QuarkdownJS

A browser-native ECMAScript module that compiles Quarkdown (.qd) source to HTML — running entirely client-side, no server required.

Clean-room implementation based on the public Quarkdown documentation and wiki. Licensed under MIT.

Live Demo

Try the REPL ->

Quick Start

import { compile, defaultPlugins } from 'quarkdown-js'

const result = await compile(source, {
  plugins: defaultPlugins,  // math (KaTeX) + code (Highlight.js) + diagrams (Mermaid)
})

document.body.innerHTML = result.html

Features

• Full Quarkdown syntax — functions, variables, conditionals, loops, chaining
• Multiple output modes — plain, paged, slides, docs
• Math rendering — KaTeX ($...$ and $$...$$)
• Code highlighting — Highlight.js with language detection
• Diagrams — Mermaid (client-side)
• Presentations — Reveal.js integration
• Print/PDF — Paged.js integration
• Citations — citeproc-js stub (extensible)
• fetch-based includes — .include {path} resolved via fetch
• Themes — default, paperwhite, galactic, dark
• TypeScript — full type definitions included
• Tree-shakeable — import only what you need

Installation

npm install quarkdown-js

Or use directly from CDN:

<script type="module">
  import { compile, defaultPlugins } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/quarkdown-js/dist/quarkdown-js.esm.js'
</script>

API

compile(source: string, options?: CompileOptions): Promise<CompileResult>

CompileOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
type	'plain' | 'paged' | 'slides' | 'docs'	'plain'	Document layout type
theme	string	'default'	Color theme name
fetch	(path: string) => Promise<string>	window.fetch	File resolver for .include
plugins	Plugin[]	[]	Optional plugins
baseUrl	string	window.location.href	Base URL for relative includes

CompileResult

Field	Type	Description
html	string	Rendered HTML fragment
metadata	DocumentMetadata	Extracted document metadata
diagnostics	Diagnostic[]	Warnings and errors

Plugins

import {
  defaultPlugins,   // [mathPlugin, codePlugin, diagramPlugin]
  mathPlugin,       // KaTeX math rendering
  codePlugin,       // Highlight.js code highlighting
  diagramPlugin,    // Mermaid diagrams (client-side)
  slidesPlugin,     // Reveal.js presentations
  pagedPlugin,      // Paged.js print/PDF
  citationsPlugin,  // Citation management (stub)
} from 'quarkdown-js'

Quarkdown Language

See the spec/ directory for the full language specification, or the official Quarkdown docs.

.var {name} {World}

# Hello .name!

.foreach {1..3}
    n:
    - Item **.n**

.if {true}
    > This renders only when true.

Math: $E = mc^2$

Browser Compatibility

Chrome 85+, Firefox 78+, Safari 14+, Edge 85+ (ES2020, no polyfills needed).

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Not affiliated with the original Quarkdown project (Kotlin, GPL-3.0).