Installation

This guide walks you through installing the Markdown PDF extension for Zed.

Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure you have:

• Zed Editor — Download from zed.dev
• Node.js 18+ — Required for the MCP server
• Rust with WASM target — Only for dev extension installation

# Check Node.js version
node --version   # Must be ≥ 18

# Add Rust WASM target (for dev extension only)
rustup target add wasm32-wasip1

Installation Methods

From Zed Extensions (Recommended)

1. Open Zed
2. Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
3. Search for Extensions: Install Extension
4. Search for markdown-pdf
5. Click Install

As a Dev Extension

For development or to use the latest unreleased features:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/matinfo/zed-markdown-pdf.git

2. Open Zed

3. Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)

4. Run zed: install dev extension

5. Select the zed-markdown-pdf folder

Zed will compile and install the extension automatically.

Enable the Context Server

After installation, enable the context server:

1. Open Zed Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,)
2. Navigate to Agent → Context Servers
3. Find markdown-pdf and enable it

Or add to your settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "markdown-pdf": {
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Automatic Setup

On first use, the extension automatically:

1. Downloads the MCP server from GitHub releases
2. Installs npm dependencies (~30 seconds)
3. Downloads Chromium (~150 MB, ~2 minutes)

You'll see progress messages:

Installing npm dependencies (first run)…
Chromium not found, installing automatically…
Chromium installed successfully.

This happens once. Subsequent exports are instant.

Manual Chromium Installation

If automatic installation fails, install Chromium manually:

macOS

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Zed/extensions/work/markdown-pdf/server
npm install
node node_modules/playwright-core/cli.js install chromium

Linux

cd ~/.local/share/zed/extensions/work/markdown-pdf/server
npm install
node node_modules/playwright-core/cli.js install chromium

Windows

cd $env:APPDATA\Zed\extensions\work\markdown-pdf\server
npm install
node node_modules\playwright-core\cli.js install chromium

Verify Installation

To verify everything is working:

1. Open any Markdown file in Zed
2. Open the assistant panel
3. Ask: Run doctor_markdown_pdf

You should see output like:

{
  "browser": {
    "available": true,
    "backend": "Chromium (Playwright)",
    "version": "147.0.7727.15"
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Extension fails to build

Ensure Rust and the WASM target are installed:

rustup target add wasm32-wasip1

Context server doesn't start

1. Confirm markdown-pdf is enabled in Agent → Context Servers
2. Restart Zed
3. Check Zed logs: Help → View Logs
4. Check debug log: /tmp/zed-markdown-pdf-debug.log

Node.js not found

Ensure Node.js is in your PATH:

which node   # Should return a path
node --version   # Should be ≥ 18

Next Steps

• First Export — Create your first PDF
• Header & Footer — Add professional headers and footers
• Global Settings — Configure default options