md-browse

A markdown-first browser built with Electrobun. md-browse prioritizes markdown content when fetching web pages, and converts HTML to clean markdown similar to what AI tools do.

For pages that respect Accept: text/markdown headers, it directly displays that data, like the Vercel docs:

For regular HTML, it passes the page through turndown with settings that aim to match what Copilot, Claude etc. do:

Features

• Markdown-First: Sends Accept: text/markdown headers first to get native markdown when available

• HTML to Markdown: Automatically converts HTML pages to clean, readable markdown using Turndown, tuned to match what AIs see

• Dual View Mode: Toggle between raw markdown view and rendered preview

• Tab Support: Multiple tabs with full navigation history (back/forward)

• Clean Design: Dark, modern UI focused on readability

Development

Prerequisites

• Bun runtime
• macOS (for native app development)

Setup

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run in development mode
bun run start

Build

# Build the application (current platform)
bun run build

# Build Windows x64 artifacts
bun run build:stable:win

Architecture

The app consists of:

• Bun Process (src/bun/index.ts): Main process that handles:

  • HTTP requests with markdown-priority Accept headers
  • HTML to Markdown conversion using Turndown
  • Tab and navigation state management
  • RPC communication with the view

• Toolbar View (src/toolbar-svelte/ → compiled to src/toolbar/): Single view containing:

  • Tab bar for managing multiple tabs
  • Navigation controls (back, forward, reload)
  • URL input bar
  • Markdown/Preview toggle switch
  • Content display area (raw markdown or rendered preview)

How It Works

1. When you enter a URL, the app fetches it with Accept: text/markdown header first
2. If the server returns markdown content, it's displayed directly
3. If HTML is returned, Turndown converts it to clean markdown:
   • Strips scripts, styles, navigation, footers
   • Extracts main content from <main> or <article> tags
   • Converts headings, links, lists, code blocks, etc.
4. Toggle between "Markdown" (raw) and "Preview" (rendered) views