showmaker

showmaker is an open‑source, cross‑platform desktop app that turns Markdown —often authored with generative AI—into Quarto‑based, interactive HTML slides. Built with Rust and Tauri, it offers a simple, user‑friendly interface with no command‑line setup. With a straightforward installer, built‑in theme support, and smooth integration with existing Markdown workflows, showmaker streamlines the path from draft to polished web slides.

Prerequisite

[!IMPORTANT]
You must install Quarto to run showmaker

If showmaker show red check instead green check, please install and restart PC again

Installation

Download the installer for your operating system:

[!IMPORTANT]
Linux is not currently supported.

Run the installer and follow the prompts.
Launch showmaker from your applications menu.

Quick Start

Follow these five simple steps to create your first presentation with showmaker:

Prepare a markdown file – Create or obtain a sample .md file. Utilizing AI to generate a markdown file is recommended, see AI generated slide-markdown file below. You can use revealjs for HTML, pptx for Powerpoint, beamer for PDF.

[!IMPORTANT]
The result markdown file must contain header as shown in the example below.

For more information, see Quarto Presentation

---
title: "This is title"
author: "Author"
format: revealjs
embed-resources: true
---

Upload markdown to showmaker – Use the Upload button

Render and Download slide with showmaker – Use the Render button

Use your presentation – Open the generated Quarto-based slides.

Features

Seamless Workflow – Works with any existing Markdown content, including files generated by large language models.
Easy Markdown to Quarto Slides – Instantly convert Markdown files into Quarto-based presentations.
Cross-Platform – Runs on Windows, macOS, as a standalone desktop app.
User-Friendly Interface – Simple GUI for non-technical users.
Built with Rust + Tauri – Fast, lightweight, and secure by design.
Offline Operation – No internet connection required, ensuring complete data privacy and security.

AI generated slide-markdown file

You can use this prompt to have an AI generate a markdown file.

Make a simple slide to introduce Tauri in markdown format.

1. The Markdown file must include a YAML header containing author, title, format, and embed-resources, as shown in the example below.

---
title: "This is title"
author: "Author"
format: revealjs
embed-resources: true
---

2. Each slide consists of a title and content, separated by # and -. For example:

# page1
- item 1
- item 2

# page2
- item 3
- item 4

and this will generate markdown like this:

---
title: "Introduction to Tauri"
author: "Your Name"
format: revealjs
embed-resources: true
---

# What is Tauri?

- A framework for building desktop applications
- Uses web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
- Runs on a lightweight Rust backend

# Key Features

- Small bundle size
- Secure by default
- Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux)

# Why Use Tauri?

- Better performance than Electron
- Lower memory usage
- Flexible frontend framework choice (React, Vue, Svelte, etc.)

# Architecture Overview

- Frontend: Any modern web framework
- Backend: Rust-powered core
- Communication via secure API bridge

# Development Workflow

- Write frontend like a web app
- Integrate with Rust commands
- Build native executables

# Example Use Cases

- Productivity tools
- Note-taking apps
- Markdown editors

# Getting Started

- Install Rust
- Create Tauri project (`npm create tauri-app`)
- Develop, build, and ship your app

# Resources

- Official site: https://tauri.app
- GitHub repository: https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri
- Community Discord & discussions

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether it’s reporting a bug, suggesting a new feature, improving documentation, or submitting code, your help is greatly appreciated.

How to contribute:

Open an issue – Before starting any work, please open an issue to discuss your idea or report a bug. This helps prevent duplicated work and ensures your contribution aligns with the project’s goals.
Fork the repository and create your branch from main.
Make your changes – follow the project’s coding style and include relevant tests if applicable.
Commit your changes with a clear, descriptive message.
Push to your branch and open a Pull Request.

Before submitting a PR:

Make sure your changes build and run correctly on your platform.
Update the documentation if your changes affect usage or features.
Check that your code passes all existing tests.

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please open an issue and include as much detail as possible.

Running Tests

showmaker includes a comprehensive test suite to ensure that Markdown parsing, Quarto rendering, and error handling work as expected.

To run all tests, execute:

cargo test

This will compile the project in test mode and run:

Unit tests for YAML front matter validation
Rendering tests (mocked) to verify HTML slide generation
Error-handling tests for invalid input, unsupported formats, and missing dependencies

All tests are automated and can be run on any supported platform without requiring an internet connection.

Showmaker

Install / Use

README