go-live-markdown.nvim

Highly opinionated live Markdown preview for Neovim, powered by a Go remote host and a local WebSocket preview server.

Demos

Basic live preview

Browser to Neovim sync (double click)

Copy rendered code blocks

Live update on buffer change

Why this plugin

go-live-markdown.nvim focuses on a tight markdown editing loop:

• Start preview once with :GoLiveMarkdownStart
• Type in Neovim and see rendered output update immediately
• Move cursor in Neovim and let browser auto-follow the active source line
• Double-click in browser to jump Neovim cursor back to that markdown line
• Copy code block contents directly from preview

No Node runtime or external web app is required.

Requirements

• Neovim with remote plugin support (the plugin uses a Go host)
• A browser
• Go toolchain only if you need to build the host binary

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "pompos02/go-live-markdown.nvim",
  ft = "markdown",
}

lazy.nvim (recommended for non-Linux systems)

This repo includes a Linux host binary at bin/go-live-markdown-nvim. On macOS (and other non-Linux systems), build from source on install:

{
  "pompos02/go-live-markdown.nvim",
  ft = "markdown",
  build = "./build",
}

Host binary resolution

At startup, the plugin resolves the host executable in this order:

1. vim.g.go_live_markdown_host_prog
2. Local plugin binary: ./bin/go-live-markdown-nvim
3. go-live-markdown-nvim from $PATH

If the host is not found, you'll see an error in Neovim and preview will not start.

Optional override

vim.g.go_live_markdown_host_prog = "/absolute/path/to/go-live-markdown-nvim"

Usage

1. Open any *.md buffer.

2. Run:

   :GoLiveMarkdownStart

3. Neovim echoes the preview URL (served locally on http://127.0.0.1:7777).

4. Just use Nvim and the preview will follow you around

Browser interactions

• Double click a rendered block to jump Neovim to that source line.
• Single click heading text to navigate by heading anchors.
• Click the heading anchor on h1-h3 to collapse or expand that section.
• Click code-language badge (top-right of fenced blocks) to copy code to clipboard.

Markdown and rendering features

The renderer uses Goldmark with extensions and custom AST decoration.

Included support:

• GFM (tables, strikethrough, task lists, autolinks)
• Footnotes
• MathJax math rendering (inline and block)
• Wiki links
• Alert/callout blocks
• Syntax highlighting (Chroma classes)
• Heading anchors
• Source-line metadata on rendered block elements for sync

Local image handling

Local image paths are served by the local preview server.

• Relative paths resolve from the markdown file's directory
• Absolute local paths are supported
• Remote URLs should work

Build from source

Build script:

./build

This compiles:

• from: ./cmd/go-live-markdown-nvim
• to: ./bin/go-live-markdown-nvim

Requirements:

• go available in $PATH

Quick validation

Use markdown-test.md to validate common behavior quickly:

1. Open markdown-test.md in Neovim
2. Run :GoLiveMarkdownStart
3. Edit text and move cursor to verify live rendering + follow
4. Double click in preview to verify browser -> Neovim jump
5. Try fenced code copy badge and local image paths

Current limitations

• Single preview server instance (fixed address 127.0.0.1:7777)
• Single active browser connection is handled reliably (the connection will jump between the tabs)

Note

• The frontend logic was written with Codex