Material for MkDocs 9.7.7 is out. It fixes a DOM-based XSS issue in the optional search.suggest feature, which was responsibly disclosed to us. Please update. Material for MkDocs will continue receiving security updates through November 5, 2026. github.com/squidfunk/mk...

4 weeks after launching Zensical Studio, Markdown Preview is one of the most requested features – soon, you won't even need to leave the editor to get a truthful preview of your docs. Supports dark mode 🌗 If you haven't, check out Studio: zensical.org/studio/

If you missed it: Python Markdown has documented all of its extensions as being in maintenance mode. Good timing: we just rewrote Python Markdown in Rust, and it already powers Zensical Studio. It’s 10-20x faster and will be Open Sourced later this year. github.com/Python-Markd...

Zensical Studio is out, and the bigger picture is coming together. We're building the next-generation Docs-as-Code stack, end to end, and we're right on track. More in tomorrow's newsletter. zensical.org/about/newsle...

Now that Zensical Studio is out and humming, I'm picking up work on ZRX again, the heart of Zensical. Working hard on closing the remaining gap to MkDocs, so most projects can move to Zensical in the coming weeks/months ☺️ github.com/zensical/zrx...

Just shipped a massive new update for @zensical.org Studio! We’re pushing hard on docs-as-code: workspace intelligence for Markdown, transitive snippet awareness, anchor/link refactors, and much better navigation. Still early, but this is the direction. zensical.org/studio/

Sneak peek: Python Markdown snippets as first-class symbols in Zensical Studio. Rename a snippet – every inclusion site updates. Type-safe content reuse, finally. 🎯 ➡️ zensical.org/studio/

Zensical Studio 0.1.2 adds syntax support for snippets, icons/emojis, smart symbols, keyboard keys, inline math, and lists, and improves nested highlighting, e.g., in link titles. It's now higher-fidelity than VS Code's Markdown extension. Release notes: github.com/zensical/stu...

Zensical v0.0.46 is out: search results now include excerpts, the UI was updated, and we also shipped several bug fixes. We now disabled some legacy reference checks by default while we move toward Zensical Studio's new Markdown parser. Release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

Zensical Studio v0.1.1 just dropped, and it brings a wide range of improvements for highlighting! Update your VS Code extension, or enable auto-update to immediately benefit from future improvements. github.com/zensical/stu...

Writing tests for our new Python Markdown TextMate grammar that we shipped as part of Zensical Studio - so much fun 😎 github.com/zensical/stu...

Very proud of the team today: we’re launching Zensical Studio. 👏 A lot of work went into making this fast, precise, and useful in real documentation projects. If you write docs with @zensical.org or MkDocs, we'd love your feedback!

Writing Rust in Zed – boy, can it get any better than that?

Zensical 0.0.44 brings further improvements to link validation. You might have noticed we've been quieter than usual – we've been heads down on a major milestone for Zensical. We'll share everything in Zensical Monthly, our newsletter, on June 10! github.com/zensical/zen...

Zensical 0.0.42 improves stability and accuracy of link validation, and fixes some bugs related to file watching, abbreviations in the table of contents, and GLightbox. Release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

We got some heat for warning our users that MkDocs 2.0 won't have a plugin system in Material for MkDocs. The maintainer just confirmed it again and is actively working on MkDocs 2.0 – no plugins, by design. Markdown + templating only. github.com/mkdocs/mkdoc...

Zensical Monthly 04/2026 AI agents don't stop when your docs have a gap. They guess – confidently, fluently, and wrongly. This month's Zensical Monthly is about what that means for technical writers, and what we're building about it. Web version: mail.zensical.org/monthly/2026...

Zensical 0.0.40 is out with macro support. You can now use macros inside Markdown files and even docstrings – a much-requested feature that was never possible with mkdocs-macros. Release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

Zensical 0.0.39 is out – a bugfix release smoothing out edges on link validation and the new lightbox integration. github.com/zensical/zen...

Pretty happy with how this turned out! We found so many issues in our own docs when dogfooding – unresolved links and unused definitions that had been silently hiding for months. 😅

Zensical 0.0.37 adds support for installable themes – you can now package your existing customizations into a theme that can be installed via pip exactly as with MkDocs. Read the release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

LLM confidently hallucinating our recommended configuration, trapping the user into thinking it's a bug. Stop submitting slop and wasting our time as maintainers! Always verify before you paste: github.com/squidfunk/mk...

Python Markdown Extension priorities – or – why you should probably never allow developers to pick their own magic numbers: What runs before or after what? 🤯

Zensical 0.0.35 just arrived. What we shipped: - 🌄 Image zoom + galleries with GLightbox – 🏗️ Rich formatting in the table of contents – 🔗 Resolution of relative links in raw HTML Release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

Open Source software wins in the age of AI – not despite it, but because of it. Extensibility, transparency, and community ownership matter more than ever. It's at the core of everything we're building with @zensical.org.

