md-document — Long-form Markdown to HTML

The general-purpose converter — handles the 90% case Shihipar describes (specs, plans, RFCs, reports, explainers). Three stdlib tools pipeline together:

markdown_parser.py  →  html_renderer.py  →  interactivity_injector.py
   (md → JSON AST)    (AST + tokens → HTML)    (HTML + JS behavior)

Output is one .html file with sticky TOC, search filter, scrollspy, code-copy buttons, and the user's 12 derived brand tokens. Externals limited to Google Fonts CSS + Prism.js CDN.

When to invoke

Pipeline

# 1. Parse markdown → JSON AST
python3 markdown-html/skills/md-document/scripts/markdown_parser.py \
    --input <path>.md --output sections.json

# 2. Render AST + design-system config → single-file HTML
python3 markdown-html/skills/md-document/scripts/html_renderer.py \
    --sections sections.json --output document.html

# 3. Inject lightweight JS (search, copycode, smoothscroll, scrollspy)
python3 markdown-html/skills/md-document/scripts/interactivity_injector.py \
    --file document.html \
    --features search,copycode,smoothscroll,scrollspy

Or all-in-one (sample render):

python3 markdown-html/skills/md-document/scripts/html_renderer.py --sample \
  | python3 markdown-html/skills/md-document/scripts/interactivity_injector.py \
      --file /dev/stdin --output document.html

What gets rendered

CommonMark subset sufficient for agent-generated artifacts:

• Headings H1-H6 (every H2+ gets an anchor id and TOC entry)
• Paragraphs with inline bold / italic / code / links / images
• Fenced code blocks ( `python ) with Prism.js highlighting on demand
• GFM tables with per-column alignment
• GFM callouts (> [!NOTE], > [!TIP], > [!IMPORTANT], > [!WARNING], > [!CAUTION])
• Blockquotes, ordered + unordered lists (single-level), horizontal rules

Out of scope: nested lists, HTML inlines, footnotes, definition lists, task list checkboxes (rendered as plain text), reference-style links.

Hard rules

1. Refuses input < 100 lines. Markdown wins below the threshold (Shihipar).
2. Refuses without onboarding. config_loader.setup_completed() must return True. Otherwise surface /cs:design-system.
3. Single-file output. All CSS + JS inline. Only externals are fonts.googleapis.com and cdn.jsdelivr.net (Prism). Anything else is a regression.
4. Customization must change behavior. design_style=editorial produces 720px-wide layout with 1.75 line-height; playful rounds the callouts and adds shadow; technical is dense with 0.875rem code. Smoke-tested.
5. WCAG-compliant tokens. Inherits the design-system's WCAG AA palette — body text ≥ 4.5:1 contrast, links iteratively walked to 4.5:1.
6. Idempotent injection. Re-injecting interactivity is a no-op (marker check). Re-rendering with a different design_style works cleanly.

Forcing-question library (Matt Pocock grill discipline)

1. What's the document for — skim, decide, or deep-read? Recommended: name it; density follows. Canon: Shihipar; Tufte Envisioning Information.
2. Sticky-sidebar TOC or collapsible-top? Recommended: sticky-sidebar for > 800 words / 4+ H2s; collapsible-top for shorter mobile-first docs. Canon: NN/g TOC Best Practices (2023).
3. All four interactive features, or a subset? Recommended: all four — none of them cost more than ~1 KB. Canon: Wattenberger Why React isn't great for actually building websites.
4. Code theme — light, dark, or auto? Recommended: auto (follows OS prefers-color-scheme). Canon: WCAG 2.2 §1.4.3.
5. Does the document have a clear H1 title? Recommended: yes — H1 becomes the page <title> and is excluded from the TOC.

Distinct from

• `md-review` — that converter renders diff blocks + severity-tagged margin annotations. This one renders prose + tables + code + callouts.
• `md-slides` — that converter splits on --- boundaries into slides. This one renders one continuous document.
• `marketing/landing/` — that generates landing pages from scratch (no markdown input). This converts existing markdown.

Output artifact

{default_output_dir}/doc-{slug}.html (path resolved by orchestrator's output_path_resolver.py; collision suffix -2, -3, … by default).

References

• Shihipar — Claude Code HTML output (Medium, 2026)
• Tufte — Envisioning Information (1990), ch. 2 "Micro/Macro Readings"
• NN/g — Table of Contents Best Practices (2023)
• WCAG 2.2 — §1.4.3 contrast, §2.4.5 multiple ways
• Wattenberger — Why React isn't great for actually building websites
• See references/ for full citations