As someone who lives in the terminal and swears by Neovim for everything, I’ve built up an extensive collection of notes and documentation using Vimwiki. It’s an incredible tool—fast, keyboard-driven, and perfectly integrated into my Vim workflow. But there’s always been one nagging limitation: sometimes you just want to browse your documentation, not edit it.

Whether you’re searching across hundreds of notes, sharing documentation with colleagues, or simply wanting a more visual way to explore your knowledge base, reading raw markdown in a terminal isn’t always ideal. That’s where this solution comes in—a way to have your cake and eat it too.

The Problem: Two Worlds, One Goal#

I love writing in Vimwiki. The modal editing, the instant linking between notes, the seamless integration with my existing Neovim setup—it’s productivity heaven. But I also love well-formatted documentation with proper navigation, search functionality, and the ability to browse on my phone or share with others.

The traditional approach would be to choose one or the other:

  • Stick with terminal-only and sacrifice visual browsing
  • Move to a web-based solution and lose the power of Vim

But why choose? What if we could transform our existing Vimwiki files into beautiful web documentation without changing our workflow at all?

Enter MkDocs: Documentation Done Right#

MkDocs is a static site generator designed specifically for project documentation. It takes markdown files and creates beautiful, searchable websites with features like:

  • Live reload during development
  • Client-side search across all content
  • Responsive design that works on any device
  • Professional themes (especially Material Design)
  • Navigation generation from your file structure

The catch? Setting it up manually involves several steps, potential configuration pitfalls, and on Arch Linux (my daily driver), some additional complexity due to Python’s externally-managed environment restrictions.

The Solution: Automation That Just Works#

I created a script that automates the entire process, handling everything from installation to serving your documentation with a single command. Here’s what makes it special:

Smart Installation for Arch Linux#

Arch Linux implements PEP 668, which prevents installing Python packages globally with pip. My script handles this intelligently:

# First tries system packages (cleanest approach)
sudo pacman -S python-mkdocs python-mkdocs-material

# Falls back to pipx (isolated application install)
pipx install mkdocs
pipx inject mkdocs mkdocs-material

# Last resort: creates a virtual environment
python -m venv ~/.local/share/mkdocs-venv

This ensures maximum compatibility while respecting Arch’s package management philosophy.

Preserving Your Workflow#

The genius is in the approach—instead of moving your files or changing your workflow, the script:

  1. Creates a docs/ subdirectory in your vimwiki folder
  2. Creates symbolic links from docs/ to your existing markdown files
  3. Configures MkDocs to use the docs/ directory

This means:

  • ✅ Your files stay exactly where they are
  • ✅ Vimwiki continues to work normally
  • ✅ All your internal links remain functional
  • ✅ You can edit in Neovim and see changes instantly in the browser

Professional Configuration Out of the Box#

The script generates a comprehensive MkDocs configuration featuring:

  • Material Design theme with dark/light mode toggle
  • Enhanced navigation with tabs and sections
  • Search functionality with highlighting
  • Markdown extensions for code blocks, admonitions, task lists, and more
  • Live reload for instant feedback

The Magic in Action#

Here’s what using it looks like:

  1. Write as usual in Neovim with Vimwiki
  2. Run the script (./setup_mkdocs.sh)
  3. Browser opens automatically showing your documentation
  4. Continue editing in Neovim—changes appear instantly in the browser
# The script handles everything
./setup_mkdocs.sh

# Output:
# [INFO] MkDocs installed via pacman!
# [SUCCESS] Created mkdocs.yml configuration!
# [INFO] Linked: index.md
# [INFO] Linked: programming-notes.md
# [SUCCESS] MkDocs server started successfully
# [INFO] Documentation available at: http://127.0.0.1:8000

Real-World Benefits#

Since implementing this workflow, I’ve discovered several unexpected benefits:

Mobile Access#

I can now browse my notes on my phone or tablet. Perfect for reviewing information during commutes or when away from my computer.

Better Navigation#

The auto-generated sidebar makes it easy to see the structure of my documentation and jump between related topics.

Finding information across hundreds of notes is now instant. The search functionality highlights matches and shows context.

Sharing Made Easy#

When colleagues need access to documentation, I can quickly share a professional-looking website instead of raw markdown files.

Visual Context#

Sometimes seeing your notes with proper formatting reveals patterns and connections that aren’t obvious in raw text.

Technical Deep Dive#

For those interested in the technical details, here’s how the script solves some key challenges:

Directory Structure Management#

MkDocs requires a specific structure but doesn’t like when the docs directory is the same as the config directory. The script solves this by:

~/vimwiki/
├── mkdocs.yml          # Configuration
├── docs/               # Symbolic links to your files
│   ├── index.md -> ../index.md
│   └── notes.md -> ../notes.md
└── site/              # Generated website

Process Management#

The script includes intelligent server management:

  • Detects and stops existing MkDocs instances
  • Handles port conflicts (tries 8001 if 8000 is busy)
  • Provides graceful shutdown with Ctrl+C
  • Saves process IDs for proper cleanup

Error Handling#

Comprehensive error checking includes:

  • Testing builds before starting the server
  • Detailed error logging and diagnostics
  • Fallback options for different installation methods
  • Clear feedback about what went wrong and how to fix it

The Code#

The complete script is available as a single bash file that handles everything automatically. Key features include:

  • Colored output for clear status reporting
  • Multiple installation methods for maximum compatibility
  • Automatic browser launching for immediate access
  • Live reload for seamless editing experience
  • Clean shutdown handling

Beyond Personal Use#

While I built this for my personal Vimwiki setup, the approach works for any markdown-based documentation:

  • Project documentation that needs to be shared with teams
  • Technical knowledge bases for organizations
  • Study notes that benefit from visual browsing
  • Research documentation with complex interconnections

Conclusion: The Best of Both Worlds#

This solution exemplifies what I love about the Unix philosophy—small tools that do one thing well, composed together to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

Vimwiki excels at capturing and organizing thoughts quickly. MkDocs excels at presenting information beautifully. By combining them thoughtfully, we get:

  • The speed and power of Vim for editing
  • The beauty and accessibility of modern web documentation
  • Zero workflow disruption—your existing setup continues to work exactly as before
  • Enhanced capabilities—search, mobile access, sharing, and visual browsing

In a world where we’re often forced to choose between powerful tools and user-friendly interfaces, it’s refreshing to find a solution that genuinely delivers both.

Whether you’re a fellow Vim enthusiast looking to enhance your documentation workflow, or someone interested in bridging terminal and web-based tools, I hope this approach inspires you to think creatively about combining the best aspects of different technologies.

The future of productivity isn’t about choosing the right tool—it’s about making the right tools work together.

Want to try it yourself? The complete script and documentation are available in my scripts repository https://codeberg.org/Bist/scripts. Feel free to adapt it for your own workflow and let me know how it works for you!