Installation

The plugin needs Neovim or Vim 8.1+, and a server binary that it runs in the background. Pre-built binaries are published for:

On anything else, build the server from source.

You never have to download the binary by hand. If it is missing, or does not match the plugin version after an update, :MarkdownPreview downloads it first and then opens the preview. The build hooks below only make that happen when you install or update, so the first preview opens straight away.

lazy.nvimCopy Anchor Link

{
  "sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim",
  cmd = { "MarkdownPreviewToggle", "MarkdownPreview", "MarkdownPreviewStop" },
  ft = { "markdown" },
}

No build is needed: the plugin ships a build.lua, which lazy.nvim runs on install and on every update. Add opts = { ... } to configure it, see Configuration.

packer.nvimCopy Anchor Link

use({
  "sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim",
  cmd = { "MarkdownPreviewToggle", "MarkdownPreview", "MarkdownPreviewStop" },
  ft = { "markdown" },
  run = function() vim.fn["mkdp#util#install_sync"]() end,
})

vim-plugCopy Anchor Link

Plug 'sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim', { 'do': { -> mkdp#util#install_sync() }, 'for': ['markdown', 'vim-plug'] }

vim-plug in for loads the plugin in vim-plug's own window, so the do hook can call it (see iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim#50).

In build hooks, use mkdp#util#install_sync() rather than mkdp#util#install(). It waits for the download, so the plugin manager reports whether it worked instead of finishing while the download still runs.

mini.depsCopy Anchor Link

-- the plugin is not loaded yet when the hooks run, so call the install script
local function install_server(params)
  local cmd = vim.fn.has("win32") == 1 and { "cmd.exe", "/c", "install.cmd" } or { "./install.sh" }
  vim.system(cmd, { cwd = params.path .. "/app" }):wait()
end

MiniDeps.add({
  source = "sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim",
  hooks = { post_install = install_server, post_checkout = install_server },
})

The hooks are optional; without them, the first :MarkdownPreview downloads the server.

vim.pack (Neovim 0.12+)Copy Anchor Link

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("PackChanged", {
  callback = function(ev)
    local data = ev.data
    if data.spec.name == "markdown-preview.nvim" and data.kind ~= "delete" then
      local cmd = vim.fn.has("win32") == 1 and { "cmd.exe", "/c", "install.cmd" } or { "./install.sh" }
      vim.system(cmd, { cwd = data.path .. "/app" }):wait()
    end
  end,
})

vim.pack.add({ "https://github.com/sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim" })

Create the autocommand before vim.pack.add(), so it also runs on the first install. It is optional, as with mini.deps.

dein.vimCopy Anchor Link

call dein#add('sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim', {
      \ 'on_ft': ['markdown'],
      \ 'build': 'sh -c "cd app && ./install.sh"',
      \ })

On Windows, use 'build': 'cd app && install.cmd'.

Native packages, without a plugin managerCopy Anchor Link

Clone the plugin into a start package directory and download the server once.

Neovim:

git clone https://github.com/sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim \
  ~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/plugins/start/markdown-preview.nvim
~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/plugins/start/markdown-preview.nvim/app/install.sh

Vim:

git clone https://github.com/sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim \
  ~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/markdown-preview.nvim
~/.vim/pack/plugins/start/markdown-preview.nvim/app/install.sh

On Windows, the directories are %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data\site\pack\plugins\start for Neovim and %USERPROFILE%\vimfiles\pack\plugins\start for Vim, and the script is app\install.cmd.

Without an argument, install.sh and install.cmd download the binary that matches the plugin's version. Run them again after git pull, or let :MarkdownPreview do it.

Building from sourceCopy Anchor Link

Build the server yourself on a system without a pre-built binary, or to run your own changes:

cd path/to/markdown-preview.nvim
cargo build --release

This needs Rust 1.86+ and Node.js 20.9+ with pnpm or npx (Node.js is only needed to build the page, not to run it).

A build in target/release is always used before a downloaded binary, and the plugin never downloads anything while it exists. So it can replace the build hook entirely, e.g. with lazy.nvim:

{
  "sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim",
  build = "cargo build --release",
  -- ...
}

Moving from iamcco/markdown-preview.nvimCopy Anchor Link

This plugin is a fork with the same commands and g:mkdp_* options, so most configurations keep working. When you switch:

1. Replace iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim with sammaji/markdown-preview.nvim, and uninstall the original, since both define the same commands.
2. Remove the old build hook (cd app && yarn install, npx --yes yarn install or mkdp#util#install()). Use the hook for your plugin manager above, or none with lazy.nvim.
3. Node.js is no longer needed to run the preview.
4. The page looks different: it is styled with shadcn/ui theme variables. A g:mkdp_markdown_css written for the old page still works; with [data-theme="dark"] selectors, it can also use the .dark class now.
5. Chart.js charts use Chart.js 4. Configs written for Chart.js 2 need the migration.

Checking the installationCopy Anchor Link

In Neovim, run :checkhealth mkdp. It shows the platform, the plugin version, the server binary in use and whether it matches the plugin.

In Vim, :echo mkdp#util#server_binary() shows the binary in use, and :call mkdp#util#install() downloads it again.