product
Markra is a quiet, local-first WYSIWYG Markdown editor with AI built into the writing workflow.
Markra helps people write, edit, and organize Markdown documents without leaving the document surface. It keeps Markdown portable and local while making AI feel like a native editing instrument instead of a separate chatbot.
The product should make writing feel direct: open a file, work in a polished document view, ask AI for help when needed, confirm any change before it touches the file, and keep control of the source material.
- Writers, developers, product people, researchers, and note takers who already trust Markdown as a durable text format.
- People who want a calmer alternative to heavy note apps, document suites, and AI chat workflows.
- Users who value local files, open source software, transparent behavior, and reversible edits.
- Power users who need folder workspaces, outline navigation, tables, images, and multi-provider AI without turning the editor into an IDE.
Your files stay local. Markdown stays portable. AI helps inside the editor, only when you ask, and important edits wait for your confirmation.
- Quiet: the interface should step back and let the document carry the screen.
- Capable: advanced features should feel reliable and discoverable, not flashy.
- Respectful: AI suggestions are proposals, never invisible document mutations.
- Native: Markra should feel at home on macOS, Windows, and Linux rather than like a web page in a shell.
- Open: the product should feel transparent, auditable, and free of lock-in.
The document is the primary object. Toolbars, file trees, AI panels, settings, and status indicators should support the writing task without competing for attention.
AI write operations must be previewed and confirmed before changing content. Rejection, copy, undo, and restoration paths should remain obvious and reliable.
The product should reinforce that Markdown files remain ordinary files on disk. Folder workflows, image paths, save state, and file operations should feel predictable and recoverable.
Window chrome, menus, shortcuts, drag regions, file dialogs, and platform-specific layout should respect the host operating system. Platform polish is part of the product, not decoration.
Advanced editing and AI behavior can be deep, but the surface should remain composed. Prefer progressive reveal, compact controls, and familiar affordances over promotional panels or instructional clutter.
- Use a restrained product UI: tinted neutrals, soft borders, clear focus states, and one accent for active or primary state.
- Prefer density with air: compact controls are good, but the writing surface needs enough breathing room for long documents.
- Keep panels and chrome light in visual weight. Avoid making sidebars, titlebars, and AI surfaces feel louder than the document.
- Use system-feeling typography and iconography. Lucide icons are appropriate for controls, but labels and layout should still feel native.
- Let platform differences be explicit when they improve trust: macOS can reserve traffic-light space, Windows should use native title/menu behavior, Linux should remain simple and predictable.
- Direct, calm, and specific.
- Prefer short verbs: open, save, apply, reject, copy, summarize, translate.
- Avoid hype, mascot language, vague productivity promises, and inflated claims.
- Do not over-explain visible controls inside the app. Tooltips and accessible labels are enough for standard commands.
- Error copy should name the failed action and the next useful step when one exists.
Markra should not feel like:
- A marketing SaaS dashboard with oversized cards, decorative gradients, and feature copy everywhere.
- A chat app that happens to edit Markdown.
- A heavy IDE where file management and panels dominate the page.
- A proprietary note app that hides files behind an account or workspace model.
- A novelty AI writing toy that changes text without a clear review path.
- Do not add accounts, cloud sync, or hosted workspaces unless the local-first promise remains intact.
- Do not make AI required for core writing, file browsing, or Markdown editing.
- Do not bury Markdown portability behind custom document formats.
- Do not make destructive file or document changes without confirmation.
- Do not introduce visual systems that only work on one desktop platform.
- A new user can open a Markdown file and start writing without setup.
- A Markdown user recognizes the document as normal Markdown, not a locked editor format.
- AI suggestions are useful, inspectable, and easy to decline.
- The app feels calm when nothing special is happening.
- Platform-specific details feel intentional rather than patched around.