.mdzA portable, open format for bundling Markdown documents, images, and metadata into a single ZIP archive.
.mdz file?
A .mdz file is a standard ZIP archive with a
.mdz extension, structured to contain one or more
Markdown documents along with their associated assets and optional
metadata — all in a single, self-contained file.
All Markdown content, images, and linked assets are bundled together. No broken links, no missing files.
Built on the widely supported ZIP format. Any ZIP tool can open, inspect, or extract a .mdz file.
The contents are plain Markdown — human-readable, version-control friendly, and renderable anywhere.
Share a single file via email, file storage, or any transfer method and the recipient gets everything they need.
An optional manifest.json allows tools to store title, author, date, tags, and custom fields.
Works with existing Markdown renderers, static site generators, and documentation tools with minimal adaptation.
.mdz?
Markdown is great for writing, but sharing a document with images
and multiple files means sending a folder, a repo link, or a
tarball — none of which are friendly to non-technical recipients.
.mdz solves this — and even on a system with no
knowledge of the format, the file remains immediately accessible:
rename it to .zip, extract, and open the Markdown in
any text editor.
Attach a single .mdz to an email or upload it anywhere. The recipient gets the complete document — no zip-then-rename, no folder compression ambiguity.
Unlike proprietary formats (DOCX, Notion exports, Confluence backups), .mdz is plain text in a standard ZIP. Any tool can read it today and in ten years.
A recognised extension and a defined layout give tools a contract to rely on — so renderers, editors, and converters can handle .mdz without guessing at the contents.
On any system that can unzip files and open a text editor, a .mdz file is immediately useful. Rename it to .zip, extract, and read. No special software, no installation, no internet required.
A valid .mdz archive must contain at least one
Markdown entry point (index.md) at the root. All
other entries are optional but follow a predictable layout.
| Entry | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
index.md |
Yes | The primary Markdown document and entry point for the bundle. |
manifest.json |
No | JSON metadata: title, authors, version, description, keywords, and more. When present, mdz and title are required fields. |
assets/ |
No | Recommended directory for images, styles, and other media referenced in Markdown files. |
Additional .md files |
No | Extra Markdown files linked from index.md, at any path within the archive. |
manifest.json file
Place a manifest.json at the archive root to provide
structured metadata about the document bundle.
{
"mdz": "1.0",
"title": "My Project Documentation",
"description": "Full reference for the Acme Widget SDK.",
"author": "Jane Smith",
"created": "2026-03-01",
"modified": "2026-03-08",
"version": "1.2.0",
"language": "en",
"tags": ["documentation", "sdk", "reference"],
"entry": "index.md"
}.mdz file
Because .mdz is a ZIP archive, you can create one
with any standard ZIP tool — no special software required.
The minimum conforming .mdz file is just an
index.md inside a ZIP archive with the extension
renamed to .mdz. Everything else is optional.
Write your Markdown
Create an index.md file with your document content using standard Markdown syntax.
Add a manifest (optional)
Create a manifest.json with title, author, and other metadata you want to include.
Gather assets
Place any referenced images or other media in an assets/ subdirectory and update your Markdown image paths accordingly.
Zip it up
Compress the files into a ZIP archive and rename the extension from .zip to .mdz.
# Create the directory structure
mkdir -p my-doc/assets
# Write your document
echo "# Hello World" > my-doc/index.md
# Add an image
cp photo.png my-doc/assets/photo.png
# Zip and rename to .mdz
cd my-doc && zip -r ../my-doc.mdz . && cd ..# Create structure
New-Item -ItemType Directory my-doc\assets
# Write your document
"# Hello World" | Out-File my-doc\index.md
# Compress to .mdz
Compress-Archive -Path my-doc\* -DestinationPath my-doc.mdz