README.qmd

---
format: gfm
---

```{python}
#| echo: false
import subprocess
result = subprocess.run(
    ["uv", "run", "python", "-c", "import md2linkedin; print(md2linkedin.__version__)"],
    capture_output=True, text=True
)
version = result.stdout.strip()
```


# md2linkedin <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IndrajeetPatil/md2linkedin/main/docs/assets/logo.png" align="right" width="240" />

[![PyPI
version](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/md2linkedin.png)](https://pypi.org/project/md2linkedin/)
![Python versions](https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/md2linkedin.png)
[![PyPI
Downloads](https://img.shields.io/pypi/dm/md2linkedin.png)](https://pypistats.org/packages/md2linkedin)

`md2linkedin` converts Markdown text to LinkedIn-compatible plain text by
replacing bold, italic, and bold-italic markers with Unicode Mathematical
Sans-Serif characters. This preserves visual formatting when pasting into
platforms like LinkedIn that do not support Markdown natively.

## Installation

| Package Manager | Installation Command      |
|-----------------|---------------------------|
| pip             | `pip install md2linkedin` |
| uv              | `uv add md2linkedin`      |

> **Tip:** Run the CLI without installing it with
> `uvx md2linkedin post.md`.

## Usage

### Python API

```{python}
# @pyodide
from md2linkedin import convert

md = """
# Exciting News

I'm thrilled to share that **we just launched** a new product!

Key highlights:

- **Performance**: *3x faster* than the previous version
- **Reliability**: ***zero downtime*** deployments
- **Developer UX**: clean, intuitive API

Check it out and let me know what you think.
"""

print(convert(md))
```

### CLI

```bash
# Convert a Markdown file (output: post.linkedin.txt)
md2linkedin post.md

# Specify output path
md2linkedin post.md -o linkedin_post.txt

# Pipe from stdin
echo "**Hello**, *world*!" | md2linkedin

# Keep link URLs in the output
md2linkedin post.md --preserve-links

# Disable monospace code rendering
md2linkedin post.md --no-monospace-code
```

## Key Features

- **Bold**: `**text**` or `__text__` → Unicode Sans-Serif Bold (𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱)
- **Italic**: `*text*` or `_text_` → Unicode Sans-Serif Italic (𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤)
- **Bold-italic**: `***text***` or `___text___` → Unicode Sans-Serif Bold Italic (𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙙-𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙘)
- **Headers**: `#`/`##`/etc. styled with bold Unicode; H1 gets a `━` border
- **Code spans**: backticks stripped, content rendered in Unicode Monospace (𝚌𝚘𝚍𝚎) by default; `--no-monospace-code` keeps plain text
- **Fenced code blocks**: fences stripped and content rendered in Unicode Monospace by default; `--no-monospace-code` preserves verbatim
- **Links**: stripped to display text by default; `--preserve-links` retains URLs
- **Images**: replaced by alt text
- **Bullet lists**: `-`/`*`/`+` → `•`; nested items → `‣`
- **Blockquotes**: leading `>` stripped
- **HTML spans**: unwrapped, inner text preserved
- **HTML entities**: decoded (`&amp;` → `&`, etc.)
- **Backslash escapes**: resolved (`\*` → `*`)
- **Windows line endings**: normalised automatically
- **Emojis & non-ASCII**: pass through unchanged — no accidental corruption

## Limitations

Converting Markdown to LinkedIn-friendly text relies on Unicode Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols to simulate styling. This approach has notable limitations:

- **Code Blocks**: Monospace Unicode characters do not enforce true fixed-width alignment on proportional fonts (like LinkedIn's default font). As a result, indentation and column alignment in code blocks will often break visually.
- **Tables**: Markdown tables are not converted — they pass through as raw pipe syntax (`| col | col |`), which LinkedIn does not render, producing unreadable output.
- **Accessibility**: Screen readers often read Unicode mathematical characters aloud individually (e.g., "mathematical sans-serif bold b") instead of as complete words, making the content difficult for visually impaired users to understand.
- **Searchability**: Text styled with these Unicode characters may not be indexed properly by LinkedIn's search algorithm, meaning people searching for your keywords might not find your post.

For more examples, check out the package documentation at:
<https://www.indrapatil.com/md2linkedin/>

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

## Code of Conduct

Please note that the md2linkedin project is released with a
[Contributor Code of Conduct](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/code_of_conduct/).
By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.

## Acknowledgements

Hex sticker font is `Rubik`. Icons are sourced from
[Flaticon](https://www.flaticon.com/):

- Markdown icon by [Freepik](https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik)
- LinkedIn icon by [Freepik](https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik)
- Arrow/conversion icon by [Freepik](https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik)