diagram, focus

Your handsnever leave the keys

Dress it however you read best

So... what's a graphoscope?

The best Markdown viewerin the whole damn world.

A reader
that respects your eyes

Built by someone
who lives in Markdown

Your hands
never leave the keys

The best Markdown viewer
in the whole damn world.