Write in Markdown

Markdown works well for research notes, reports, and early drafts. Oleafly gives it a dedicated formatting toolbar and a Pandoc build path, with source files you can use outside the app.

Make a report

1. Choose New project → Use a template → Blank Markdown document.
2. Name the project Field notes and open main.md.
3. Paste this example, then choose Recompile or press ⌘Enter / Ctrl+Enter.
4. If Oleafly offers to set up a required engine, complete that setup and compile again.

main.md

---
title: "Field notes"
author: "Alex Chen"
date: ""
---

# Question

Does the revised procedure reduce measurement time?

## Method

1. Prepare the sample.
2. Repeat the measurement three times.
3. Record the elapsed time.

## Observations

| Run | Time (s) | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 12 | First pass |
| 2 | 10 | Repeated pass |

The **mean time** will be compared with the baseline.

The PDF should include a title, headings, a numbered list, and a table. The metadata between the first pair of --- lines controls the document title and author.

Source and Visual editing

The switch at the start of the toolbar has three modes. Code edits the Markdown directly. Visual gives formatted editing for headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, and tables. Both shows the source and the formatted text together. Open its menu to choose Stacked or Split. New projects open in Code, and each project remembers the mode you left it in.

Underline, highlight, superscript, and subscript are Pandoc formatting controls in Code mode. Their buttons are hidden in Visual mode. Use Code when working with metadata, citation syntax, or other source constructs.

Download the example source

Every toolbar tool

Select text before clicking a formatting control. In Code mode, most tools wrap the selection or insert a placeholder. Open More formatting options (…) to reach controls that do not fit in the bar.

Code / Visual

Switch between Code, Visual, and Both. The document remains Markdown source in every mode.

Undo

Reverse the last edit. ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z.

Redo

Restore an undone edit. ⌘Shift+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z.

Heading → Title

Choose Title from the heading menu to insert # Title. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Heading → Section

Choose Section from the heading menu to insert ## Section. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Heading → Subsection

Choose Subsection from the heading menu to insert ### Subsection. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Heading → Subsubsection

Choose Subsubsection from the heading menu to insert #### Subsubsection. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Heading → Minor heading

Choose Minor heading from the heading menu to insert ##### Minor heading. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Heading → Paragraph heading

Choose Paragraph heading from the heading menu to insert ###### Paragraph heading. Replace the heading text with your own title.

Bulleted list

Start an unordered list. - Item.

Numbered list

Start a sequence. 1. Item.

Task list

In Code mode, add a task and change [ ] to [x] when complete. - [ ] Task.

Blockquote

Place a quotation on its own line. > quoted text.

Bold

Emphasize selected text. **text**; ⌘B / Ctrl+B.

Italic

Emphasize a term. *text*; ⌘I / Ctrl+I.

Strikethrough

Mark text as superseded. ~~text~~.

Inline code

Format a filename, command, or identifier. Text enclosed in backticks.

Underline

Select a phrase in Code mode. [text]{.underline}.

Highlight

Select a phrase in Code mode. [text]{.mark}.

Superscript

Select the exponent in Code mode. ^text^.

Subscript

Select the subscript in Code mode. ~text~.

Underline and highlight use Pandoc attributes so formatting can travel into the PDF. Use these controls instead of adding raw HTML tags to the manuscript.

Insert link

In Code mode: Inserts [link text](url). Replace both placeholders.

In Visual mode: Opens Link URL. Enter the address and apply it to your selection. Use Remove link to keep the text without the link.

Insert image

In Code mode: Inserts ![caption](image-filename). Replace the path and caption.

In Visual mode: Opens Image file. Enter a project path such as figures/plot.png and apply it.

Insert table

In Code mode: Inserts three columns, a header, and two data rows. Replace the column names and cells.

In Visual mode: Inserts an editable table with the same starting dimensions.

Draw a diagram

Opens the diagram composer in Mermaid mode. Draw a flowchart on the canvas or edit the Mermaid code, then choose Insert as Mermaid to add it at the cursor as a fenced mermaid code block. See Mermaid diagrams.

Document insights

Lists the document’s headings, figures, tables, equations, labels, citations, and to-dos in source order, each linked to its line. It also reads the title, authors, keywords, date, and abstract from the front matter and can copy them for a submission form. See Document insights.

Document settings

Changes the document class, page size, columns, margins, body font, font size, language, line spacing, and section numbering. Oleafly writes your choices into the YAML front matter that Pandoc reads, and adds a front matter block if the file has none. See Document settings.

Project info

In Code mode: Shows project statistics and selection information.

In Visual mode: Shows statistics for the visual editing surface.

Find

In Code mode: Opens the active file’s search with ⌘F / Ctrl+F.

In Visual mode: The source toolbar’s Find button is hidden.

Import the image through the file tree before referencing it. Keep image paths relative to the manuscript, so the source archive works on another computer.

Equations and code blocks

Write inline mathematics as $x^2$. Put a display equation between two pairs of dollar signs:

$$
\bar{x} = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n}x_i
$$

For a code sample, enclose the code in triple backticks and put its language after the opening fence. These are source constructs; the Markdown toolbar does not have a separate equation or fenced-code-block button.

Mermaid diagrams

Choose Draw a diagram on the toolbar to make a Mermaid flowchart in the diagram composer. Insert as Mermaid adds it as a fenced code block:

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  A[Sample] --> B[Measure]
```

In Both mode, the formatted side draws the block as a diagram. A PDF needs an image, so the composer also saves a rendered PNG at figures/mermaid-<hash>.png, and the compile puts that image in place of the block. The diagram therefore shows up in the compiled PDF too. If you edit the block by hand afterwards, the PDF shows the code until you insert or save the diagram from the composer again. See Mermaid in Markdown documents.

Citations and bibliography

Import or create references.bib, add bibliography: references.bib to the YAML metadata, and cite an existing key with [@citation-key]. Pandoc uses the bibliography to produce formatted citations and a reference list.

Find and manage references →

Import and export

To keep an existing draft in Markdown, create a Blank Markdown document, paste the draft into main.md, and import its images and bibliography. The library’s separate Markdown document import currently converts a draft to LaTeX. Import routes explains both paths.

Compile for PDF, or use Export to create Word, HTML, Typst, LaTeX, or plain text. Use a source ZIP to share the original Markdown and its assets. Export your work covers the sequence and the checks to make in the converted file.