$mdflow share ./spec.md
Send a document, not a vault
A clean link anyone can open. No account, no install, no repo access.
$cat the-problem.txt
“Sharing markdown means emailing a file or granting repo access.”
The document is finished and one person needs to read it. Your options are an attachment they have to open in something, a paste into chat that mangles the formatting, or adding them to a repository so they can read one file — and now they have access to forty others.
None of those is “here, read this.” A share link is: one document, rendered, at a URL, for exactly as long as you want it to be.
$mdflow share --public
Public links
One toggle, one URL, and anyone who has it can read the document in a browser.
- One toggle per document. Sharing is per document, not per workspace. Turning it on generates a read-only link and gives you a one-click copy.
- Hard to guess. The URL is long and random by design. It is unlisted rather than secret — anyone with the link can read it, and search engines are asked not to index share pages.
- Off means off. Turning sharing off permanently invalidates that link. Turning it back on mints a fresh one, so a link you circulated once cannot be quietly reactivated.
- Images come along. Uploaded images referenced by the saved public document become readable through the link. Ones you have not referenced stay private.
- Attached files do not. Files attached to a document are never exposed by a public link: they are not listed on the page, and a link to one is inert for an anonymous reader. Attachments travel only through a private share.
$mdflow share --email
Private, by email
When it should not be openable by whoever ends up with the link.
- Specific addresses. Invite people by email instead of minting a public link. Recipients open a private link and sign in with the invited address to read it.
- View, or view and comment. Chosen per person, not per document.
- Pending vs accepted. Every share shows its state — it becomes accepted the first time the recipient signs in — so you can tell who has actually opened it.
- Attached files, while the text links them. A recipient can download the files the saved document body links to — the PDF or spreadsheet the note is about. Remove a link and save, and that file goes out of reach for them again; every download is authorized on the spot through a short-lived link, never a public URL.
- Revoke one, or everyone. Immediately, from the same panel. Shared items appear under “Shared with me” in the recipient's sidebar until you do. Pro.
$mdflow reader
What the reader gets
A clean reader with your document in it. No sidebar of your folders, no sign-up wall, no cookie banner theatre.
- Three ways to read. Rendered preview by default, read-only markdown source, or side-by-side split on larger screens.
- Take it with them. Download the original
.md— the source, not a conversion — or run it through a print-ready PDF flow. - A Present button. Any reader can present the document as a fullscreen slideshow, split at each top-level heading, without an account.
- No account to read. Signing in is only needed to comment or to clone a copy — and after signing in the reader returns to the same page with that action resumed.
$mdflow comments
Comments, anchored to the text
Optional per document. When it is on, feedback lands on a specific passage instead of arriving as a separate email that says 'the second paragraph'.
- Anchored to a passage. Readers select text in the markdown source and comment on it. Commented passages are highlighted inline, so feedback points at something specific.
- Panel or drawer. A side panel on desktop, a slide-over drawer on smaller screens. Each comment shows its quoted passage, the author's name and avatar, and a relative timestamp; clicking one jumps to its highlight.
- You moderate from the editor. The owner reads and deletes any comment from the normal workspace editor. Commenters can delete their own.
- They survive. Comments are preserved when sharing is turned off and shown again when it returns. A comment whose text was edited away stays as an orphaned note rather than a stale highlight.
$mdflow clone
Cloning, and what stays yours
Two things people usually want to check before they turn sharing on.
- They can take a copy. A signed-in reader can clone an independent private copy into their own workspace — choosing the destination folder, with referenced images copied too, and the filename disambiguated if it collides.
- The copy is genuinely separate. Your later edits, unsharing or deletion do not affect it, and nothing they do affects your original.
- Your identity stays private. Shared pages do not show your name or email address. An invalid or disabled link gets a friendly unavailable page, not a hint about what used to be there.
- Your workspace stays private. One document is shared. The rest of the tree — including documents in the same folder — is untouched.
$cat limitations.txt
What it doesn't do
Sharing is deliberately simple. The things it does not do:
- No custom share URLs. The slug is random and not editable. You can put it on your own domain on Pro, but not choose the path.
- No real-time co-editing. Readers read and comment; they do not type in your document. Two people cannot edit at once.
- No comment replies or approvals. Comments are a flat list anchored to passages — no threads, no resolve, no approval workflow.
- Private sharing needs Pro. Public links and commenting are free on every plan; email-invited shares and custom domains are Pro.
$man mdflow-share --faq
Questions
Does the person I share with need an MDflow account?
Not to read a public link — they open it and see the rendered document. An account is only needed to leave a comment or to clone their own copy. Private email shares are different: the recipient signs in with the invited address, which is what makes the share private.
Can they see the rest of my workspace?
No. Sharing is per document. The reader sees that document and nothing else — not your folder tree, not your other documents, and not your identity or email address, which stay private on shared pages.
Are shared documents indexed by Google?
No. Share pages are noindex by design, because the model is an unlisted link rather than a published page. The link is long and random and hard to guess, but treat it as unlisted, not secret: anyone you send it to can forward it. For a document that must not leak, use a private email share or encrypt it.
What is cloning, and does it affect my original?
A signed-in reader can take an independent private copy into their own workspace, choosing a destination folder, with referenced images copied too. The copy is fully independent — your later edits, unsharing or deletion never touch it, and their edits never touch yours.
Can I share on my own domain?
Yes, on Pro. Connect one custom domain in Settings and the sharing panels offer both the custom-domain URL and the permanent mdflow.cz URL, so links you have already sent keep working. Private-share invitation emails prefer the custom domain while it is connected.
Can I share a whole set of documents rather than one?
Yes — that is a collection, which can be published as a public link or shared privately by email, and on Pro can render as a searchable knowledge base with a homepage document. See the Knowledgebase page.
$mdflow share
One document. One link.
Turn sharing on, copy the URL, send it. The reader gets a rendered page they can read, download, print or present — and nothing else of yours.
Public links and comments are free on every plan. Private email shares and custom domains are Pro, from €4.99/mo.