mdsmith
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    v0.52.0 GitHub

    mdsmith for VS Code

    Install the mdsmith VS Code extension and use its inline diagnostics, quick fixes, fix-on-save, and cross-file navigation — one bundled binary, no extra setup.

    mdsmith is a Markdown linter and formatter that runs inside VS Code. It flags style, readability, structure, and broken cross-file links as you type, and fixes what fixes cleanly on save. The editor runs the same rule engine as mdsmith check on the command line and in CI, so a file that is clean as you edit is clean in the pipeline.

    If you use markdownlint today, mdsmith covers the same style rules and adds checks markdownlint has no model for: links and anchors across files, generated sections, heading and front-matter schemas, and readability budgets. mdsmith init --from-markdownlint converts your config in one command; the migration guide covers the rest of the move.

    Diagnostics, quick fixes, and navigation all come from one bundled binary, with nothing else to install.

    # What you get

    Each feature links to a page with its rules and examples.

    # As you write

    Inline diagnostics. Every rule violation shows as a squiggle — live as you type by default, or only on save, set by mdsmith.run. The same checks run in CI , so the editor never disagrees with the build.

    One-click quick fixes . Each fixable rule contributes a lightbulb. One click rewrites every occurrence of that rule in the file, not only the line you clicked.

    Fix on save. Add source.fixAll.mdsmith to VS Code’s editor.codeActionsOnSave — the same way ESLint uses source.fixAll.eslint:

    {
  "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.fixAll.mdsmith": "explicit"
  }
}

    Each save then fixes trailing whitespace, heading style, code fences, bare URLs, list indentation, and table alignment. Enable mdsmith.previewFix to see the diff in VS Code’s Refactor Preview before each save writes.

    Hover for help. Hover a diagnostic for the rule’s one-line summary plus a link that opens its full documentation offline: a read-only tab rendered from the binary’s embedded README, no browser or network. Hover inside a <?…?> directive for its guide page.

    # Across your project

    Cross-file navigation . Go to Definition and Find All References resolve links, anchors, reference labels, kind: values, and directive arguments. Workspace symbol search spans every heading and label in the project.

    Dependency call hierarchy . Walk <?include?>, <?catalog?>, <?build?>, and Markdown links as incoming and outgoing calls, so you can trace what a page embeds and what depends on it.

    Rename without breaking links . Rename a heading and every workspace anchor link to it is rewritten in one edit. A colliding slug fails loudly instead of breaking the link.

    Generated sections stay in sync . A quick fix on a <?toc?>, <?catalog?>, or <?include?> block regenerates its body from the source.

    Cross-file integrity . Broken links, missing anchors, and misfiled documents surface as diagnostics, the same as any style error.

    # Without extra setup

    A bundled binary . The .vsix ships a binary for every supported platform (Linux, macOS, and Windows on x64 and arm64) and selects yours at startup. No separate mdsmith install, no postinstall network call.

    Works beyond VS Code. The same .vsix publishes to Open VSX, so Cursor, VSCodium, Theia, and Gitpod install it too.

    Command Palette actions. Run Initialize Config, Fix All Markdown, Install Git Merge Driver, Explain Rule on This File, and Show Resolved Config without leaving the editor.

    # Install

    Each release publishes the extension to the Visual Studio Marketplace, to Open VSX, and as a .vsix on the GitHub release. The three carry the identical artifact; pick the channel for your editor:

    # VS Code, Codespaces, github.dev (Marketplace)
code --install-extension jeduden.mdsmith
# Cursor, VSCodium, Theia, Gitpod (Open VSX)
codium --install-extension jeduden.mdsmith
# Air-gapped or pinned — download from the release page
code --install-extension mdsmith-<version>.vsix

    You need VS Code 1.85 or later. See Installation: VS Code extension for the channel-by-channel breakdown.

    # Settings and troubleshooting

    A config file is optional: mdsmith lints with built-in defaults, so the extension works as soon as you install it. To tune the rules, run the mdsmith: Initialize Config command, which writes a starter .mdsmith.yml. The server then finds that file by walking up from the workspace root to the nearest .mdsmith.yml or .git, the same as mdsmith check.

    For the full settings table — mdsmith.run, mdsmith.path, mdsmith.config, mdsmith.previewFix, and mdsmith.trace.server — and fixes for common failure modes, see the VS Code extension reference .

    # See also