downdraft

Overview

This module converts Markdown source code on your clipboard to fully styled HTML, and places that back on the clipbaord for you. This can be helpful if you want to draft an email in your text editor using Markdown, then hit a single Global Keyboard Shortcut to convert it to styled HTML, ready for pasting in your email app of choice. It handles syntax-highlighted code blocks, and GFM features like tables.

Note that this module currently only works on macOS.

Usage

First, make sure you have Node.js installed on your Mac. Then, use npm to install the module as a command-line executable like so:

npm install -g downdraft

Depending on your machine and folder permissions, you might have to run the above command with sudo.

Now, try copying some Markdown source to your clipboard, and enter the following command into the Terminal:

downdraft

That's it! Now try pasting into your email app, and you will see nice HTML formatted content, with things like styling, links, lists, and tables automatically converted.

Global Keyboard Shortcut

To add a global keyboard shortcut on macOS, you first need to wrap the call to downdraft in an AppleScript. To do this, open the Script Editor application (located in Applications/Utilities), and enter this text:

do shell script "/usr/local/bin/node /usr/local/bin/downdraft"

Please note that the location of your Node.js binary may be different than mine, so change /usr/local/bin/node to the correct location. To determine what this should be, open Terminal and type which node. This is important because AppleScripts run without a proper shell environment, so they are often missing things like your standard PATH variable.

Also note that the location of the installed downdraft binary may differ from mine, so change /usr/local/bin/downdraft to the correct location. To determine what this should be, open Terminal and type which downdraft.

Once this is complete, save your AppleScript somewhere central such as in ~/Library/Scripts/.

Next, you need to assign a global keyboard shortcut to the script. To do this, you can either use a commercial application such as Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, or FastScripts, or you can do it the manual way...

1. Open Automator (located in your /Applications folder).
2. In the dialog that pops up, select Quick Action and click the Choose button.
3. In the search field on the left sidebar, enter applescript.
4. Drag the Run AppleScript action to the right-hand pane.
5. Paste the do shell script... line into the text field, replacing all the demo code.
6. From the menu bar, select File → Save... and give it a name such as Downdraft.
7. Quit Automator.
8. Open System Settings, then click on the Keyboard icon.
9. Click on the Keyboard Shortcuts button, then click on ⚙️Services on the left side.
10. Scroll down the right pane until you see your Quick Action (should be under General).
11. Double-click on the right-hand side of the shortcut which should say "none".
12. Type your desired keyboard shortcut.
13. Click Done.
14. Quit System Settings.

Note: These instructions are for macOS Sonoma specifically. Things may be quite different in older or newer OS versions.

License (MIT)

The MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Joseph Huckaby.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.