Built my first VSCode Extension: A Fast, Minimal Markdown Previewer
I built Lightweight Markdown Preview - a no-bloat extension for VS Code that respects your privacy and stays out of your way.
It also works with Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, amongst others.
I built it because I was tired of preview extensions that shipped with unnecessary features, massive dependencies, and telemetry. I needed something that did one job well: preview Markdown as I typed, with Mermaid and LaTeX support - and nothing else.
How My Lightweight Markdown Preview gives you:
- ✅ Minimal (~38 KB packaged) - No bloat, just what you need
- ✅ Privacy-First - No tracking, no analytics, no data collection
- ✅ Simple (~300 lines of code) - Easy to understand and maintain
- ✅ Fast - Live preview updates as you type
- ✅ Secure - Content Security Policy, nonce-based script execution
- ✅ One Job - Previews Markdown. That's it.
Features
- Real-time Markdown preview in a side panel
- Full Mermaid diagram support (flowcharts, sequences, state diagrams, etc.)
- MathJax support for LaTeX equations
- All standard Markdown elements (headings, lists, tables, code blocks, images, etc.)
Where to Find It
Head over to my GitHub repo to check out the code, or install it directly from the VS Code Marketplace.
Just open your Markdown file in VS Code, click the "Eye" icon, and you're previewing - no config, no nonsense.