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Show HN: Email.md – Markdown to responsive, email-safe HTML (https://www.emailmd.dev)

372 points by dancablam 3 days ago | 94 comments | View on ycombinator

safehuss 3 days ago |

Anything that makes email development easier is great I guess, but have personally found MJML great for solving the issues you'd run into, and not sure I want yet another abstraction layer on top of that which makes it more limited...

Kwpolska 3 days ago |

This appears to be a MJML wrapper with a Markdown→HTML converter attached to it. I think generating HTML from code is easier than generating Markdown, since there are many templating tools that understand HTML escaping. And writing HTML is not that hard, especially for your typical emails, so I'm not really sure if this library would be helpful in the long run.

bpev 2 days ago |

I'm never seen the `::: header` or `![Logo](https://...logo.png){width="200"}` kind of syntax before. Is this custom or Frankenstein solution? Or is there some kind of md-extended pattern for defining components that has been gaining steam or smthn? Markdown tooling is always confusing, since everyone has their own standard.

ph4rsikal 3 days ago |

Markdown is the secret winner of the AI early years.

deknos 2 days ago |

i never understood why the markdown mime type was not used in emailclients in webclients or desktop programs...

that would eliminate most html usage and enable longer texts than 70-85 characters per line.

pembrook 3 days ago |

I like how you aren't hiding the fact this is MJML under the hood and don't layer complex abstractions over MJML spec like similar projects (cough react email cough).

The devs maintaining MJML deserve so much credit for dealing with Gmail/Outlook's monopoly bullshit and 2007 html.

Nice idea for those who manage content in markdown. I've moved away from putting emails in my codebase, but seems great for founders moving fast.

binaryturtle 3 days ago |

Any "HTML emails" get filtered straight into the spam folder here. I think I'm not part of the target audience here.

Escapade5160 2 days ago |

At this point markdown is going to be the foundation of the entire AI web. Someone the other day showed off Markdown as a responsive frontend protocol. Now we've got email. How long until we're writing classes in markdown? We can only abstract this so far before we confuse AI more than help it.

theanonymousone 3 days ago |

I hope .md domains do not become a security hole as Markdown raises in popularity...

matzalazar 3 days ago |

Great project! And if you don't mind a little workaround and some Python scripting, you can turn a regular Obsidian folder into an automatic outbox. Write markdown, drag, drop, and ship.

creatonez 1 day ago |

I never actually thought about this. How are people making HTML emails so responsive? Email HTML is stuck in the IE6 era, right? So everything is just a horrible workaround with tables and ancient CSS?

undefined 2 days ago |

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razvan_maftei 2 days ago |

I'm not exactly following as to who this is for - people are going to use email templates instead of writing Markdown emails, and agents can just as easily spit out HTML. Seems like your solution is in search of a problem.

annie511266728 2 days ago |

Feels more like a content layer for LLMs than a replacement for MJML.

In my experience models tend to break HTML layouts pretty easily, while Markdown degrades more gracefully.

Barbing 2 days ago |

Very nice. I think the kind of folks attracted to this thread might have some thoughts on a workflow I'm interested in.

When I see a news article, I want to be able to click a button on my Mac or iPhone to send the text of the article in the body of the email. Bonus points for rehosting the images from the article. And using a similar font both without carrying over any of the original external dependencies.

Normally it’s good to support the journalist but I cannot in good conscience send a link to elderly folks when this is so much safer.

articsputnik 2 days ago |

Love everything to Markdownify :) I was just wondering, is there a Neovim/Markdown email client? Potentially using something like this? I love Neomutt, or Newsboat, and other TUIs. It would be great to have something totally on Markdown. Update: I gave it a spin [1] with Go and some of my favorite CLI's.

[1] https://x.com/sspaeti/status/2036539855182627169

undefined 1 day ago |

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dimaberlin 1 day ago |

The real pain in email HTML isn't writing it — it's maintaining it. Markdown at least gives you something a human can edit 6 months later without crying.

rbbydotdev 2 days ago |

Nice usage of admonitions. This is a great example of how eloquent markdown can be. Still very readable while even including the markup for 'footer' and the call out code.

runtype 2 days ago |

Would love to use this - any plans for Cloudflare Workers support? Some of the node APIs you're using block it from working on Cloudflare right now.

Igor_Wiwi 3 days ago |

I am working on smth similar markdown reader for humans, not agents - https://mdview.io

vindin 2 days ago |

This problem was solved almost 15 years ago

josegonzalez 2 days ago |

This plus a block-based editor like editorjs would be a great addition to any custom cms.

gojomo 2 days ago |

Which email client will stylize raw markdown itself, making the HTML step here superfluous?

ksajadi 2 days ago |

This is great! I’d love to see this supported in SendOps!

Lord_Zero 2 days ago |

Does anyone use MJML in golang? What package are you using?

mghackerlady 2 days ago |

Or, hear me out. Just send the markdown and skip the HTML bullshit. Any mail client will render markdown fine and the ones that don't either aren't worth using or don't want HTML mail in the first place. HTML email is the worst thing to ever happen to the internet

KhushaliT 3 days ago |

templates are cool but seems too heavy to land in primary inbox

deanputney 2 days ago |

Curious why the CLI function is `mvd` instead of `mdv`?

AlphaTheGoat 1 day ago |

Good luck with the adoption of markdown to email html. That's the greatest challenge.

koakuma-chan 3 days ago |

I wish people just sent plain text.

rsmtjohn 2 days ago |

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hikaru_ai 2 days ago |

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kevinbaiv 2 days ago |

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sy0115 3 days ago |

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mitul005 1 day ago |

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firefoxNX11 2 days ago |

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T3RMINATED 3 days ago |

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jsxyzb9 3 days ago |

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lexro_ai 2 days ago |

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alfanick 3 days ago |

"Write markdown. Ship emails." - I see a particular group of people interested in this, but they have their tools already.