PerMark: read what your AI writes, write what it reads

Got a .md file?

A .md file is a document. Open it like one.

Your AI, a colleague or a download gives you a .md file. PerMark shows it the way it was meant to look, lets you fix it, and never writes it until you save.

It reads like a page. Tables, checklists, highlighted code, Mermaid diagrams, math, alerts and footnotes. Light and dark themes, three reading widths and a focus mode
Links work. Links between documents open in the app, with back and forward, and images show where they belong
An outline for long documents. The headings sit in a panel beside the page: the section you are reading is marked, and a click jumps to any other
Visual or Source. Edit like a word processor, with a toolbar and a / block menu, or in the Markdown itself. One click switches, keeping your place and your unsaved work
Only your changes are saved. Every other byte of the file stays as it was. If something else changes the file while you edit, you choose Reload theirs or Keep mine
Make it your .md app. PerMark is listed under Open with for Markdown files and never takes over: whether it becomes your app for .md files is up to you

Notes

Notes that save themselves

Press Ctrl+Shift+N in PerMark and type. There is no name to choose, no folder to pick and no save prompt.

Type and close. A note saves as you type, and closing never asks. Each one is a plain .md file in your Documents folder
Pins. Pin the notes you keep for months, and open them with Ctrl+1 to 9
Earlier versions, and Undo. Show earlier versions brings back an earlier text, and a deleted note goes to the system trash, with Undo
Copy a prompt to your AI. Copy puts the exact Markdown on the clipboard, ready to paste into any AI chat
Any file, too. A Markdown or text file you open from anywhere is listed beside your notes, opens in Read, and is written only when you press Ctrl+S
Ordinary files. Edit a note with any other tool and PerMark picks the change up

The Notes window: pinned notes (a to-do list, useful numbers and a prompt drafted for an AI agent, shared with agents) above notes grouped by date and a loose file under Files, with the prompt open in the Visual editor.

Build with AI agents?

The IDE for directing your agents.

Your agents write the docs. You still have to read them. PerMark doesn't run your agent. It's where you watch, review and steer what it writes.

1
Brief
- Draft in Notes, and Copy the exact Markdown into any AI chat
- Share with agents lets your connected agent read that one note, and no other
- Move to project turns a note into a file of your project
2
Watch
- Changed passages glow as they are written, and removed ones leave a marker
- A live feed lists every file touched, across git worktrees too
- Follow mode opens the document being written, and a reload keeps your scroll position
3
Review
- Unread dots mark what changed since you last read it, and Alt+U jumps to the next
- Git badges and since your last visit work even after the agent has committed
- Search everywhere finds the exact section, and code references open at the line
4
Steer
- Comment on a passage, and your agent lists your open comments and resolves them with a reply
- Your agent knows the document, section and words you mean, through the optional agent connection
- Copy reference puts the path and a quote into any AI chat

Follow mode

Follow your agents live

Leave PerMark open next to your terminal. As an agent writes, you see exactly where.

Changed blocks glow softly, then fade
Removed blocks leave a marker you can expand
One feed entry per file, bursts grouped, git checkout storms collapsed
Follow mode opens the doc being written, and never jumps while you're selecting
Jump between changes with F7 and Shift+F7

plan.md Following

Retry policy

Requests are retried up to three times. Only idempotent calls are retried automatically.

Backoff starts at 200 ms and doubles on each attempt, capped at 5 s, with ±20% jitter.

− 1 block removed

Timeouts are reported to the caller as RetryExhausted.

Agent connection

Your agent sees what you see

Say "rewrite this paragraph" or "go through my comments", and your agent knows which document, which section and which words you mean. It works with any tool that speaks MCP.

Where you are. The open document, the section on screen and your selection, plus the documents that changed since you read them
Comments. Select a passage, press C and write. Your agent lists the open comments and marks them done with a short reply
"Where is X described?" Your agent searches the same section index as you, and can open a place for you without taking your focus
Yours to switch on. Off by default, per project, local only, and visible in the status bar while it is on. An agent never edits through PerMark

A document with comment bars in the margin, and the Comments tab listing the open comments by document, with one done comment showing the agent's reply.

Tool-agnostic

Works with whatever writes your Markdown

PerMark only relies on your filesystem and git, so there is no plugin to install and no account to connect.

Claude Code
opencode
Cursor
Aider
Codex
Gemini CLI
or no AI at all

Why Markdown

Markdown was made for readers. So is PerMark.

