Introduction
What is JotBird?
JotBird is a fast, privacy-first way to write and publish Markdown to the web. There are no accounts, no dashboards, and no hosting choices to juggle — just write, publish, and get a link you control.
This guide explains how JotBird works, what it supports, and how the lifetime of published content is managed.
Overview
How JotBird Works
JotBird runs entirely in your browser. Until you publish, your content stays on your device. When you publish, JotBird renders your Markdown to a static HTML page and hosts it at a shareable URL.
Each publish creates a single document with a single URL. There are no projects, collections, or sites to manage. That simplicity is intentional.
JotBird is not a CMS, blogging platform, or collaborative editor. It’s infrastructure for Markdown — optimized for speed, clarity, and low friction.
Editing
Writing and Previewing
The editor is split into two panes:
- The editor pane, where you write Markdown
- The preview pane, which renders your content in real time
The preview reflects exactly what will be published. There’s no separate build step and no formatting surprises after the fact.
On smaller screens, the preview may be hidden or toggled by default to prioritize writing space. This behavior is intentional and may evolve as mobile usage patterns become clearer.
Publishing
Publishing, Updating, and Deleting
Publishing is a one-click operation. Once published, your document is available at a shareable URL.
Ownership
If you published the page from your current browser, you retain ownership of it. Ownership is local and implicit — there are no accounts or logins involved.
As the owner, you can:
- Update the page at any time using the Update button
- Unpublish the page permanently from the File menu
Updates keep the same URL for the lifetime of the page.
Expiration
Content Lifetime and Expiration
Published pages in JotBird are temporary by design.
All published pages and associated assets are automatically deleted 30 days after the initial publish date. This expiration is fixed and does not reset when you update the content.
When a page expires:
- The URL stops working
- The HTML page and hosted images are deleted
- The content is permanently removed from JotBird’s servers
This design keeps JotBird lightweight, private, and predictable. It is meant for sharing documents, drafts, lessons, and notes — not for long-term hosting.
Republishing After Expiration
Expiration does not affect your local content. Your Markdown remains in your browser. After a page expires, you can publish the same content again at any time.
Republishing creates a new URL and starts a new 30-day lifetime.
Files
Importing Files
JotBird supports importing local Markdown files.
Using File → Import…, you can load a .md file from your device into the editor. The file is read locally and is not uploaded unless you choose to publish.
Using File → New, you can start a fresh document. If you have unsaved changes, JotBird will prompt before clearing the editor.
Exporting
Exporting Content
You don’t need to publish in order to export your work. JotBird supports the following export options:
- Export Markdown — exports a
.mdfile with image assets (if any) - Export as HTML — downloads a standalone HTML file with image assets (if any)
- Print or save as PDF — uses your browser’s print dialog
All exports happen locally in your browser.
Markdown
Supported Markdown
JotBird supports a practical, publishing-focused subset of Markdown.
This includes:
- Headings
- Bold, italic, and strikethrough
- Highlighted text
- Inline code and code blocks
- Blockquotes
- Bulleted and numbered lists
- Task lists
- Links and images
- Emoji shortcodes
- Tables
- Footnotes
- Subscript and superscript
- GitHub-flavored Markdown conventions
HTML in Markdown
JotBird supports a small subset of inline HTML so previews and published pages render consistently.
Commonly supported tags include paragraphs and line breaks (p, br), links (a), lists (ul, ol, li), emphasis (strong, em), code (code, pre, kbd), blockquotes, headings (h1–h6), and tables (table, thead, tbody, tr, th, td).
For safety, dangerous HTML is stripped during publishing. This includes <script>, <iframe>, <object>, <embed>, inline event handlers (such as onclick), and JavaScript URLs. Images are allowed, but unsafe sources are removed.
HTML comments (<!-- like this -->) are supported and stripped from the rendered output. They’re useful for notes, annotations, or temporary content that shouldn’t appear in the published page.
Images
Images
You can paste, drag, or upload images directly into the editor.
When you publish:
- Images are hosted automatically with the page
- Image URLs remain valid for the lifetime of the page
- Images are deleted when the page expires or is unpublished
JotBird is designed for document-level imagery, not large media libraries.
Privacy
Privacy and Analytics
JotBird does not track visitors to published pages.
Published pages do not include third-party analytics or tracking scripts. Visitor behavior on shared pages is intentionally private.
Limits
Limits and Fair Use
JotBird is designed for real documents, not bulk storage or file hosting.
While there are no hard quotas exposed in the UI, usage is expected to be reasonable. Typical documents — including long articles, lesson plans, and technical notes — are well within supported limits.
If you encounter limits, it’s usually a sign that JotBird is being used outside its intended scope.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an account?
No. JotBird works without accounts or logins.
Can other people edit my published page?
No. Only the browser that published the page can update or delete it.
Are URLs permanent?
URLs remain valid for 30 days from the initial publish date.
Do updates extend the lifetime of a page?
No. Updates do not reset the 30-day expiration.
Can I republish after a page expires?
Yes. Republishing creates a new URL with a new 30-day lifetime.
Is JotBird open source?
No. JotBird is a proprietary product.
Does JotBird support math notation (LaTeX)?
Not at this time.
JotBird currently focuses on rendering standard Markdown for writing, sharing, and lightweight publishing. LaTeX-style math expressions are not rendered and will appear as plain text.
Math support is something I’m interested in exploring, especially for educational and technical use cases, but it isn’t available yet.
Does JotBird support Mermaid diagrams or other diagram formats?
Not yet.
Mermaid and other text-based diagram formats are not currently rendered. Diagram blocks will appear as plain code blocks in both the preview and the published page.
Diagram support is a common request and on the roadmap, but the current goal is to keep the publishing pipeline fast and predictable.
Support
Support and Feedback
If something doesn’t work the way you expect, that’s useful information. Bug reports, questions, and feedback can be sent to:
Clear reports help keep JotBird small, reliable, and predictable.
JotBird is intentionally simple. If it feels boring in the best possible way, it’s working.