Getting Started

MarkdownBin is a versioned markdown publishing platform with collections, encryption at rest, and a full REST API.

Quick Start

1. Create an Account

Register at /register with a username, email, and password. Your username determines your public URL namespace: /@yourusername/.

2. Write Your First Document

Click + New in the header to open the split-pane editor.

  • Left pane — write markdown with live preview on the right
  • Formatting toolbar — bold, italic, headings, links, code blocks, lists
  • Keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl+B (bold), Ctrl+I (italic), Ctrl+K (link), Ctrl+S (save)
  • Import — click the ↑ button to import a .md file

Every save creates a new version. You can browse previous versions from the document view.

3. Upload Existing Files

Go to /upload to upload .md files:

  • New Document — drop a file, set title and visibility
  • Update Existing — pick a document, drop the updated file
  • Bulk Upload — drop multiple files at once, optionally into a new or existing collection

4. Organize with Collections

Collections group related documents. Create one at /collections/create or from the dashboard.

From a collection page you can:

  • Add new documents or upload files directly into the collection
  • Add existing documents from your library
  • Reorder, edit, or remove documents

5. Share Your Work

Every document has a permanent URL:

/@yourusername/document-title-a3f9b2c1

The URL contains your username, a human-readable slug, and a short ID. The short ID is what matters — if you rename the document, old links with the correct ID still work.

Visibility options:

  • Public — anyone can view, appears in search
  • Unlisted — accessible by URL only, not in search
  • Private — only you can view

Features

Version History

Every save creates an immutable version. View any version at:

/@yourusername/document-slug-shortid/v/1

Encryption at Rest

Optionally encrypt documents on disk using AES-256-GCM with a per-user key:

  • Toggle per-document in Document Settings
  • Toggle per-collection in Collection Settings (forces all docs in the collection)
  • Set as account default in Settings > Defaults
  • Bulk encrypt all documents in Settings > Security

Document Expiration

Set an expiration date in Document Settings. Expired documents return 410 Gone to non-owners.

API Access

Generate API keys at /api-keys for programmatic access. See the API Reference for details.

Markdown Features

  • GitHub Flavored Markdown (tables, strikethrough, task lists)
  • KaTeX math ($inline$ and $$block$$)
  • Mermaid diagrams (```mermaid)
  • Syntax highlighting (Prism.js with auto-detection)
  • Footnotes, description lists, smart punctuation
  • Admonitions (note, warning, danger, tip, info)
  • Heading permalinks and table of contents