mdsmith export

Write a portable, directive-free copy of a Markdown file.

Writes to stdout. Every <?...?> directive marker is stripped and the body stays as plain Markdown. <?include?> content is inlined recursively. The result renders on any Markdown tool with no mdsmith knowledge.

mdsmith export [flags] <file>

Takes a single file argument. The source file is never modified in any mode.

# Flags

Flag	Default	Description
`-c`, `--config`	auto	Override config path (auto-discovers)
`-o`, `--output`	stdout	Write output to `<path>` instead of stdout
`--max-input-size`	`2MB`	Max file size (e.g. `2MB`, `0`=none)
`--fix`	false	Regenerate stale directive bodies in memory before stripping
`--no-check`	false	Skip the staleness check; export on-disk bytes as-is

--fix and --no-check are mutually exclusive — one regenerates, the other trusts the file as-is. Passing both is a usage error.

# Staleness modes

By default export is faithful: it strips markers only after verifying each directive body equals what the engine would generate.

Mode	Behavior
(default)	Refuse on any stale body; exit non-zero with a diagnostic naming the directive.
`--fix`	Regenerate stale bodies in memory, then strip markers.
`--no-check`	Skip the check; emit on-disk bytes verbatim.

The default never silently masks drift between a directive and its rendered body. --fix is the opt-in convenience for a one-shot fresh export; --no-check trusts callers who already know the file is fresh.

# What gets stripped

Opening and closing markers of every paired directive (<?catalog?>, <?include?>, <?toc?>, <?build?>). The body between them is kept verbatim — or regenerated first under --fix.
Markerless directives with no body (for example <?allow-empty-section?> and <?require?>) are removed outright.
Marker-like text the engine treats as literal content — for example inner same-type markers nested inside an outer directive — is left in place.

After stripping, blank lines around the removed markers are normalised so the output is stable and passes mdsmith check. Front matter is kept as-is.

Exporting an already directive-free file is a no-op: export is idempotent.

# Examples

mdsmith export PLAN.md             # write portable copy to stdout
mdsmith export PLAN.md -o PLAN.export.md
mdsmith export --fix README.md     # regenerate stale bodies first
mdsmith export --no-check README.md > README.snapshot.md

# Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Export succeeded
1	Refused: a directive body was stale in default mode
2	Runtime or configuration error (missing file, conflict between `--fix` and `--no-check`, etc.)

# See also

mdsmith fix — the same regeneration engine applied in place on disk.
mdsmith check — read-only sibling that surfaces the same “out of date” diagnostic without attempting to export.