Build in public
The work
behind the window.
QuokkaMark began as a one-evening question: how small can a genuinely pleasant Markdown reader be? This is the honest answer so far.
RENDERING RELIABILITY
Plain Markdown gets a native reading path
Fixed blank documents opened from Finder or the app’s Open panel, made sandbox bookmarks best-effort instead of fatal, retained live-refresh access, and added a regression test using the Gradle README that exposed the bug.
RELIABILITY
Cold-launch file opening fixed
Queued Markdown files delivered by Finder before the first window was ready, so double-click and Open With requests now survive a cold launch instead of being dropped.
TRUSTED DISTRIBUTION
Signed, notarized, and stapled
Signed the app, Quick Look extension, and disk image with a Developer ID certificate, passed Apple’s automated notarization checks, and stapled the ticket for an ordinary Gatekeeper-approved installation.
DISTRIBUTION
A proper Mac disk image
Replaced the ZIP-first install with a verified DMG containing QuokkaMark and the familiar Applications shortcut, ready for drag-and-drop installation.
OPEN SOURCE RELEASE
The quokka leaves the nest
Moved QuokkaMark to an MIT-licensed public release, added its GitHub Pages home, packaged a universal Mac download, and published the development history.
NAVIGATION
Document Navigator and search
Added a native hierarchical heading sidebar, stable anchors for duplicate headings, click-to-jump navigation, ⌘F search, visible highlighting, and match counts that avoid disturbing diagrams and equations.
TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS
Diagrams, equations, and export
Bundled Mermaid, Marked, and KaTeX for completely offline rendering. Added PDF and standalone HTML export, live external-edit refresh, and a Finder Quick Look extension.
RENDERING
Markdown learned to breathe
Replaced the original single-text rendering path with a block-aware reader for headings, paragraphs, block quotes, lists, tables, links, code, and print-friendly output.
FIRST BUILD
A tiny reader and a large personality
Built the first native SwiftUI viewer with Open, drag-and-drop, recent files, printing, and zero editing controls. Named it QuokkaMark and gave it a cheerful document-reading mascot.
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