dawn

Dawn is a terminal-based markdown editor that renders content in real-time as you type. Headers scale proportionally, math expressions display as Unicode art, code blocks show syntax highlighting for 35+ languages, and formatting characters hide when not actively editing them. The editor includes a gap buffer for efficient text manipulation and supports standard markdown syntax plus extensions like footnotes, tables with Unicode box-drawing, and emoji shortcodes.

The tool provides several writing-focused features including timed writing sessions (5-30 minutes), focus mode that hides UI elements, and navigation tools like table of contents and search with context preview. Dawn supports both light and dark themes and includes an experimental AI chat panel on macOS that uses Apple foundational models. The architecture separates the core engine from platform-specific code, with current support for POSIX terminals (with optional Kitty graphics support) and experimental WebAssembly builds.

Documents save as standard markdown files with optional YAML frontmatter for metadata. The editor targets writers who want markdown editing without requiring a browser or Electron app, offering low-latency performance for distraction-free writing sessions directly in the terminal.

Installation

# via Homebrew
brew tap andrewmd5/tap && brew install dawn

# via PowerShell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andrewmd5/dawn/main/install.ps1 | iex

# via Source
git clone --recursive https://github.com/andrewmd5/dawn.git && cd dawn && make && make install