nvim/Q/Is there a quick way to use glow to preview the current markdown file while editing in nvim?

• Is there a quick way to use glow to preview the current Markdown file while editing in nvim? card

  • My Answer

    • Haven't found a good answer to this yet

      • I'm looking for something in vim that displays markdown as well as glow for flipping between reading mode and editing mode.
      • I'm currently using LazyVim/plugins/extras/lang/markdown, which bundles nvim/Plugin/render-markdown.nvim for in-buffer rendering (toggle <leader>um) and nvim/Plugin/markdown-preview.nvim for browser preview

    • Current Workaround - vim/split/v vsplit

      • :vsplit | terminal glow -p % opens a vertical split using nvim's built-in terminal buffer, which renders glow's ANSI output properly.
        • terminal opens a proper PTY (pseudoterminal) buffer in nvim that renders ANSI escape codes; :!glow % runs in a non-PTY subprocess and strips ANSI sequences, showing garbled text
        • In vim's command-line mode, % is a special filename modifier that expands to the current buffer's filename — so glow -p % becomes glow -p /path/to/file.md

      • Extra

        • To map it to <leader>mg, add to init.lua:
          • lua

            vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>mg', ':vsplit | terminal glow -p %<CR>',
              { desc = 'Glow markdown preview' })

        • Press q to quit the glow pager, then <C-w>c to close the split.

  • AI Answer

    • AI/Response
      • Short answer: :vsplit | terminal glow -p % — opens a vertical split and pipes the file through glow in nvim's terminal buffer, which renders ANSI output properly. :!glow % runs glow outside the nvim UI and produces no visible output inside the editor.

      • Add a keybind for repeat use

        • Add to your init.lua (or an ftplugin for markdown):
          • lua

            vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>mg', ':vsplit | terminal glow -p %<CR>',
              { desc = 'Glow markdown preview' })

        • After pressing <leader>mg, press q to quit the glow pager, then close the split with <C-w>c.

      • tmux split (zero Lua)

        • In a tmux session, open a second pane and run glow -p path/to/file.md (or use watchexec/entr to auto-refresh on save). Nothing to configure in nvim.

      • Richer in-buffer rendering (no glow process)

        • nvim/Plugin/render-markdown.nvim renders Markdown decorations inline using Neovim's virtual-text UI — no external CLI needed, and it updates as you type.

      • Sources

        • Haylin Moore — nvim keybind for rendering markdown in glow
        • nvim/Plugin/render-markdown.nvim