We updated our blog article with a detailed explanation on why we believe forking MkDocs is not a viable path forward. We borrowed parts of ZAP 007, our latest proposal on the requirements identified for Zensical's module system zensical.org/spark/propos... squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater...

We've had plenty of requests for this – every issue of Zensical Monthly is now published online ☺️

We just delivered the latest Zensical Monthly straight to the inbox of over 1,000 subscribers ☺️ zensical.org/about/newsle...

ZRX 0.0.17 is out – the foundation of Zensical. This one's a big deal – the module system is here, and with it a ground-up rewrite of the scheduler and stream crates. Three months of work. Phase 2 done. Phase 3 starts now. Release notes: github.com/zensical/zrx...

The software industry is being flooded with slopware – crypto bros moving into software, doing what they do, chasing quick gains now that "coding is solved." Craft has never been a bigger moat. And yes, I know. Only 6 more months, and "computer uses itself". www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrCh...

This is such a good album. Hydro & War are absolute peak in terms of production skills and musicality when it comes to Drum & Bass. I'm coming back to this one again and again, as well as to their other works. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glr9...

AWS started using Zensical as well 😎 docs.aws.amazon.com/durable-func...

I just released mike 2.2.0+zensical-0.1.0! I modernized the project, made sure tests are running + some missing replacements of "MkDocs" with "Zensical". This means you can now deploy versioned Zensical documentation to GitHub Pages! github.com/squidfunk/mi...

Zensical 0.0.30 adds a new floating table of contents menu on mobile/tablet, and ships support for our fork of "mike" – a tool that enables you to deploy multiple versions of your documentation to GH Pages. Checkout the 0.0.30 release notes: github.com/zensical/zen...

Love our bi-weekly open calls – nothing beats talking directly to the people building with @zensical.org, including our Spark members. Today we shared the results of our latest MkDocs plugin ecosystem analysis. One interactive analysis from today's session 👇

🎙️ We were on @talkpython.fm! Episode #542 is live – Martin Donath (@squidfunk.com) joined @mkennedy.codes to talk about the origin story of Zensical, how it differs from MkDocs, and what drove us to build it. If you're curious about the "why", this is a good listen: talkpython.fm/episodes/sho...

Just finished the impl of a central module system concept: Specificity. If multiple selectors match a resource, ordering becomes important. This allows for super fine-grained module interdependencies 😎 Released as part of ZRX 0.0.15 github.com/zensical/zrx...

The Slow Collapse of MkDocs A very well researched article answering the question why MkDocs as we know it is dying. Recommended read, especially if you or your organization depend on it. fpgmaas.com/blog/collaps...

In the light of the latest MkDocs developments, we've updated our plugin section to outline how we plan to reach feature parity as quickly as possible, and how MkDocs plugins relate to @zensical.org modules. zensical.org/compatibilit...

We've just released Zensical 0.0.25, which includes several improvements for authoring and user experience, as well as accessibility. We're also making good progress on the module system, so shouldn't be long ☺️ github.com/zensical/zen...

We've updated our MkDocs 2.0 analysis with the latest developments – the change in its contribution model, why we didn't fork, and a full timeline of events. squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater...

If the first version of the thing you release doesn't suck in one or the other way, while still demonstrating where you want to go with it, you shipped too late. 1/4 Thread ↓

Great episode of Factually! Over the last 30 years, companies have shifted us to a computer-based society – "every work is email" [...] and now they're saying: "you don't use computer anymore, computer uses itself – it doesn't need you". open.spotify.com/episode/1zQn...

A look at the upcoming changes in MkDocs 2.0 squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater...

Least known data structure that is extremely useful: Slab – I use it in many of my crates

Latest VS Code Update, and Rust Analyzer is constantly running on 200%. No matter which project I open or how often I restart VS Code. What. The. Fuck. I need to properly set up Zed.

I will be on @talkpython.fm next week, talking about @zensical.org ☺️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Bv...

You grind and grind on a design/architecture that just doesn't yet feel right, and then suddenly it *clicks* – and everything falls in its right place. I just love those moments when programming.

We just delivered Zensical Monthly, January 2026 edition straight to your inbox with the latest and greatest updates to keep you informed on what's happening behind the scenes ☺️ We send 1 newsletter at the beginning of every month: zensical.org/about/newsle...

Today, we entered deprecation phase 2 of Material for MkDocs Insiders – it will now print a warning, recommending to switch to the community edition. On May 1, 2026, the repository will be deleted. Please switch all CI workflows to the community edition. squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater...