The latest articles on DEV Community by Taniya Saxena (@taniy8). https://dev.to/taniy8 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3983937%2Fe7015a90-f87b-472d-b0ee-948d29683f03.jpeg https://dev.to/taniy8 en Taniya Saxena Sun, 14 Jun 2026 13:22:27 +0000 https://dev.to/taniy8/i-built-a-tool-that-formats-messy-developer-notes-into-clean-github-markdown-4kbc https://dev.to/taniy8/i-built-a-tool-that-formats-messy-developer-notes-into-clean-github-markdown-4kbc <h2> The Problem </h2> <p>Every time I write a PR description, I start with raw notes like this:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>fixed bug with authService added JWT validation to middleware refactored userController to use async await fixes 287 closes 301 </code></pre> </div> <p>And then I have to manually clean it up to capitalize everything, wrap code identifiers in backticks, format bullets, add <code>#</code> to issue numbers. Every. Single. Time.</p> <p>So I built a tool that does it automatically.</p> <h2> How It Works </h2> <p>Paste your raw notes. Get back clean GitHub-flavored Markdown instantly.</p> <p><strong>Input</strong><br> fixed bug with authService</p> <p>added JWT validation to middleware</p> <p>refactored userController to use async await</p> <p>fixes 287</p> <p>closes 301</p> <p><strong>Output</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight markdown"><code><span class="p">-</span> Fixed bug in <span class="sb">`authService`</span> <span class="p">-</span> Added JWT validation to <span class="sb">`middleware`</span> <span class="p">-</span> Refactored <span class="sb">`userController`</span> to use async/await Fixes #287 Closes #301 </code></pre> </div> <h2> The Formatting Pipeline </h2> <p>The tool runs a deterministic rule-based pipeline on every line:</p> <ol> <li> <strong>Issue reference detection</strong> <code>fixes 123</code> → <code>Fixes #123</code> </li> <li> <strong>Code identifier detection</strong> wraps <code>snake_case</code>, <code>CamelCase</code>, <code>functions()</code>, and <code>file.ts</code> in backticks automatically</li> <li> <strong>Bullet generation</strong> detects action verbs like <code>added</code>, <code>fixed</code>, <code>refactored</code> and converts them to bullet points</li> <li> <strong>Sentence capitalization</strong> capitalizes the first letter of every line</li> </ol> <p>No AI required for any of this. It's fast, deterministic, and works offline.</p> <h2> AI Mode </h2> <p>There's also an optional AI enhancement mode powered by Groq's Llama 3.3 70B. Toggle it on and the rule-based output gets passed to the AI for grammar correction and clarity improvements without adding or inventing content.</p> <p>The rule-based formatter runs first. AI just polishes the result.</p> <h2> What I Learned </h2> <p>I'm a Java developer learning the JavaScript ecosystem. This was my first real Next.js project. A few things I picked up:</p> <ul> <li>The difference between server-side and client-side rendering in Next.js (and why hydration errors happen)</li> <li>How to build a custom React hook for localStorage persistence</li> <li>How to proxy API calls through a Next.js API route to keep secrets off the client</li> <li>How Tailwind CSS compares to writing raw CSS</li> </ul> <h2> Try It </h2> <p>Live → <a href="https://github-markdown-formatter.vercel.app" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github-markdown-formatter.vercel.app</a></p> <p>GitHub → <a href="https://github.com/taniy8/github-markdown-formatter" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/taniy8/github-markdown-formatter</a></p> <p>Would love feedback - especially from developers who write a lot of PRs. What formatting rules would you add?</p> webdev github productivity opensource