# Install mdserve with Homebrew, Nix, pacman Fast markdown preview server with live reload and theme support. Version 1.1.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:mdserve ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install mdserve ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#mdserve ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/md/mdserve/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S mdserve ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: mdserve from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:mdserve - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.1.0 - **Source summary:** Fast markdown preview server with live reload and theme support - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - mdserve (cli) - mdserve (alias) ## Build dependencies - rust ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.1.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/jfernandez/mdserve - Upstream latest detected: v1.1.0 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage mdserve is a Rust Markdown preview server built for live-rendering Markdown during AI-assisted coding sessions. Its README emphasizes zero configuration, a single binary, live reload, ephemeral sessions, GFM, Mermaid, directory mode, and built-in themes. ### Project history The GitHub repository was created on 2025-09-22. The README positions mdserve narrowly: it is a local preview companion for AI coding agents, not a documentation site generator, static site server, or general-purpose authoring system. The project includes a Claude Code plugin so an agent can decide when rendered Markdown is useful and start a preview for longer documents, tables, diagrams, or other content that is hard to inspect raw in a terminal. ### Adoption history Official installation paths include Homebrew for macOS, an install script for Linux, Cargo, Arch Linux, Nix, source builds, and GitHub release binaries. The input package-manager facts list Homebrew, Nix, and pacman packages. GitHub metadata showed hundreds of stars within its first year, consistent with a tool aimed at the newly visible AI-agent workflow around generated Markdown. ### How it is used The basic workflow is `mdserve README.md` for a single file or `mdserve docs/` for a directory. Optional flags set hostname, port, and whether to open a browser automatically. The README documents single-file mode for focused previewing and directory mode for serving `.md` and `.markdown` files with sidebar navigation and file watching. ### Why package nerds care mdserve is package-nerd relevant because it packages a modern local preview stack into one installable CLI, explicitly avoiding the heavier documentation-site-generator category. It reflects the 2025-era shift where generated Markdown, Mermaid diagrams, and agent-written docs became routine terminal artifacts. ### Timeline - 2025: Public GitHub repository created. - 2025: README documented Homebrew, Cargo, Arch, Nix, source, and release-binary installation paths. - 2026: Repository metadata showed continuing activity and hundreds of stars. ### Related projects - The README names mdBook, Docusaurus, and MkDocs as tools outside mdserve's intended scope. - The acknowledgments cite Axum, markdown-rs, and Catppuccin as implementation or theme influences. ### Sources - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** mdserve - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - mdserve: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/md/mdserve/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman - mdserve - 1.1.0-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: mdserve from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Fast markdown preview server with live reload and theme support | https://github.com/jfernandez/mdserve ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [comrak](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/comrak/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [grip](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/grip/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, preview. - [mado](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mado/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [mdbook](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mdbook/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [mdq](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mdq/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [mdsh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mdsh/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [rumdl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rumdl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. - [zola](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zola/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, markdown, rust. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mdserve.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/mdserve.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph