Built-in support for the ‘Web of Markdown’?
A Feature Request: Support for Static .md Outputs & Discovery
Motivation: A Simpler, Less Exploitative Web
I’ve been interested in a simpler, less exploitative web for a long time. It feels like the modern web is increasingly dominated by ads, intrusive surveillance, tracking scripts, and bloated layouts that mock our control over our own reading decisions.
I’ve explored simpler alternative networks like Gopher and the Gemini protocol to find a quieter reading experience. But separate protocols don’t fit smoothly into my existing publishing workflow. They require running parallel infrastructure, managing new server software, and creating extra publishing overhead.
At the same time, recent developments in AI have rapidly turned Markdown into the default lingua franca of the web. Micro.blog users already author their posts in native Markdown, as does everyone using a static site, so converting that source into HTML only to have tools and readers parse it back into text feels a bit redundant. Why not cut out the middleman and directly serve the original Markdown to anyone, human or software agent, who chooses to read it?
The Web of Markdown ‘movement’ (maybe that’s a bit premature) feels like a practical way forward. It allows us to achieve calm, distraction-free, text-first reading directly on the HTTP(S) web we already use, without abandoning open standards or adding friction to our existing publishing stack. TBH, I don’t really understand why this isn’t already possible. Maybe it’s because people really love their wonderful graphics and styling and JavaScript functionality and html served programmatically etc. etc. I do too, but not for everything. Some sites are just simple. For many, simple is boring and obsolete, and won’t achieve what’s required. But can’t we at least have an option to stay simple? The recent AI love affair with Markdown may be a moment of opportunity to correct this.
Summary
I would like to propose support for the Web of Markdown philosophy across Micro.blog sites—either as an official community plugin or ultimately as a native platform toggle under Design Settings.
As discussed across the web (e.g., Dave Winer’s Scripting News, Andrew Shell and his https://md.geekity.com, and scanners like IsItAgentReady), serving lightweight, unstyled Markdown alongside HTML makes sites instantly readable for distraction-free clients, RSS/Markdown aggregators, and AI agents. Because Micro.blog stores post content in Markdown natively and uses Hugo as its rendering engine, it’s well-positioned to move forward on this emerging standard.
I’m not suggesting this proposal would solve all problems, or even many problems. As a counterpoint, I should perhaps mention Joost de Valk’s EmDash CMS. EmDash takes an agent-native, JSON-structured approach under the hood rather than relying solely on flat text files, though it still supports Markdown for round-trip editing. But that addresses a slightly different use-case: managing a CMS backend. Whereas I see serving clean Markdown as handy because both humans and bots can read the published output without much difficulty.
Apologies in advance for using AI to come up with a draft project scope, since I’m keen but have no idea what I’m doing. Please let me know what you think (about the concept, that is, not my incompetence).
Technical Specifications & Compatibility Requirements (Click to expand)
1. Static Markdown File Generation
Every published post and standalone page should build an accompanying Markdown endpoint at a predictable path (e.g., /post-slug/index.md or /post-slug.md).
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Content: The generated file outputs the
.RawContentof the post with Hugo shortcodes evaluated or cleaned. -
Headers & Metadata: Plain-text header metadata at the top linking to the canonical source:
# Post Title Date: YYYY-MM-DD Canonical URL: https://example.com/post-slug/ [Original Markdown body content] -
MIME Type: Static file delivery or edge routing must return
Content-Type: text/markdown; charset=utf-8.
2. Discovery via <head> Link Tag
Inject a discovery tag into the HTML <head> on single posts and pages:
<link rel="alternate" type="text/markdown" href="https://example.com/post-slug/index.md" title="Markdown version">
3. SEO & Canonicalization
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The primary HTML page remains the primary canonical URL (
<link rel="canonical" href="...">). -
The
.mdfile explicitly references the HTML permalink as its canonical URL. -
Server responses for Content Negotiation include
Vary: Acceptheaders to keep CDN/edge caches clear.
4. Root Level llms.txt (Optional Extension)
Generate /llms.txt at the root, listing recent posts pointing directly to their .md endpoints for streamlined indexing.
Implementation Scope & Roadmap
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Option A: Proof-of-Concept Plugin
A packaged Micro.blog plugin supplying custom Hugo output definitions (
config.json), a custom rendering layout (layouts/_default/single.md), and a<head>partial injection (layouts/partials/head.html). -
Option B: Native Platform Integration
A built-in toggle in Design Settings (“Enable Markdown endpoints for posts”). Bonus: Server/edge support for HTTP Content Negotiation (responding with Markdown directly when a request carries an
Accept: text/markdownheader).
Some benefits for Micro.blog
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Distraction-Free Reading: Provides clean text endpoints without JavaScript or styling overhead.
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Agent & Reader Readiness: Complies with emerging web standards (
isitagentready.com/md.geekity.com). -
Low Overhead: Leverages existing Hugo output formats with minimal impact on build times.
A song from Canada you might enjoy: 🎵Goûtons du plaisir, from the album Au Coeur de l’Aube by Genticorum.
🎙️Why is everyone going to Japan?
That’s the question addressed by an episode of the Search Engine podcast.
By ’everyone’, they implicitly mean Americans, which is odd since most visitors to Japan come from China. Still, it’s a very interesting discussion.
Can you make tamagoyaki?
We have a rectangular Japanese-style omelette pan in our kitchen. These pans are called makiyakinabe (巻き焼き鍋), and they’re sometimes square rather than oblong, depending on which region they belong to. But just because we have one of these pans doesn’t mean we really know how to use it. This pan is typically used to make the Japanese rolled omelette, known as tamagoyaki, but you can also make dashimaki tamago with it, which is usually made with dashi stock, or usuyaki tamago, which is a thinner omelette, or iri-tamago, which is more like scrambled eggs.
There’s certainly a knack to making rolled omelette, Japanese-style. In Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the classic documentary film of a culinary obsession, Jiro’s apprentice, Daisuke Nakazawa, speaks of how he was required to make tamagoyaki two hundred times before Jiro pronounced it fit for serving to customers. He recalls how at last, after all this practising-to-make-perfect, Jiro called him ‘shokunin’, an accomplished artisan:
“When I finally did make a good one, I was so happy I cried. It was a long time before Jiro referred to me as a shokunin. I wanted to say, ‘You just called me a shokunin, didn’t you?’ I was so happy that I wanted to throw my fist into the air, but I tried not to let it show. That’s what you strive for after all these years."
In this famous woodblock print from around 1835, Hiroshige depicted a riverside ryōtei (traditional restaurant), the Ōgiya, which was well-known for its tamagoyaki. Founded in 1648, the business still exists as a takeaway stall near Ōji Station, run by ‘15th generation owners’.
Watch a clip of Daisuke Nakazawa describing his journey to becoming a shokunin, while cooking tamagoyaki.
And here’s a short video showing how to make dashimaki tamago.
Further reading:
The heart of the craft: an encounter with the spirit of Shokunin
I’m the author of Shu Ha Ri: The Japanese Way of Learning, available now.
What I'm writing in October 2026
The main purpose of my collection of notes, organised according to the Zettelkasten principle, is to help me complete writing projects, mainly small but sometimes large too.
I’m always jotting down thoughts and ideas to use in my ever-expanding blog empire. For example, for some time I’ve been making notes on ideas about data structures. Soon these notes will see the light of day as an article or two.
And I’m constantly working on larger projects which inch very slowly towards fruition. At the moment I’m working on a sequel of sorts to my book, Shu Ha Ri. The Japanese Way of Learning. And I’m also working on a memoir about a journey around Ireland with my father thirty years ago.
As I’ve written about, my writing process oscillates between notes and drafts, so really it’s quite hard to separate the Zettelkasten notes from the drafts. Together they constitute a miniature working environment in which I think and write. Having said that, my writing system does keep them separate. The drafts are on a one-way journey to publication of some sort, whereas the notes are modular and can be used again in different contexts.
My aim is to reconfigure networks of concepts to create new knowledge and insight.
One area where I feel there’s scope to do things differently is in my reading. At the moment I seem to be reading more material than I’m making notes on. This feels a bit like a wasted opportunity. I need to be more systematic with my process here. Perhaps I can slow down my reading pace to let my notemaking keep up. I’m not one of those people who frets if I haven’t made 300 notes about a single book. I’m content with a dozen (provided it’s the right dozen, of course). But there’s a couple of books with nothing at all noted. I must make a time to correct this.
Read more:
How to write an article from your notes.
Why not publish all your notes online?
I found a way to create order from my jumbled notes
Three worthwhile modes of note-making, and one not so worthwhile.
Apocaloptimism, is that even a word?
The AI Doc on Netflix, subtitled ‘How I became an Apocaloptimist’, was a little disappointing Wikipedia. It mainly tried to showcase ‘both sides’ of the argument about AI heralding the end of civilisation. It was interesting to see how uncomfortable everyone seemed to be when addressing existential questions about AI’s future development. But I’m not convinced the main question is whether or not we should have children – even though the interviewer, Daniel Roher, seemed to think it was.
Along the way there was quite a bit of angst about computers making people redundant both materially and spiritually. I’ve written about how fear of AI is nothing new and how the concept of Promethean shame, where we feel embarassed not to be machines, has been around for quite some time. And for the record there’s no need to feel ashamed of being yourself, though the very idea does demonstrate a deep-seated, pre-existing cultural anxiety about human vulnerability.
Among the interviewees was at least one ’effective accelerationism’ cheerleader. To say the least it whiffed strongly of regulation for thee but not for me. And it all seemed very religious, but not in a good way. Also there’s the argument, implied at least, that if we don’t destroy the world quickly with data centres then the world will be destroyed.
Seems like it’s apocalypse if you do and apocalypse if you don’t. Maybe I’m just out of touch with how to make money these days.
The graphics were good though, especially the hand painted notebook entries. But if you haven’t seen Daniel Roher’s previous documentary, Navalny, I suggest you watch it first.
That really is terrifying.
Now you can listen to Writing Slowly
As attentive readers of this website will know, I’m happily using micro.blog as the site’s hosting platform. Micro.blog has a surprisingly wide range of features and it comes with several associated mini-apps, which provide easy access to those features. One of the apps is called Wavelength, and it has just been updated. This has inspired me, finally, to actually make use of it.
Wavelength makes it easy to edit and publish voice recordings and now with Wavelength I’ve been recording my voice, reading aloud a number of the longer articles on this site. So if you navigate to one of these posts (nearly twenty of them so far) you might find there’s now a little ’listen’ button, which will enable you to hear me speaking my own written words.
Why bother doing this? Well, so far it’s been quite fun, and you might just enjoy the opportunity to hear the person behind the writing.
I feel these days it’s more important than ever to lean into our own humanity. Sure, you can get a better, more professional experience elsewhere, enabled no doubt by AI automation and by the mimicking of human experience rather than the real thing. But as I’ve pointed out before, my range is me.
There’s an increasing amount of slop online and this is one small way to show my words are handmade and originated from a real person.
I’m celebrating the human touch and trying to respect you, dear reader, as a real person too.1
You’ll be relieved to know that while I might still insist on writing slowly, I speak at a reasonable speed.
So do let me know what you think, and whether I sound like you imagined I would. And if you’d like to subscribe to the weekly e-mail digest, there’s never been a better time to do so.
Talking of which, now would also be a pretty good time to check out my book, Shu Ha RI. The Japanese Way of Learning, for Artists and Fighters.
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unless you’re actually a bot, scraping my voice to make scam adverts to send to my friends and family – in which case, my respect will be commensurately diminished. ↩︎
Some close, others open, but more and more, bookshops are becoming venues for live events, and thereby contributing to the knitting together of communities of literacy and ideas. What’s happening where you are?
Read more: Bookshops in Sydney: how’s it going?
#BookShops #Sydney
Bookshops in Sydney. How's it going?
In the house by the ocean where we’re currently staying there’s a copy of Annie Dillard’s collection of essays, For the Time Being. In the inside back cover there’s a label from the store where it was purchased: Norton Street Books in Leichhardt, Sydney. That book shop has long since closed, so long ago that I’ve never personally heard anyone mention its existence. But then this year when Berkelouw Books, also on Norton Street in Leichhardt, announced they were shutting down I realised I’ve been living in Sydney for long enough now to have experienced the closure and opening of many bookstores over the years.
A good decade before COVID, around 2010 there was a period when it felt as though there was a real culling of Sydney bookshops. This was around the time Dymocks closed several of their CBD branch stores to focus on just their flagship store on George Street. Each closure felt like the end of an era. Cumulatively it was seriously worrying. And then the turmoil grew worse.
📷 A bluebottle (Physalia utriculus), washed up on the beach.
#photography #wildlife #Australia