A calm terminal Markdown reader.

Browse a folder of notes, jump anywhere with ctrl+p, read in zen, and, only if you ask, let a model summarize, gloss or answer. Obsidian-flavored, live reload, 42 themes.

i install
space play the tour
? keys
github ↗

brothy ~/examples

0:00space play ← → seek

tap the screen to watch it full screen

A short tour, recorded from the real UI: reading a note, following links, the switcher, themes, then the opt-in AI (a TL;DR, asking your notes a question, explaining what changed on reload, a gloss in zen), the live reload and zen. The AI answers are canned replies from a stand-in model, so the recording needs no network or key.

Install

macOS or Linux, in a terminal with true color and Unicode.

# pick your platform: linux | darwin, x64 | arm64
curl -fLo brothy https://github.com/jackMort/brothy/releases/latest/download/brothy-linux-x64
chmod +x brothy && mv brothy ~/.local/bin/brothy
brothy ~/notes

# download brothy-<os>-<arch> and SHA256SUMS from the releases page, then:
sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS     # shasum -a 256 -c on macOS
chmod +x brothy-linux-x64
mv brothy-linux-x64 ~/.local/bin/brothy

On macOS, clear the quarantine flag first if it is blocked: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine brothy-darwin-arm64.

# needs Bun 1.4 or newer
git clone https://github.com/jackMort/brothy.git && cd brothy
bun install
bun run build                # single binary ./brothy, parsers embedded

brothy is not published to npm; releases ship prebuilt binaries only. All install details.

Quick start

brothy                # browse the current folder
brothy ~/notes        # browse a folder
brothy README.md      # open one file (its folder fills the panel)
brothy -t dracula     # pick a theme (a family name opens its dark theme: -t one)
curl -s … | brothy    # read a pipe

Then ? for the hints and ? again for every key, ctrl+p to go anywhere, t for themes, z for zen.

Features

Reading

Preview and raw Source (s), find (/ n N), live reload with the sections that changed listed in Info. Reading
Obsidian notes: wikilinks, embeds, callouts, ==highlights==, %%comments%%, dataview blocks. Obsidian notes
Zen (z): only the text, with scroll or pages flow, spotlight, typewriter and teleprompter. Zen mode
A braille minimap from 110 columns (m), find hits in a lane beside it.

Files / Outline / Info panel (1 2 3) with fuzzy filter, folder counts and a reading marker.
ctrl+p over the whole vault (notes, headings, text), with a peek pane. Navigating notes
f labels the links on screen; H L go back and forward.
e opens your $EDITOR at the line you are reading; brothy - reads a pipe.

Looks

42 themes in 22 families, picked on a dark | light board (t) with a live sample note; a transparent background (T) and a full-width toggle (w). Themes