README file from
GithubMarkown Anywhere
Open Markdown files from anywhere with Obsidian on Windows.
Markown Anywhere has two parts:
companion/contains the Windows Companion written in Go. It handles file associations, Vault routing, symlink creation, Obsidian URI launching, and link cleanup.plugin/contains the desktop-only Obsidian plugin. It manages settings and calls the Companion CLI; it is not part of the Markdown opening hot path.
The project does not copy Markdown contents, upload files, or collect telemetry. External files are represented inside the Vault by symlinks under _external-open/ by default.
Local development
Build and test the Companion:
cd companion
go test ./...
go vet ./...
go build -buildvcs=false -ldflags="-H=windowsgui" -o .\dist\MarkownAnywhere.exe .\cmd\markown-anywhere
Build the Obsidian plugin:
cd plugin
npm ci
npm run build
For a local install, copy plugin/main.js, plugin/manifest.json, and plugin/versions.json to <Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/markown-anywhere/. Copy companion/dist/MarkownAnywhere.exe to the same folder, or set its absolute path in the plugin settings.
Configuration
The Companion and plugin share this file:
%APPDATA%\MarkownAnywhere\config.json
The plugin can set the current Vault as the default, register or unregister the Windows Markdown handler, inspect active/invalid symlinks, and clean invalid links.
BRAT beta testing
Install BRAT from Obsidian Community plugins, then add this repository:
zhangcongke/markdown-anywhere
BRAT installs main.js and manifest.json from GitHub Release assets. The Windows Companion is an additional executable and must be downloaded and configured separately.
Releases
Update the root manifest.json and versions.json (and keep the copies in plugin/ synchronized for local installation), commit the change, then push a semantic-version tag such as 0.1.0 or 0.1.1-beta.1:
git tag 0.1.0
git push origin 0.1.0
GitHub Actions validates the version, builds both components, and publishes the plugin files, Windows executable, and a complete Windows ZIP to the GitHub Release.