MD Navigator
MD Navigator provides a two-panel file browser in the Drupal admin interface, allowing users to navigate, read, and render Markdown files directly within their browser. It supports features like hierarchical navigation, full Markdown rendering, and search capabilities, and can be configured to point to specific directories like custom modules or themes. An optional editor submodule is available to create and edit Markdown files.
MD Navigator
MD Navigator adds a two-panel file browser to the Drupal admin interface that lets you navigate and read `.md` files stored anywhere in your Drupal filesystem — without leaving the browser.
Browse your custom module and theme documentation, Drupal core READMEs, or any tree of Markdown files you configure. Click a directory to drill in, click a file to read it rendered as clean HTML on the right.
Use cases
- **Developers** — read module README files, CHANGELOG entries, and inline documentation while working inside Drupal without switching to a terminal or text editor
- **Technical teams** — keep a `docs/` folder of project notes, decisions, and runbooks browsable from the Drupal admin
- **Site builders** — browse the README files of installed modules and themes to quickly look up configuration options and hooks
- **Drupal agencies** — maintain client-facing handoff documentation as `.md` files in a custom module, browsable by anyone with the right role
Features
- Hierarchical sidebar showing only directories and files that contain `.md` content — no noise from other file types
- Drill into subdirectories and navigate back with the Up button
- Full Markdown rendering: headings, bold, italic, tables, code blocks, blockquotes
- **Search** — type a term to search across all configured directories simultaneously; results are split into filename matches and content matches with highlighted excerpts
- Configurable starting directories — point the browser at `modules/custom`, `themes/custom`, `core/modules`, or any path relative to the Drupal root
- Role-based access via standard Drupal permissions
Optional editing (md_navigator_editor submodule)
The included `md_navigator_editor` submodule adds create and edit capability powered by the [MDX Editor](https://www.drupal.org/project/mdxeditor) module. Enable it when you need to:
- Create new `.md` files directly from the browser
- Edit existing files with a rich Markdown toolbar (bold, italic, headings, lists, code blocks, tables, source view)
- Save changes back to the filesystem
`md_navigator` (browse and read) has no dependency on MDX Editor and works on any Drupal 11+ site. `md_navigator_editor` requires MDX Editor and is kept separate so sites that only need reading are not affected by that dependency.
Requirements
- Drupal 11 or 12
- PHP 8.2+
- [`league/commonmark`](https://commonmark.thephpleague.com/) (installed via Composer automatically)
- **For editing only:** [MDX Editor](https://www.drupal.org/project/mdxeditor) module
Related modules
- [MDX Editor](https://www.drupal.org/project/mdxeditor) — rich Markdown editor for Drupal text fields; used by the `md_navigator_editor` submodule