beautiful-reader skill

Overview

This skill renders Markdown files into a clean, readable presentation optimized for comfortable reading. It supports reading from files or piped input and offers theme and fullscreen options for focused viewing. The output emphasizes visual clarity and preserves Markdown structure for easy navigation.

How this skill works

The skill parses standard Markdown input from either a file path or stdin, converts headings, lists, code blocks, links, and images into a styled reader view, and displays the output in a terminal or GUI window depending on environment. It accepts simple options such as theme selection (e.g., dark) and a fullscreen flag to remove distractions and maximize reading space. Rendering is lightweight and intended for fast, distraction-free consumption rather than full authoring or editing.

When to use it

• You need to read long Markdown documents in a pleasant, readable format.
• You want a quick preview of README or documentation without opening a browser or editor.
• You receive Markdown via a pipe and want immediate formatted output.
• You prefer a dark theme or fullscreen mode for focused reading.
• You need to present Markdown content in a terminal-friendly visual layout.

Best practices

• Pipe Markdown through stdin for quick previews (e.g., cat README.md | beautiful-reader).
• Use the theme option to match your environment lighting (dark theme for low light).
• Enable fullscreen for live reading sessions or presentations to reduce distractions.
• Keep source Markdown well-structured with headings and lists to improve the reader’s navigation.
• Avoid relying on the tool for editing; use it primarily for consumption and review.

Example use cases

• Open a project README in a clean reader: beautiful-reader README.md
• Preview generated documentation piped from a script: cat docs.md | beautiful-reader
• Read notes in low-light using the dark theme: beautiful-reader notes.md --theme dark
• Present a roadmap or specification in fullscreen during a meeting: beautiful-reader spec.md --fullscreen
• Quickly scan Markdown output from a build or export step via stdin.

FAQ