Command Line

The free marsdawn command-line tool: open Markdown files in MarsDawn, or export them to PDF from a shell or an LLM agent.

marsdawn is free and distributed separately from the Mac App Store. Homebrew isn't published yet, so build it from source with Swift Package Manager. Both commands need the MarsDawn app installed.

Install

Clone the source and run it with Swift Package Manager:

git clone https://github.com/redtear1115/mars-dawn-kit.git
cd mars-dawn-kit
swift run marsdawn open notes.md

Commands

marsdawn open

Opens one or more Markdown files in MarsDawn for review. Needs MarsDawn installed.

marsdawn open notes.md

--json: print a JSON result instead of text.

marsdawn export

Renders a Markdown file to a paginated PDF, with the same exporter MarsDawn's own PDF export uses. Also needs MarsDawn installed. Relative images resolve against the input file's folder.

marsdawn export notes.md -o notes.pdf --theme classic --paper a4

-o, --output <path>: where to write the PDF. Defaults to the input path with a .pdf extension.
--theme <dawn|classic|modern|vivid>: the preview theme's light palette. Defaults to $MARSDAWN_THEME, then dawn.
--paper <a4|letter>: paper size. Defaults to a4.
--allow-remote-images: load images from the web while rendering. Off by default.
--force: replace the output file if it already exists.
--json: print a JSON result instead of text.

The $MARSDAWN_THEME variable

When --theme isn't passed, export reads the $MARSDAWN_THEME environment variable. Its value must be one of dawn, classic, modern or vivid; anything else falls back to dawn. The CLI doesn't read the app's own theme setting, because reading another app's container can trigger a macOS privacy prompt.

Overwriting files

export refuses to replace an existing output file unless you pass --force.

Exit codes

0: success.
2: input not found.
3: MarsDawn is not installed.
4: output exists (pass --force).
5: export failed.
64: usage error.

--json output

On success, marsdawn open --json prints ok, opened (the file paths) and app (the app path). marsdawn export --json prints ok, output, pages, theme, paper and diagramErrors. On failure, both print ok, error and message.

MarsDawn must be installed

Both open and export need the MarsDawn app installed from the Mac App Store; export renders through the same code the app uses, but still checks that the app is present first.