Margin — Writing https://gomargin.app/blog/ Notes from building a local-first Markdown editor for the Mac. en Margin vs Bear: Markdown notes in a database or in a folder https://gomargin.app/blog/margin-vs-bear https://gomargin.app/blog/margin-vs-bear Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT Bear keeps Markdown in one SQLite database. Margin keeps each note as a .md file in a folder, so it has folders and Bear doesn't. Where each is better, and how to move. Your notes don't need an MCP server https://gomargin.app/blog/no-mcp-server https://gomargin.app/blog/no-mcp-server Thu, 24 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT Bear shipped a CLI, a Claude connector and an MCP server so agents can reach its notes. A folder of Markdown files needs none of that. What an agent gets from the folder, and what breaks when it edits it. The edge cases I hit building a live-preview Markdown editor https://gomargin.app/blog/markdown-edge-cases https://gomargin.app/blog/markdown-edge-cases Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT I assumed Markdown would be the easy part of building a notes app. Pipes, round-tripping, paste and the cursor each ate a weekend. Three things I decided not to parse https://gomargin.app/blog/not-to-parse https://gomargin.app/blog/not-to-parse Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Unmatched embeds, tables that refuse to be repaired, and display options with nowhere to live. Sometimes declining to parse is the safer failure. The watcher that cried delete https://gomargin.app/blog/atomic-saves https://gomargin.app/blog/atomic-saves Sat, 08 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Some editors save by replacing the whole file, so a file watcher briefly sees a deletion. Believe that event and your app tells someone their note is gone. 16 lessons from building a productivity app on weekends https://gomargin.app/blog/sixteen-lessons https://gomargin.app/blog/sixteen-lessons Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Notes from the workshop rather than wisdom from the mountain. What a few months of building a notes app has changed about how I look at every app I use.