This is a project aiming to build a writerdeck that can use a variety of pre-made or DIY hardware. The minimalist GUI lets you edit Markdown files in a distraction-free manner.
A few demo videos are available on my YouTube channel.
An M5Stack Tab5 with AJAZZ NKL61 keyboard and my messy working desk:
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WYSIWYG Markdown editing on monochrome or color LCD display or e-paper
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Works with any Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) keyboard. M5Stack Tab5 supports also a wired USB keyboard.
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File browser to open and manage
.mdfiles on the SD card (entries sorted alphabetically, directories first) -
Markdown rendering: headings (H1-H4), bullet and numbered lists, blockquotes, code fences, horizontal rules, inline bold / italic / code / strikethrough
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Support for large files PSRAM on the ESP32 MCU is efficiently utilized to allow multi-megabyte file editing.
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Split screen editing: You can split the screen in two equal halves, or 1/3 and 2/3 parts, and use a second file for side notes or comments. Draftling supports also editing thge same file in both windows.
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Synchronizing your files with a Github repository via GitHub REST API. The WiFi client and Git credentials need to be configured in
wifi.cfgandgit.cfgon your SD card. Both publuc and private repositories are supported. -
Per-file metadata saved: when a
.mdfile is closed (or before the device enters deep sleep), the editor records the current cursor position and scroll line in a hidden sidecar file named.<basename>.metanext to the document (for examplenotes.md->.notes.md.meta). The next time the file is opened, the cursor is restored to its previous position and the view scrolls so the cursor is visible. The.metafiles are hidden from the file browser (they start with a dot) and are ignored by Git sync (which only handles*.md). -
Color themes On color LCD boards the editor offers a runtime-selectable color theme (F1 -> Settings -> Color theme): light green on black (default), dark green on black, amber/orange on black, white on black, or black on beige.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| F1 | Open main menu (BLE, WiFi, Git, Layout, Settings...) |
| Arrow keys | Move cursor |
| Home / End | Start / end of line |
| PgUp / PgDn | Scroll by page |
| Ctrl+S | Save file |
| Ctrl+O | Open file browser |
| Ctrl+N | New file |
| Ctrl+L | Cycle keyboard layout |
| Win+Space | Cycle keyboard layout (same as Ctrl+L) |
| Ctrl+M | Menu (same as F1) |
| Ctrl+G | Git sync (pull + push) |
| Ctrl+W | Toggle WiFi (connect / disconnect) |
| Ctrl+F | Find |
| Ctrl+H | Find + Replace (Tab switches field, Enter = next match, Ctrl+Enter = replace + next) |
| Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V | Copy / Cut / Paste the current selection |
| Ctrl+A | Select all |
| Ctrl+R | Force full e-paper refresh (clears ghosting; e-paper boards only) |
| Ctrl+B | Cycle backlight / front-light brightness (boards with a controllable backlight) |
| Ctrl+Home/End | Start / end of document |
| Ctrl+Left/Right | Word movement |
| Ctrl+1 | Single-pane mode (full-width editor) |
| Ctrl+2 | Split screen into two equal-width panes |
| Ctrl+3 | Split with the left pane at 2/3 width; press again to toggle the left pane to 1/3 |
| Ctrl+Tab | Move keyboard focus to the other pane (when split) |
| Escape | Switch to file browser. With unsaved changes, a dialog offers Save and exit / Exit without saving / Cancel (Up/Down + Enter to choose) |
If you want to pair a different keyboard (or re-pair after a factory reset of the keyboard), you need to erase the stored BLE bond first. There are three ways to trigger Forget All Keyboards:
- Wakeup / boot button -- 2-second hold: on every board that has a wakeup or boot button (GPIO18 on the Waveshare RLCD-4.2, GPIO0 on most others), hold the button for at least 2 seconds. The device immediately drops the current connection, clears all stored pairings, and starts scanning for a new keyboard.
