Why I Created Moji to Open Markdown Files Like PDFs

Alex Ishida — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 02:38:29 +0000

Moji was born from a simple need: to open a Markdown file with the same
convenience as opening a PDF.

Double-click the file, view the fully formatted content, navigate
through the document, and move on.

For a long time, I used Visual Studio Code for this. It's an excellent
tool and part of my daily workflow, but it always felt like overkill
when I just wanted to read a README, a specification, or a set of notes.

I had to launch the editor, load the file, and switch to preview mode.
That makes perfect sense when you're coding, but for simply reading a
.md file, it felt more complicated than it should be.

I looked for alternatives, but I couldn't find one that worked the way I
envisioned.

So I built Moji.

🔗 https://github.com/alexishida/Moji

Markdown Is Becoming More Important Than Ever

Markdown is already widely used for documentation, installation guides,
API references, internal processes, and technical decisions.

With the rise of AI tools, the format has become even more important.
Today, .md files are also used to store:

AI agent instructions;
version-controlled prompts;
development rules;
project context;
architecture guides;
specifications and capability definitions.

This is happening because Markdown is simple, human-readable, easy to
version, and structured enough to be understood by both people and AI
systems.

Despite its widespread adoption, reading Markdown still often requires a
code editor or a tool that's more powerful than necessary.

Treating Markdown as a Document

Moji's goal is to treat Markdown as a document---not just as source
code.

When you open a file, it's immediately rendered and ready to read. If
you need to make changes, simply switch to edit mode.

The goal isn't to replace an IDE, but to provide a faster, more
convenient way to access:

documentation and READMEs;
specifications and notes;
AI instructions;
rules, context, and skill files.

Moji can also be associated with .md and .markdown file extensions,
allowing you to open Markdown files directly from your operating system.

Key Features

What started as a simple Markdown viewer has grown into a full-featured
application that includes:

multiple documents in tabs, with unsaved-change indicators and advanced tab management (close others, close to the right, close saved, or close all);
Markdown viewing and editing, with formatting shortcuts in the editor;
heading navigation (outline) in both the preview and editor, with scroll spy;
find and replace, including match counting and navigation between results;
recent files, remembered last-used directory, and persistent theme settings;
support for tables, task lists, footnotes, definition lists, subscript, and superscript;
syntax highlighting for code blocks, with one-click copy buttons;
emoji support and mathematical formulas using LaTeX and KaTeX;
Mermaid diagram rendering in the preview (flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, class diagrams, ER diagrams, state diagrams, and user journey diagrams), plus a dedicated diagram viewer with zoom, pan, minimap, and individual PNG export;
export to HTML, PDF, and PNG, with diagrams embedded as SVG;
interface available in six languages: English, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian;
automatic updates for Windows and Linux builds.

Moji is currently at v0.1.4 and is available for Windows, macOS, and
Linux.

Closing Thoughts

Markdown has evolved far beyond being just a format for READMEs. It has
become a key part of project documentation and the way we interact with
AI systems.

Moji was created to support that evolution by offering a simple
experience: open, read, and edit Markdown files without having to launch
an IDE.

The project is open source, and suggestions, feedback, issues, and
contributions are always welcome.

OpenSource #Markdown #ArtificialIntelligence #Electron #React