Getting started
Context Raven's desktop app is an offline Markdown editor for macOS and Windows: no account, no network requests, until you choose to share something.
Install
Download the .dmg from the homepage, open it and drag Context Raven into Applications.
These pages show the wording and keys for macOS; the switch at the top of
every page changes that.
Welcome panel
On first launch, Welcome to Context Raven introduces local Markdown files, offers Choose folder…, shows the current default app for Markdown files, and offers optional Sign in for cloud notes and sharing. Continue works without choosing a folder. Back returns to the previous step. Skip, Escape, or Done closes the panel and remembers completion on this computer. Open it again from Help → Welcome to Context Raven.
Open a folder
With no tracked folders, the sidebar offers Open folder. Pick a folder and the app tracks
it — lists .md, .yaml, .yml, .json, .html and .htm files inside it (regardless of extension case) and watches it for changes made by
other programs, including scripts and AI agents. You can track more than one folder; each gets its
own row in the sidebar.
Open a single file
From inside the app, use the sidebar footer's Open File… button, or File → Open… (⌘O). A file opened this way doesn't need a tracked folder — it shows up in the sidebar's recent list on its own.
Opening from Finder
Double-click a .md or .markdown file in Finder, or right-click it and choose
Open With → Context Raven, and it opens directly in the app.
The welcome panel's Markdown files step shows which app currently opens .md files.
If it is another app, Open them in Context Raven makes Context Raven the default. Change…
(or Change after a successful switch) lists the other available apps. A failed change shows
an error; the success line appears only after macOS confirms the selected app.
You can change this any time from Help → Welcome to Context Raven.
You can also use Default app for Markdown files on the account Settings page, once signed
in, to see the current default or Make Context Raven the default.
Your first document
Use File → New File (⌘N), or a tracked folder's New File action, to create a document. A newly created file opens straight into editing mode with the cursor placed, ready to type.
Save
Press ⌘S to save immediately, or keep typing — the app saves automatically shortly after you stop. Closing the window also saves; there is no unsaved-changes prompt on close.
Where things are
The parts of the window and what each one holds are mapped in App interface; Reading and editing covers how a document behaves once it's open.