- Side key on LilyGO T5 E-Paper S3 Pro H752 -- 2-second hold: the side key on GPIO48 normally injects F1 (menu) on a short press. Holding it for 2 seconds triggers Forget All instead.
- "Forget KB" button on the BLE-prompt screen (boards with a touchscreen): when the device is waiting for a keyboard to connect, the BLE-prompt screen shows a small Forget KB button to the left of the Off button. Tapping it has the same effect as the 2-second hold.
After triggering any of these actions the device starts scanning immediately; connect your new keyboard and it will pair automatically.
The editor can show two documents side by side. Ctrl+2 divides the screen into two equal-width vertical panes; Ctrl+3 makes the left pane wider (2/3 of the width) and a second Ctrl+3 flips the left pane to 1/3. Ctrl+1 returns to a single full-width pane.
Each pane opens a file for itself: while split, Ctrl+O opens the file browser for the focused pane, so the picked file loads into that pane while the other pane keeps its document. Ctrl+Tab moves keyboard focus between the two panes; the focused pane shows the active cursor and receives all editing keys.
Opening the same file in both panes shares a single in-memory copy of the document (the panes are two views of the same buffer), so you can edit or read two parts of one file at once and edits in one pane are reflected in the other. The current split layout is remembered across reboot and deep sleep.
On boards with a touchscreen, touch input works alongside the Bluetooth keyboard -- you can use either, or both. All gestures are summarized below.
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Single tap | Move the cursor to the tapped position |
| Double tap | Select the word at the tapped position |
| Drag up / down | Scroll the document line by line, following the finger (one line per line-height of travel) |
| Swipe up / down (fast flick) | Scroll by roughly one screen |
A drag that moves more than a few pixels never moves the caret -- the tap-to-cursor action only fires for short, stationary taps.
On the e-paper PaperS3 the gestures are the same, but the slower refresh rate (~80-150 ms per partial update, several seconds for a full refresh) means the visible response to a drag is less smooth than on the color-LCD JC3248W535.
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap a row | Highlight that row (same as moving with arrow keys) |
| Tap the highlighted row again | Activate it (same as pressing Enter) |
This two-step "highlight then activate" flow mirrors the keyboard "arrows + Enter" interaction and avoids accidental activations on imprecise taps.
Depending on the hardware, the device wakes up from deep sleep on a boot or power button, or on touchscreen tap where hardware allows it.
The editor supports five keyboard layouts that can be switched with Ctrl+L (or Win+Space) or through the F1 menu:
| Code | Layout |
|---|---|
| US | US-English (QWERTY) |
| UA | Ukrainian (Cyrillic) |
| DE | German (QWERTZ with umlauts) |
| FR | French (AZERTY with accents) |
| HE | Hebrew (Israeli standard) |
The current layout is shown in the title bar. By default, only US-English and Ukrainian are compiled into the firmware. Other layouts need to be enabled in firmware configuration.
Place these on the SD card root:
The file consists of two text lines: the SSID and the password.
MySSID
MyPassword
The file consists of several key=value lines, providing access to a
Github repository (private or public). The token is a GitHub
Personal Access Token with repo scope. Keep this file private.
repo_url=https://github.com/user/repo
branch=main
token=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx
path=docs/
The project supports a number of ESP32 devices. Some of them are ready-made and equipped with a battery, while others need a custom enclosure.
See HARDWARE.md for the full list of supported hardware. See BUILDING.md for firmware compilation insttucctions.
Most of the code has been generated by Claude AI under my thorough supervision. As this is a non-commercial and open source project, the author would never find enough time to program it by hand.
If anyone finds any copyright infringement in the source code, the original authors are welcome to contact me and negotiate a satisfying solution.
The firmware utilizes Greybeard and Hack fonts, both available under MIT license.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
Copyright (c) 2026 clackups@gmail.com
Fediverse: @clackups@social.noleron.com