Download this page as .mdz

Official tools for .mdz

The format is open; these tools make it practical day-to-day. Apps for everyone come first — if you build software, the developer libraries are at the end.

Apps

MDZip Studio — the desktop app

Create, edit, and package .mdz archives with a full workspace editor — no command line required. On Windows, installing for all users also registers the .mdz file type and the File Explorer preview; the Linux .deb registers the .mdz file type too (Debian/Ubuntu), and an AppImage covers other distros.

Get it: download the latest release (Windows installer, or Linux .deb/AppImage), or learn more about Studio first.

Windows (WinGet):

winget install MDZip.Studio

The default WinGet install is per-user and installs the app only. To install for all users and also get the File Explorer preview, add --scope machine:

winget install MDZip.Studio --scope machine

mdz — the command line

Create, inspect, and validate archives from the command line: mdz create, mdz ls, mdz validate, plus cat, assets, manifest, and workspace for deeper work. Self-contained builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux — no runtime to install.

Windows (WinGet):

winget install MDZip.Cli

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mdzip-project/mdzip-cli/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Linux / macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mdzip-project/mdzip-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Source and releases: mdzip-project/mdzip-cli.

MDZip Editor for VS Code

Read and write .mdz archives directly in VS Code, including packaged images, split preview/edit mode, and an included MCP server for agent workflows.

Install it from the VS Code Marketplace, search for MDZip in the Extensions view, or install from the terminal:

code --install-extension mdzip-project.mdzip-vscode

Source: mdzip-project/mdzip-vscode

File Explorer preview (Windows)

Native File Explorer preview for .mdz files, so recipients can inspect packaged content without extracting anything. It ships with MDZip Studio when you install it for all users (the installer's all-users option, or winget install MDZip.Studio --scope machine) — nothing extra to set up. This preview pane is Windows-only for now; macOS and Linux file-manager preview are still planned (Linux's .deb install registers the .mdz file type, just without a preview pane yet).

Right here, in your browser

No install at all:

  • The web previewer opens and renders .mdz files directly, including internal links and packaged assets.
  • The packager turns a local folder into an .mdz archive in the browser — drop a folder, download the archive.

Platform support

Tool Windows macOS Linux Notes
MDZip Studio ✅ Available Planned ✅ Available (.deb / AppImage) Windows (all-users install) and Linux installers register .mdz; only Windows has the File Explorer preview. Also on WinGet (MDZip.Studio)
mdz CLI ✅ Available ✅ Available ✅ Available Also on WinGet (MDZip.Cli)
VS Code extension ✅ Available ✅ Available ✅ Available Marketplace listing
Native file-manager preview ✅ Available (File Explorer) Planned Planned Ships with an all-users Studio install
Web previewer & packager ✅ ✅ ✅ Any modern browser

For developers

Everything above is built on these libraries — use them to add .mdz support to your own apps. Just want to use .mdz? You're done; everything you need is above.

JavaScript / TypeScript (npm)

@mdzip/core-js — the core: pack, unpack, validate, and resolve .mdz archives in Node or the browser.

npm install @mdzip/core-js

@mdzip/editor — the embeddable workspace editor used by Studio, the VS Code extension, and this site. Use it from vanilla JavaScript or through a first-class framework wrapper:

See it live — the demo exercises all four.

npm install @mdzip/editor

Source: mdzip-project/mdzip-core-js · mdzip-project/mdzip-editor

.NET (NuGet)

MDZip.Core — the C#/.NET core library behind the mdz CLI: read, inspect, validate, edit, and package archives from .NET 8 or .NET 10.

dotnet add package MDZip.Core

Renamed from mdzip-core (the old package is still up but no longer updated — switch to MDZip.Core).

Source: mdzip-project/mdzip-core

Format details

These tools implement the MDZip specification — read it for the normative format rules, or try the editor to see the format in action.

This page renders from tools.mdz (MDZip, ~88 KB, updated 2026-10-14) — one self-contained file. Download it, open it in the web editor, or read how these pages are made.