How to read a Markdown file while an AI is still writing it

A lot of what I read now was written by something else. A plan from a coding agent, a research report, a README it has just drafted, a log it keeps adding to. Nearly all of it arrives as Markdown, which is a format designed to be pleasant to write rather than to read.

Open one in a plain text editor and the tables are rows of pipes, the diagrams are code fences, and the maths is a string of dollar signs and backslashes. Nothing is wrong with the file. You are reading the source.

What you actually want

Three things. The finished page rather than the source. A page that keeps up while the file is still growing. And no new place for the text to live: no import, no library, no account.

Double-click it

Lede is the small Mac app I made for this. Double-click a .md file and it opens that file in its own window. Press Command-2 for Read and the same file is drawn as a document: tables with ruled rows, callouts as tinted panels, code in colour, links you can click, and maths and Mermaid diagrams drawn rather than quoted. Command-1 goes back to Write, where you can edit with the markers hidden, and Command-3 shows the plain source.

A file that is still being written

This is the part I use most. Open the file while the tool is writing it. When it changes on disk, Lede reloads it, and if you were at the end it stays at the end, so a log or a long report scrolls along as it grows.

If you have started editing the same file yourself, Lede does not quietly overwrite you. It asks first, and you choose between reloading and keeping yours.

Generated files often start with a block of YAML front matter. Lede shows it small and grey in Write and as a small box in Read, so it does not shout over the title.

Quick Look, and getting it out

Press Space on any Markdown file in Finder and it previews on Lede’s page, diagrams included. When you need to pass something on, Copy as Rich Text pastes the finished result into Mail or Docs without the Markdown syntax, and the same rendering goes to PDF, standalone HTML and print.

Why I would keep it local

AI output often contains things you did not write and have not checked. Anything Lede does not draw stays visible as the text it is, and is never executed. There is no account and no telemetry, and nothing you write leaves your Mac.

What it will not do

Lede opens one document in one window. It is not for a folder of linked notes with search and backlinks. If a tool leaves you a pile of files, open the folder in Skein, which is free and contains the same editor (Lede or Skein explains the difference). For page layout and a Word file at the end, use Verso. Lede draws the Mermaid diagram types listed on its features page, and anything else stays as source.

Try it

Lede is free: no subscription, no account, nothing to buy. It needs macOS 14 or later, and you can get it from the Mac App Store or as a direct download on the Lede page. If it reads a file wrongly, tell me. The way I count is in The Markdown score.