Vibe Your Workflow: Build a 'Custom Markdown-to-HTML Previewer' Tool.

If you work with Markdown for writing blog posts, documentation, or notes, you know how handy a live previewer can be. Instead of relying on external tools, why not build your own simple version? In this workshop, we'll 'vibe code' a custom Markdown-to-HTML previewer using TautologyAI to help generate the necessary prompts for AI coding.

The Tool: Your Instant Markdown Feedback Loop

Our goal is to create a web page with two main panels:

\n
1. An input panel (a textarea) where the user can type or paste Markdown text.
\n
2. An output panel that displays the live HTML rendering of the Markdown from the input panel.
\n

Vibe Coding Your Previewer:

Step 1: The 'Markdown Previewer' Vibe (5 mins)

Our core idea: \"A webpage that lets me type Markdown on one side and see the HTML preview on the other side, updating as I type.\"

Step 2: TautologyAI - Crafting Prompts for Logic & UI (15 mins)

Let's use TautologyAI to structure this vibe into AI-ready prompts:

\n
• HTML Structure & CSS Styling (Tailwind):\n
  \n
  • Vibe: \"HTML for a two-column layout. Left column has a textarea for Markdown input. Right column has a div to show HTML output. Basic clean styling.\"
  \n
  • TautologyAI Focus: Generates prompts for the HTML (e.g., using flexbox or grid for columns) and Tailwind CSS classes for layout and appearance.
  \n
  \n
\n
• JavaScript for Conversion & Live Update:\n
  \n
  • Vibe for Markdown Conversion: \"JavaScript function that takes a Markdown string and converts it to an HTML string. It should handle basic Markdown like headings, bold, italics, lists, and links.\"
  \n
  • TautologyAI Focus: This is key. TautologyAI helps generate a prompt that either asks the AI to write a simple Markdown parser (for very basic features) OR, more practically for robust results, instructs the AI to use a lightweight, well-known JavaScript library for Markdown conversion (like 'Marked.js' or 'Showdown.js') and provide the setup/usage code for it. This teaches users about integrating libraries.
  \n
  • Vibe for Live Update: \"JavaScript to listen for input changes in the Markdown textarea. Whenever the text changes, it should call the conversion function and update the HTML in the preview panel.\"
  \n
  • TautologyAI Focus: Generates prompts for adding an event listener (e.g., oninput) to the textarea, calling the conversion logic, and setting the innerHTML of the preview div.
  \n
  \n
\n

Step 3: AI Coding Assistant - Generating the Code (15 mins)

Feed the TautologyAI-generated prompts to your AI coder. If using a library, ensure the AI provides instructions on how to include it (e.g., via CDN for simplicity in a single HTML file).

Step 4: Assemble, Test, and Write! (10 mins)

Combine the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If using a library via CDN, add the script tag to your HTML. Open the file in your browser and start typing Markdown to see your live previewer in action!

Workshop Highlights:

\n
• Practical Developer Utility: Build a tool that you or others can genuinely use in a daily workflow.
\n
• Empowerment: Understand how to create interactive web applications that process user input and update the UI dynamically. Learn about integrating third-party libraries.
\n
• Speed to Usefulness: Go from idea to a working personal tool quickly.
\n

Supercharge Your Markdown Workflow!

Vibe coding with TautologyAI makes building handy utilities like this Markdown previewer straightforward, allowing you to focus on the desired functionality and letting AI assist with the implementation details.

Want to build your own custom workflow tool? Use TautologyAI to generate the prompts for your Markdown previewer!

What other personal utility tools would you love to vibe code? Share with #TautologyAIWorkflow!