A local-first Markdown editor that stays out of the way

I’ve been working on Ornata, a lightweight desktop Markdown editor, because I kept running into the same problem: writing tools slowly stop being tools.

Many modern Markdown editors start simple, but over time they accumulate abstractions, hidden behavior, and features that pull attention away from writing itself. Some hide the source, some introduce proprietary extensions, and some gradually turn into systems you have to manage rather than editors you can trust.

I wanted to explore the opposite direction.

The goal: remove friction, not add features

From the beginning, Ornata had a very narrow goal:

Help me write Markdown without thinking about the editor.

That meant making some deliberate choices:

• Plain text is the source of truth
• Markdown should behave exactly as expected
• The editor should never “guess” what I mean
• Performance should hold up as documents grow

If something didn’t directly serve writing, it didn’t belong in the app.

Local-first by default

Ornata runs entirely on your local machine.

There’s no account system, no cloud dependency, and no background services required to use it. Once installed, it works offline like a traditional desktop editor. Files stay where they are, and nothing is uploaded or synced unless the user explicitly chooses to do so outside the app.

This also means Ornata fits naturally into Git-based workflows. Markdown files remain clean, diff-friendly, and predictable.

Editing model: clarity over magic

Instead of a fully blended WYSIWYG model, Ornata uses a clear separation:

• Edit mode for writing plain Markdown
• Preview mode for reading the rendered result
• Split view when you want both

This avoids hidden formatting and keeps the relationship between source and output explicit. You always know what you’re writing and how it will render.

Performance as a baseline, not a feature

Performance isn’t treated as a bonus feature—it’s a baseline expectation.

The editor is designed to stay responsive even with large Markdown files. Scrolling, typing, and preview updates are meant to feel consistent whether a document is a few lines long or thousands.

Under the hood, Ornata is built with Rust and Tauri, using CodeMirror for the editor layer. The focus wasn’t on novelty, but on choosing tools that allow predictable performance and a small runtime footprint.

Fewer promises, more trust

One of the things I care about most is trust.

That’s why Ornata avoids:

• Hidden behavior
• Proprietary Markdown extensions
• Required logins or online checks

The app tries to be honest about what it does and what it doesn’t do. Ideally, the editor fades into the background and lets the text take center stage.

Current status

Ornata is currently available as an early access release and is free to use at this stage. I’m using it daily for long-form technical writing and documentation, and I’m continuing to refine it based on real-world use rather than a feature checklist.

If you write in Markdown and have strong opinions about editors—especially where existing tools feel slow, distracting, or unpredictable—I’d genuinely appreciate your feedback.

Website: https://ornata.app/