I got tired of reading AI-generated Markdown in VS Code, so I built a dedicated reader

Saurabh — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:27:32 +0000

If you use AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot regularly, you probably have a growing pile of Markdown files — design docs, API specs, architecture notes, explanations, meeting summaries. I do too.

And reading them has always been a pain.

The problem

VS Code's Markdown preview splits your workspace in half. Browser-based renderers don't watch files. And most Markdown apps are built for writing — they ship with editors, toolbars, file managers, and cloud sync I didn't need.

I didn't want to edit Markdown. I just wanted to read it.

Point at a file. See it beautifully rendered. Have it update live when the file changes. That's it.

Nothing I found did just that, so I built it.

What I built

MEVA is a small native desktop app focused entirely on reading Markdown. Here's what it does:

Watches files in real time — when an AI tool streams output to a .md file, you see the rendered result building live
Renders LaTeX, Mermaid diagrams, and syntax-highlighted code blocks natively
Works fully offline — no accounts, no cloud sync, no tracking
Under 15MB — because a Markdown viewer shouldn't be a 200MB Electron app

The tech journey

I started with Electron. It worked, but the bundle was 150MB+ for what is essentially a file viewer. That felt wrong.

I switched to Tauri (Rust + native WebView), which got the app under 15MB while keeping it cross-platform on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Tauri gives you a native app shell without bundling an entire Chromium browser — which is exactly what a lightweight tool like this needs.

For rendering, I use:

markdown-it as the core parser
KaTeX for LaTeX math rendering
Mermaid for diagram rendering
Shiki for syntax-highlighted code blocks

The trickiest part was live file watching. I needed it to feel instant without hammering the filesystem. I ended up using debounced native file system events through Rust's notify crate, piped to the frontend via Tauri's event system. It picks up changes within milliseconds.

Getting Mermaid to re-render cleanly on live file changes without flickering was another challenge. I had to diff the diagram source and only re-render blocks that actually changed — otherwise you'd see a flash every time the file updated.

How I actually use it

My daily workflow looks like this:

I ask Claude or ChatGPT to generate a design doc, analysis, or explanation
Save the output as a .md file (or the tool writes directly to disk)
MEVA picks it up instantly and renders it

The real magic is with tools like Claude Code that stream output directly to files. I have MEVA open in a separate window and watch the rendered document build in real time as the AI writes. It's a much better reading experience than watching raw Markdown scroll by in a terminal.

It's become my default way to read any Markdown file — AI-generated or otherwise.

What I learned building this

A few takeaways from the process:

Tauri is impressive for small tools. If you're building something that doesn't need a full browser engine, the size difference vs Electron is dramatic (15MB vs 150MB+). The Rust layer is fast and the IPC between Rust and the WebView is clean.

"Do one thing well" still works. Every Markdown app I tried wanted to be an editor. By only solving the reading problem, I could make the UX much simpler — no sidebar, no file tree, no toolbar. Just the rendered document.

File watching is deceptively hard to get right. Between debouncing, platform differences, and avoiding unnecessary re-renders, it took more iteration than I expected to make it feel seamless.

Try it out

MEVA is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux: https://usemeva.com/#download

There's a free version with all core features, and an optional paid version that adds multiple tabs, themes, and a few extras to support continued development.

I'd genuinely love feedback — especially on:

What feels unnecessary or bloated?
What's missing that you'd want in a Markdown reader?
How does it fit (or not fit) into your workflow?

If you work with AI-generated Markdown regularly, give it a try and let me know what you think.