I have been working a lot recently with VS Code and Claude on a web project and and love the .md files it creates - especially for documentation.
I also use Claude with ClarionAssistant (Great product John-ClarionLive!) I can not view the .md files formatted i can only view/edit in native text format. Is there a way?
John is going to incorporate this feature into ClarionAssitant 
This thread touches on one of the reasons I have been working on a new tool called PageSnip.
I do not want to derail the discussion about displaying Markdown inside the Clarion IDE, because that is a useful idea on its own. PageSnip is aimed at a broader problem.
It is being built for anyone who uses AI, Markdown, web research, PDFs, screenshots, code snippets, documentation, forum replies, project notes, or other reference material and wants a better way to curate it.
That especially includes people using AI, because Markdown has effectively become the first language of AI-generated working notes. AI answers, explanations, outlines, checklists, code discussions, and project documentation usually come back in Markdown or Markdown-like form. PageSnip is being designed as a Markdown-first curation tool, but not a Markdown-only tool.
The basic idea is that you can have an unlimited number of collections, and each collection can contain an unlimited number of libraries. Each library can then have its own tree of pages underneath it.
That means you can use it casually, where your favorite recipes might sit right beside your code notes, or you can use it seriously inside a project.
For example, in a development project like vuMailKit (or PageSnip itself), I might have separate libraries for:
Each of those libraries can have its own page tree, with as many nodes and subnodes as needed.
The primary mode is as a clean viewer, because a lot of the time you just want to read and reference what you have already collected. But it also includes an integrated Markdown editor, so you can create and edit content without dropping down into raw Markdown source. The editor also supports Markdown shortcuts so you can type raw Markdown and have it render on the fly or use the toolbars to change the display as needed.
In addition to normal Markdown code fences, PageSnip also has a dedicated code surface. That means you can store and view complete class files, template files, source files, scripts, config files, or other code-oriented material as code, without wrapping it inside a Markdown page. The code displays in a normal code surface with line numbers and other expected features.
So a project library can contain both explanatory Markdown pages, AI Chat history and full source-oriented reference pages side by side.
It also has full support for creating and displaying Mermaid diagrams so it allows you to design the flow of logic alongside the code that creates it and discussions about it.
Each node can also have its own attached notes, which means the saved item and your thoughts about it can live together.
One of the workflow ideas I especially like is that PageSnip is designed for switching contexts. You can jump from one open collection or project node to another, then jump right back to where you were. That makes it much more useful as a working reference space than a normal Markdown editor that is basically focused on one document at a time.
So yes, viewing Markdown is part of it. But the larger goal is helping people collect, organize, revisit, and use the growing amount of Markdown, code, and reference material that comes from AI, web research, documentation, and development work.
Here is an early screenshot of the current development build:
The PageSnip environment is designed to give you the tools you need at your fingertips, then collapse out of the way when needed. It uses multiple icon rails, collapsible panels and surfaces that can be oriented horizontally or vertically to suit your needs.
I am still actively building PageSnip (I use it every day even in development), but I am getting close enough that I would like to know whether a few Clarion developers would be interested in early beta access when it is ready.
If you are already using AI, Markdown notes, code snippets, forum answers, source files, template files, or project documentation heavily enough that you could give useful workflow feedback, let me know.
I can see the attraction of integrating it into Clarion Assistant, especially given how much AI tooling now produces markdown content.
That said, I think there is also a good argument for keeping the addins separate. Markdown viewing/editing feels useful as a general IDE enhancement in its own right, independent of AI tooling. If the functionality becomes tied to Clarion Assistant, developers who just want markdown support may end up needing to install features they otherwise have no interest in using.
Personally I’d probably lean toward:
That keeps both tools more modular and avoids coupling unrelated functionality together too tightly.
Also worth mentioning that my current version is itself a fork of John’s original repository, and I already have a pull request against the original project that has been waiting since February 28th with all my changes. So from my perspective, keeping the markdown functionality as a reusable standalone component would probably make future collaboration and integration paths cleaner as well.
[edit]
I’ve added my thoughts to your original Issue in the Clarion Assistant repo: Markdown view/edit ability w/in the Clarion IDE using ClarionAssistant · Issue #27 · ClarionLive/ClarionAssistant · GitHub
would be nice if it was native to the ide and automatic when opening a md file, like vs code - though for vs code i did have to install an extension to easily print it as markdown
Of course it would be nice if markdown support was native to the Clarion IDE itself and automatically handled when opening .md files. Unfortunately the IDE is not really evolving in that direction at the moment, so addins are probably the most practical route we have for extending functionality like this.
That is also why I think there is value in keeping the markdown support modular. Developers can then choose whether they simply want markdown support in the IDE, or whether they also want the wider AI/Clarion Assistant integration on top.
You can also see from the few addins I have published through the Addin Finder that open source addins add value beyond just the functionality they provide. They also give developers examples of how addins can be written, extended, or forked. AI tools are actually proving very useful in helping developers explore and understand that source code as well.
Charles,
PageSnip’s features sounds very good and the screenshot looks great.
Although I’m not using AI or markdown files I’m interested in PageSnip.
Having all the information for different projects in one place sounds exciting.
I’m interested in an early beta.
Jens
Thanks, Jens.
That is actually one of the things I am hoping PageSnip will be useful for, even outside of AI or Markdown-heavy workflows.
AI and Markdown were part of what pushed me in this direction, but the bigger idea is project curation. Most projects tend to accumulate all kinds of supporting material over time: notes, code fragments, screenshots, PDFs, links, research, decisions, reminders, documentation, support information, marketing notes, and so on.
The problem is that this stuff usually ends up scattered across folders, bookmarks, email, old documents, source comments, and assorted text files.
PageSnip is meant to give that material a proper home, organized by collections, libraries, and page trees, so the information around a project can stay useful instead of slowly disappearing into clutter.
I will definitely put you on the early beta list.
