A markdown editor that edits your markdown file. Nothing else.
Kerned opens the .md you already have, shows it the way a document should look, and writes back exactly the bytes you changed. No library, no sync, no account.
Signed and notarized · all releases
The file on disk is the only source of truth.
Open a file, save it without touching anything, and git diff shows nothing. Change one character and the diff is one character. Kerned never rewrites your markdown to its own taste: line endings, trailing whitespace, ragged table padding and odd escapes all come back the way they went in.
It watches the file too, so an edit from git, a script, or another editor shows up in the window without you reloading.
Looks like a document. Stays plain text.
Headings, lists, task checkboxes, tables and code render in place while you type, and the markdown markers fade instead of disappearing. Put the caret on a line and the source is right there. Tables fit the window rather than scrolling sideways. Mermaid diagrams render under their fence.
Several files open in one window, listed in a tray on the left with a dot for unsaved changes. Local images show up. Links open in your browser.
Typography you can actually tune.
Kerned ships with a Paper theme in light and dark, and this page is set in the same face it uses: iA Writer Quattro. Fonts and rhythm are shared between light and dark; only the colors change. Everything about how it looks lives in one theme.json.
What it isn't.
No accounts, no cloud, no telemetry, no network at all. No tags, no folders, no database of your notes. If you want a second brain, this is not it. If you want your files left alone, it is.
This is a tester build. Tell me what broke.
0.1.0 is the first build that leaves my machine. It is honestly rough in places, and the fastest way to make it better is to hear what you hit: a file it mangled, a table it laid out badly, a thing you expected and could not find.