PlanCake — Markdown Reader with Notes

Read Markdown files comfortably and leave notes right where they belong. PlanCake shows a Markdown file as a real document and writes your notes straight into it, right after the block they refer to.

Features

  • Markdown shown the way it is meant to be read — real headings, lists, tables, and code blocks instead of hash signs and asterisks
  • One-click notes — click a paragraph, list item, heading, table row, or code block, type a note, and PlanCake writes it into the file right after that block
  • Notes are plain text in the file itself — nothing to save, no side file, and any tool that reads the file sees them
  • A notes list beside the document, with F9 and Shift+F9 to jump to the next and previous note
  • Undo and redo for everything PlanCake writes
  • Task lists with real checkboxes — tick one off, and PlanCake marks it done in the file
  • Live reload — when another program changes the file, PlanCake reloads it, keeps your place, and never writes a note over a change you have not seen
  • Multiple ways to open a file — command line, file dialog, drag and drop, the clipboard, or a link, including GitHub file links
  • Customizable note markers — [usernote] and [/usernote] by default, or a single marker that runs to the end of its line
  • Command-line mode to list, count, clear, and export notes, for scripts and AI assistants
  • Export to a standalone web page with the notes marked
  • Available in six languages — English, French, German, Hebrew (with a right-to-left interface), Russian, and Ukrainian
  • Works equally well with the mouse, the keyboard alone, or a screen reader, which reads the document with its usual heading, list, and table navigation instead of spelling out Markdown punctuation

Reviewing Plans with an AI Assistant

AI coding assistants write long implementation plans, often hundreds of lines of Markdown, and ask you to review them. Reading them raw is tiring, and commenting on them is worse: you either describe in a chat where each remark belongs, or edit the file by hand and hope the assistant notices.

With PlanCake, you read the plan like a document and leave notes wherever you want changes. When you are done, the assistant reads your notes together with the exact blocks they refer to, reworks the plan, and removes the notes it has dealt with.

The Debussy plugins for Claude Code have this review step built in.

Command Line

Run with a subcommand, PlanCake works without a window:

  • plancake plan.md — open the file in a window
  • plancake list plan.md — print every note with the block it follows; add --json for JSON output
  • plancake check plan.md — count the notes: exit code 0 with none, 3 with some
  • plancake clear plan.md — remove every note from the file
  • plancake export plan.md -o plan.html — save a standalone web page with the notes marked

Run plancake --help for every option.

Download

Download installer (v1.0.0.11) Download portable (v1.0.0.11)

The installer sets up PlanCake on your system, along with any runtimes it needs. The portable version runs from any folder without installation and keeps its settings next to the program.

PlanCake is not signed with a code-signing certificate, so the first time you run it, Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher. To continue, choose More info, then Run anyway.

System Requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
  • .NET 10.0 Desktop Runtime (downloaded automatically by the installer if missing)
  • Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11, installed automatically by the installer if missing)

Source Code and Support

PlanCake is open-source software licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

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