Markdown, beautifully rendered
in your terminal

A terminal-based Markdown previewer with a GUI-like experience. Rich rendering, interactive navigation, and editor integration, all without leaving your terminal.

Get Started View Docs

leaf

════

Terminal Markdown previewer, GUI-like experience.

leaf lets you read Markdown files directly in the terminal with a clean, focused interface. Designed for developers, CLI users, and AI-assisted workflows.

Usage

─────

bash

12345

leaf README.md# Open a file

leaf -w README.md# Watch mode

leaf# Fuzzy picker

leaf --picker# Directory browser

cat file.md | leaf# Stdin

leaf leaf-summary.md ⟳ watch ctrl+e edit · ctrl+f find · t toc · ? help · q quit

Why leaf ?

Leave your terminal to preview?

Previewing Markdown shouldn't mean switching to a browser or a heavy GUI app.

Web viewers are overkill

For a quick preview, you don't need a full web application with login and setup.

CLI tools lack interactivity

Existing terminal tools dump Markdown as plain text: no navigation, no search, no style.

Syntax highlighting

Beautiful code blocks with syntax coloring for 40+ languages. Line numbers, decorative frames, and language labels included.

Table rendering

Markdown tables rendered with Unicode box-drawing borders, column alignment, and inline code support.

LaTeX math

Inline and block math formulas converted to Unicode symbols, no external renderer needed.

$LaTeX math$

Mermaid diagrams

Flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and pie charts rendered as ASCII art directly in the terminal.

Watch mode

Auto-reload when the file changes on disk. Scroll position is preserved. Toggle with -w flag or press w.

Editor integration

Press Ctrl+E to open in your editor. leaf detects vim, nano, VS Code, and more, reloads preview on return.

File picker

Fuzzy finder with Ctrl+P or directory browser with --picker. Scan and open any Markdown file instantly.

Sidebar TOC with heading hierarchy and active section tracking. Toggle with t, jump with 1-9.

Full-text search

Press / to search. Matches are highlighted with a counter. Navigate with n/N.

Keyboard navigation

Vim-like keybindings: j/k, d/u, g/G. Mouse scroll and scrollbar click supported too.

Theme picker

4 built-in themes: Arctic, Forest, Ocean, Solarized-Dark. Live preview with Shift+T.

Everything you need

Syntax Highlighting

40+ languages with beautiful color themes.

4 Built-in Themes

Arctic, Forest, Ocean, Solarized-Dark with live preview.

Full-text Search

Find anything with highlighted matches and keyboard navigation.

TOC Sidebar

Interactive table of contents with active section tracking.

Stdin Support

Pipe output from any tool (claude, aichat, cat) directly into leaf.

Secure Auto-update

One-command update with SHA256 verification.

Install in seconds

$ curl -fsSL https://leaf.rivolink.mg/install.sh | sh

Built for developers

Preview AI output

Pipe output from Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI tool directly into a beautiful preview.

$ claude "explain Rust" | leaf

Read docs while coding

Preview your README, CHANGELOG, or any docs with live reload as you edit.

$ leaf --watch README.md

Explore Markdown projects

Open fuzzy finder, navigate directories, and preview any Markdown file instantly.

$ leaf

Frequently Asked Questions

What platforms does leaf support?

leaf runs on macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon), Linux (x64 & ARM), Windows, and Android via Termux.

How do I update leaf?

Run `leaf --update`, it downloads the latest release and verifies it with SHA256.

Can I customize the appearance?

Yes! leaf ships with 4 themes (Arctic, Forest, Ocean, Solarized-Dark). Switch with Shift+T or set a default in config.toml.

Does leaf support piping from stdin?

Absolutely. Pipe any Markdown content: `cat notes.md | leaf` or `claude "explain X" | leaf`.

Is leaf open source?

Yes, leaf is MIT licensed and hosted on GitHub.

Try leaf now

Install in one command and start previewing Markdown in your terminal.