Qt Markdown Knowledge Base

A powerful desktop GUI application for managing a local Markdown-based knowledge base. Built with Python and PyQt5.

Features

• 📁 Folder Indexing - Automatically indexes all markdown files in your knowledge base
• 🔍 Full-Text Search - Search across all documents by title, content, or tags
• 🏷️ Tag Support - Organize documents with hashtags (#tag)
• 🔗 Backlinks - Track wiki-style links ([[Document Name]]) between documents
• 👁️ Live Preview - Real-time HTML preview of your markdown
• 📝 Syntax Highlighting - Beautiful markdown syntax highlighting in the editor
• 🌓 Dark Mode - Easy on the eyes with dark mode support
• 📤 Export - Export documents to HTML or PDF
• 💾 Auto-Save - Automatic saving every 30 seconds
• 🎨 Clean Interface - Modern Qt-based user interface

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• pip (Python package installer)

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/BaseMax/qt-markdown-knowledge-base.git
   cd qt-markdown-knowledge-base

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. (Optional) For PDF export, install wkhtmltopdf:

   • Windows: Download from https://wkhtmltopdf.org/downloads.html
   • macOS: brew install wkhtmltopdf
   • Linux: sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf

Usage

Run the application:

python main.py

Getting Started

1. Select Your Knowledge Base Folder

   • On first run, the app creates a default folder at ~/MarkdownKB
   • Use File > Open Folder to select a different location

2. Create a New Document

   • Click New or use Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on macOS)
   • Enter a filename (.md extension is added automatically)

3. Write in Markdown

   • Use standard markdown syntax
   • Add tags with #tag syntax
   • Link to other documents with [[Document Name]]

4. Search

   • Use the search bar to find documents by title, content, or tags
   • Results update in real-time

5. View Backlinks

   • Switch to the "Backlinks" tab to see which documents link to the current one

6. Export

   • Use File > Export as HTML or File > Export as PDF

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+N / Cmd+N - New Document
• Ctrl+O / Cmd+O - Open Folder
• Ctrl+S / Cmd+S - Save Document
• Ctrl+Q / Cmd+Q - Quit
• F5 - Refresh Index

Project Structure

qt-markdown-knowledge-base/
├── main.py           # Main application entry point
├── models.py         # Data models (Document, KnowledgeBase)
├── editor.py         # Markdown editor with syntax highlighting
├── renderer.py       # Markdown rendering and export
├── requirements.txt  # Python dependencies
├── README.md         # This file
└── LICENSE           # MIT License

Markdown Syntax Support

• Headers: # H1, ## H2, ### H3, etc.
• Bold: **bold**
• Italic: *italic*
• Code: `inline code`
• Code blocks: ```language ... ```
• Links: [text](url)
• Wiki Links: [[Document Name]]
• Tags: #tag
• Lists: - item or 1. item
• Blockquotes: > quote
• Tables: Standard markdown tables
• And more!

Configuration

Settings are automatically saved and include:

• Knowledge base folder location
• Dark mode preference
• Window size and position

Settings are stored in:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/MarkdownKB/KnowledgeBase.ini
• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/com.MarkdownKB.KnowledgeBase.plist
• Linux: ~/.config/MarkdownKB/KnowledgeBase.conf

Development

Running Tests

Currently, this project focuses on functionality. Tests can be added using pytest:

pip install pytest
pytest

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Max Base - GitHub

Acknowledgments

• Built with PyQt5
• Markdown rendering by Python-Markdown
• Syntax highlighting with Pygments