Markdown was designed in 2004 so that plain text reads well as it is. Twenty years later, AI adopted it for the same reason: it is structured enough for a machine, and clear enough for a person. A Markdown file can hold most of what a document needs (headings, tables, checklists, diagrams, math) as plain text that any app, and any AI, can open, and that stays yours. PerMark is built to do it justice.

It is also our opinion that many documents that live in Word or PDF today would be better as Markdown: smaller, comparable line by line in git, readable by any AI, and never locked inside one app.

Privacy

Yours, and private

Plain files. Your documents stay ordinary files in folders you can see. PerMark keeps its own state in your user profile, unless you ask for a shared .permark/ folder
No account, no tracking. PerMark collects nothing about you or your documents, and has no sign-in
The agent connection is off until you turn it on. It is per project, and it only talks to programs on your computer. Notes stay private unless you share one
Free and open source. Licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option
Windows, macOS and Linux. In English, Português (Brasil), Español, Deutsch and 简体中文
Read the details. What the app does with the network, and what it does not, is in the privacy policy

Install

Up and running in a minute

Download

On Windows, the Microsoft Store keeps PerMark up to date. Installers for Windows, macOS and Linux are on GitHub, and they update themselves: when a new version is out, you get a one-click restart.

Get it from the Microsoft Store Installers: latest release

Then open a file or a folder

permark                # welcome screen, recent projects
permark .              # this folder, IDE mode
permark docs/plan.md   # one file, simple mode

Or drag a folder or a .md file onto the window.

Build from source

Requires Rust, Node.js 20+ and the Tauri prerequisites.

git clone https://github.com/EdelmarSchneider/permark.git
cd permark
npm install
npm run tauri build

A Tauri 2 app: a Rust core with a Svelte UI in the system webview. Small installer, low memory.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts
Action	Shortcut
Reading and navigating
Search everywhere	`Ctrl`+`T`
Quick open file	`Ctrl`+`P`
Commands	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`P`
Next unread document	`Alt`+`U`
Search all docs, by section	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`F`
Find in page	`Ctrl`+`F`
Show the Explorer / the Tags view	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`X` / `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`T`
Show the Outline (again to go back)	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`O`
Cycle the reading width	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`W`
Toggle left / right panel	`Ctrl`+`B` / `Ctrl`+`Alt`+`B`
Next / previous change	`F7` / `Shift`+`F7`
Follow mode	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`L`
Back / forward	`Alt`+`←` / `Alt`+`→`
Copy reference (or selection with reference)	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`C`
Edit tags and description	`T`
Leave a comment on the selected passage	`C`
Zoom in / out / reset	`Ctrl`+`=` / `Ctrl`+`-` / `Ctrl`+`0`
Editing
Start editing	`E` or `Ctrl`+`E`
Done, back to reading	`Ctrl`+`E` or `Esc`
Switch between Visual and Source	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`E`
Save	`Ctrl`+`S`
New file	`Ctrl`+`N`
Bold / italic / strikethrough	`Ctrl`+`B` / `Ctrl`+`I` / `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`X`
Link / inline code	`Ctrl`+`K` / `Ctrl`+`
Headings 1 to 4 / paragraph (Visual)	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`1`…`4` / `Ctrl`+`Alt`+`0`
Block menu (Visual)	`/` in an empty paragraph
Notes
New note (from any PerMark window)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`N`
Show the Notes window	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`D`
Copy the note's text (in a project: the open document)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`C`
Open a pinned note	`Ctrl`+`1`…`9`
Open a file (listed under Files)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`O`
Move the note into a project	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S`
Next / previous note	`Ctrl`+`Tab` / `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Tab`
Rename the note / delete it	`F2` / `Del`
In the Explorer
Rename	`F2`
Delete (asks first)	`Del`
Cut / paste to move	`Ctrl`+`X` / `Ctrl`+`V`
Select several files	`Ctrl`+click / `Shift`+click
Undo the last file operation	`Ctrl`+`Z`

Features

Everything in PerMark, in detail

Reading that feels like a book

GitHub-flavored Markdown with Mermaid, KaTeX math, alerts, footnotes and highlighted code. Frontmatter becomes a clean metadata card. Light and dark themes, zoom, three reading widths and a focus mode.
Notes that save themselves

Open PerMark, type, close. Notes are plain .md files that you can pin, copy as exact Markdown, move into a project or share with your agent. Files you open from anywhere are listed beside them and written only when you save.
Navigate like a wiki

