MarkdownEditor: The Next Step in Working with Text

Text editors have come a long way—from simple utilities to complex systems—but the gap between WYSIWYG and Markdown still hinders efficient text work. In this talk, I’ll share how we built MarkdownEditor—an open-source tool that bridges both approaches and enables seamless real-time switching between them.

I’ll share the story of its creation, break down its architecture—how ProseMirror, CodeMirror, and Gravity UI helped us—and discuss the challenges we overcame, from synchronizing modes to building a plugin system. I’ll show how the editor simplifies documentation workflows and optimizes processes at Yandex.

We’ll also discuss the future: how text tools shape ecosystems and why the right technologies redefine how we work with content.

This talk is for developers, technical writers, and anyone curious about the future of text editing.