Marq

Markdown files are pleasant to write but often disappointing to read. Opening one usually means raw text, a full editor, or a browser preview that feels temporary rather than finished.

The ideal reader had to feel native: launch instantly from Explorer, stay out of the way, render the complete Markdown surface safely and export without browser chrome.

I built Marq as a small Rust and Tauri application. comrak handles GitHub-flavored Markdown, syntect provides native syntax highlighting, and sanitized rendering blocks scripts and unsafe embeds.

A tray-resident process makes repeated opens immediate. File changes re-render in about 200 ms while preserving scroll position, and Windows file association turns a double-click on any .md file into the complete reading experience.

The same rendering pipeline powers interactive reading and headless PDF export, including embedded fonts, highlighted code and predictable A4 output.

Marq ships as a 2.3 MB Windows installer and a 7.5 MB application. When parked in the tray it releases the renderer and settles at roughly 33 MB, while remaining ready for the next Markdown file.