Open a folder for IDE mode or a single file for a distraction-free reader. Relative links and images resolve in the app, with back and forward. Code references like src/main.rs:42 open the file at the line, in PerMark or your editor. An outline follows you through long documents, and an Explorer filter keeps a code repository down to its docs.
Follow your agents live

Docs reload without losing your scroll position. Changed blocks glow, removed blocks leave a marker, and a live feed shows every file being touched, across git worktrees too. Unread dots mark every document that changed since you read it.
Find anything, to the section

Search everywhere (Ctrl+T) finds files, sections, tags and commands in one box. Section-level full-text search shows file › heading › snippet and jumps to the exact spot. Accent- and case-insensitive, with light stemming, updated as files change.
Tags and descriptions

Give any file a one-line description and tags, read from frontmatter or added in the app without touching your files. Browse by tag, filter search with tag:needs-review, and see descriptions in the tree and in results.
Edit without fear

A visual editor and a source editor that rewrite only the blocks you changed. If an agent changes the file while you edit, you choose: reload theirs or keep mine. Images you paste land in assets/.
Move files, keep your links

Rename, move and delete from the Explorer. PerMark updates the links and images that point to a file, shows you the change first, and puts everything back with one Ctrl+Z.
Git-aware

Badges for modified, added and untracked files. Review changes since your last visit or since HEAD, even when the agent already committed. Clear banners for rebases and merges.
Close the loop with your AI

Turn on the agent connection and your coding agent knows which section you are reading and what you selected. Leave comments on passages for it to pick up, or copy a reference like @docs/plan.md into any AI chat.
Open with PerMark

Listed under Open with for Markdown files on Windows, macOS and Linux. PerMark never sets itself as your default app: that choice stays yours.
Your language

English, Português (Brasil), Español, Deutsch and 简体中文. PerMark follows your system's language, and a setting switches it at once, with no restart.

Zero footprint by default. State lives in your user profile. Opt in to a shared .permark/ folder only if you want settings and tags to travel with the project.

Roadmap

What's next

v0.2 Released
- Edit in a visual or a source editor that rewrites only the blocks you changed, and shares a file safely with agents
- Tags and descriptions, an Explorer filter, three reading widths and an outline for long documents
- File operations that update your links, with undo
v0.2.1 Released
- Your language: Português (Brasil), Español and Deutsch
- "Open with PerMark" in the Windows file manager, and one Read | Visual | Source switch
- A window that remembers its place, and an Explorer for workspaces of several repositories
v0.3 Released
- Search everywhere (Ctrl+T): files, sections, tags and commands in one box
- Unread markers, clickable code references and "Open with PerMark" on macOS and Linux
v0.4 Released
- Your agent sees what you see: an optional, local connection that tells any coding agent which section you are reading and what you selected
- Comments on passages that your agent picks up, and "where is X described?" answered by PerMark
v0.5 Released
- Notes: open, type, close. Notes save themselves, sticky notes stay for months, and loose Markdown files from anywhere open in one place
- v0.5.2: pictures, audio and video open in the pane, and code blocks are highlighted for about 190 languages
- v0.5.6: TrailMark is now PerMark: a new name, the same app, and nothing lost on the way
- v0.5.5: tags with colors and icons, tags as your agent's index, a folder switcher and the navigation trail
- v0.5.4: the interface in Italiano (Italian), soft light tones and the Git letters explained
- v0.5.3: the interface in 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese), and search that finds Chinese and Japanese words
v0.6
- Semantic search, local, offline and multilingual: ask for "retry policy" and find the section that describes it, whatever words it uses
Later
- Ideas being explored, with no promises: spec-driven workflows, a rendered diff against your last read, and backlinks

Full roadmap on GitHub →

Read what your AI writes. Write what it reads.

Got a .md file?

Build with AI agents?

A .md file is a document. Open it like one.

Notes that save themselves

The IDE for directing your agents.

Brief

Watch

Review

Steer

Follow your agents live

Your agent sees what you see

Works with whatever writes your Markdown

Markdown was made for readers. So is PerMark.

Yours, and private

Up and running in a minute

Download

Then open a file or a folder

Build from source

Keyboard shortcuts

Everything in PerMark, in detail

Reading that feels like a book

Notes that save themselves

Navigate like a wiki

Follow your agents live

Find anything, to the section

Tags and descriptions

Edit without fear

Move files, keep your links

Git-aware

Close the loop with your AI

Open with PerMark

Your language

What's next

Open a .md file, or point it at a folder.