How to·2 October 2026
How to read a Markdown file while an AI is still writing it
Raw Markdown from an AI tool is a wall of pipes and backticks. How to read it as a finished page on a Mac, including while the file is still being written.
14 posts
Blog
Occasional writing about Skein, Markdown, and why your notes should outlive the app you keep them in.
Comparison·2 October 2026
Lede or Skein: one file or a folder
Lede opens one Markdown file in one window. Skein opens a folder of linked notes. They share an editor and both are free. Which one you want depends on one question.
Opinion·25 August 2026
The case for plugins
Skein has no plugin system. So here is the case for plugins at full strength, what the model actually costs, and the one argument that decided it.
Comparison·14 August 2026
The best Mac note app in 2026
Five questions that decide it, and where Obsidian, Bear, Craft, Logseq and Skein each honestly win. Written by someone who makes one of them.
Comparison·14 August 2026
An Obsidian alternative for the Mac
Four reasons people go looking, a different answer for each, and the one question to ask any candidate before you move your notes into it.
Comparison·14 August 2026
Skein vs Bear
Both write Markdown. Only one of them gives you the files. What that difference costs, and the several places Bear is the better answer.
Comparison·14 August 2026
Skein vs Craft
Craft makes documents other people read. Skein keeps a folder only you open. Less alike than the category suggests, and a guide to which job you have.
Comparison·14 August 2026
Skein vs Logseq
In April 2026 Logseq split in two: a SQLite version carrying the name, and a Markdown version in maintenance. What that means for your notes.
How to·14 August 2026
How to open an Obsidian vault without Obsidian
A vault is a folder of Markdown files, so anything can open it. What survives, what does not, and how to check before you trust an app with it.
Overview·12 August 2026
What makes Skein different
A native Mac knowledge manager for plain Markdown files - what is actually in it, the lessons it inherited from Verso and Nought, and why I use it every day.
Behind the scenes·12 August 2026
Three things I'd judge it on
Three design decisions behind Skein, each with the failure it is reacting to: a graph that is not a hairball, text that does not move while you type, and a canvas that does not lag.
Technical·14 August 2026
The Markdown score
647 of CommonMark's 650 conformance examples and 666 of GFM's 672, with the full per-section table, every failure named, and the rule that stops the number going down.
Opinion·12 August 2026
Everything in the box
Obsidian's most-installed plugins are a ranked list of what its users needed badly enough to go and find something. Here is what that list actually says - and why none of it is a plugin in Skein.
Comparison·11 August 2026
Skein vs Obsidian
12.6 MB against 218 MB, the same plain Markdown files, and an honest list of what you give up.