Terminal Markdown previewer — GUI-like experience.

_{See more screenshots in the features demo}

Install

Install the latest published binary.

macOS / Linux / Android / Termux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RivoLink/leaf/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Windows:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RivoLink/leaf/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

npm:

npm install -g @rivolink/leaf

ArchLinux (AUR):

Use an AUR helper, such as yay:

yay -S leaf-markdown-viewer

Verify the installation:

leaf --version

Update

Update an existing installation to the latest published release.

Self:

leaf --update

leaf --update downloads the matching published asset, verifies it against the published checksums.txt SHA256, and then installs it.

On Windows, if replacing the running .exe is blocked by the OS, rerun the PowerShell installer from the install section.

npm:

npm update -g @rivolink/leaf

Usage

# Open a Markdown file
leaf TESTING.md

# Watch mode — reloads automatically on save
leaf --watch TESTING.md
leaf -w TESTING.md

# Open the fuzzy Markdown picker
leaf

# Open the classic directory browser picker
leaf --picker

# Open the fuzzy Markdown picker, then watch the selected file
leaf -w

# Open the classic directory browser picker, then watch the selected file
leaf -w --picker

# Open a dash-prefixed filename
leaf -- -notes.md

# Stream Markdown from another CLI tool
claude "explain Rust lifetimes" | leaf

# Preview a local file through stdin
cat TESTING.md | leaf

Vim Integration

Add the following to your ~/.vimrc to preview the current Markdown file in a vertical split:

" Preview the current Markdown file in a vertical split using leaf
nnoremap <Leader>md :vertical botright terminal leaf -w %<CR>

Once added, use \md to open a live preview. To switch focus back to the Markdown buffer, press Ctrl+w,h.

Inline Mode

Render Markdown directly to stdout without the interactive TUI:

# Render to terminal with colors
leaf --inline README.md

# Force plain text, no ANSI codes (no colors)
leaf --inline plain README.md

# Force ANSI colors even when piping
leaf --inline ansi README.md

# Set a specific width
leaf --inline 60 README.md
leaf --inline ansi:60 README.md

# Pipe from stdin
cat README.md | leaf --inline

# Use as a fzf preview
find . -name '*.md' | fzf --preview 'leaf --inline ansi {}'
find . -name '*.md' | fzf --preview 'leaf --inline ansi:$FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS {}'

Configuration

Set default values for theme, editor, and watch mode via config.toml:

leaf --config

This opens the configuration file in your editor. If the file does not exist yet, leaf creates it with documented defaults.

theme = "ocean"          # arctic, forest, ocean, solarized-dark, or a custom theme file
editor = "nano"          # any editor in PATH
watch = false            # auto-reload when opening a file
extras = ["txt", "rs"]   # extra file types shown in the picker

All settings are optional. CLI arguments always take priority. See config.toml for details.

Extra Files

Non-Markdown files can be listed in the file picker by adding their extensions to config.toml:

extras = ["txt", "csv", "rs", "java", "json", "yaml"]

Code files get syntax highlighting; text files are rendered as plain Markdown.

Any file can also be opened directly from the command line, regardless of the extras setting:

leaf main.rs

Browse and preview code files with fzf:

find . -name '*.rs' | fzf --preview 'leaf --inline ansi {}'

Custom Themes

Create a .toml file that inherits from a built-in theme and overrides specific colors:

theme = "/path/to/custom-theme.toml"

Relative paths are resolved from the config file directory.

# custom-theme.toml
base = "ocean"
syntax = "base16-ocean.dark"

[ui]
content_bg = "#282828"
toc_accent = "#fe8019"

[markdown]
text = "#ebdbb2"
heading_1 = "#fabd2f"

See gruvbox.toml for a complete example with all available color keys.

Keybindings

Key	Action
j / ↓	Scroll down
k / ↑	Scroll up
d / PgDn	Page down (20 lines)
u / PgUp	Page up (20 lines)
g / Home	Top
G / End	Bottom
t	Toggle TOC sidebar
Shift+Sel	Select text
Shift+T	Open theme picker
Shift+E	Open editor picker
Shift+P	Open file browser
Ctrl+E	Open in editor
Ctrl+P	Open fuzzy picker
Ctrl+F / /	Find
n / N	Next / prev match
?	Show help popup
r	Force reload (watch mode)
q	Quit

Features

• Live preview — Watch mode with automatic reload and visual feedback.
• File picker — Fuzzy Markdown picker, directory browser, and watch after selection.
• Editor integration — Open the current file in your preferred editor.
• Frontmatter support — YAML frontmatter rendered as a table (horizontal or vertical based on key count).
• Rich Markdown rendering — Tables, lists, blockquotes, rules, bold, italic, and strikethrough.
• Extra file types — Open any file; code files get syntax highlighting, text files render as Markdown.
• Syntax highlighting — Common aliases like py, cpp, json, toml, ps1, dockerfile.
• LaTeX support — Inline, block, and latex / tex code blocks rendered as formulas.
• Navigation — TOC sidebar, active section tracking, heading jumps, and search.
• Terminal UX — Theme picker, help popup, file path popup, mouse and keyboard support.
• CLI friendly — stdin support and leaf --update with SHA256 verification.

Typical AI Workflow

# Terminal 1: generate the file
aichat "..." > notes.md

# Terminal 2: live watch
leaf --watch notes.md

Troubleshooting

Windows: missing Visual C++ runtime

If leaf.exe does not start on Windows and reports a missing MSVC runtime, install the latest supported Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable from Microsoft Learn:

• https://learn.microsoft.com/fr-fr/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170

Direct download for the latest supported X64 Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable:

• https://aka.ms/vc14/vc_redist.x64.exe

For leaf-windows-x86_64.exe, the relevant package is the latest supported X64 Visual C++ v14 Redistributable.

Windows: update or file replacement error

If leaf --update fails on Windows with an error about replacing, renaming, or writing leaf.exe, the running executable was likely locked by the OS.

Close any terminal session still running leaf, then rerun the PowerShell installer from the install section:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RivoLink/leaf/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Uninstall

macOS / Linux / Android / Termux:

rm -f ~/.local/bin/leaf

Windows:

Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\leaf\leaf.exe" -Force

npm:

npm uninstall -g @rivolink/leaf

Contributors

Thanks to all contributors.

Support

Contributions are welcome. Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

See the CONTRIBUTING.md file for details.

If you like leaf, consider giving the project a star ⭐

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

See the LICENSE file for details.