How to sync your notes to GitHub

Dec 20, 2023ByRachel Golden
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With the demands of today’s work environment, managing workflows, organizing projects, and collaborating effectively is often akin to navigating a labyrinth without a map.

Challenging at best; nearly impossible at worst.

It can quickly become overwhelming. But we’ve made it our mission at HackMD to make collaborating and working in markdown as easy as possible.

Enter: GitHub

With the GitHub integration on HackMD you can keep all your documentation and project work in sync.

Setting up the HackMD’s GitHub integration

So how does this integration work and what does this integration mean for you?

To get started, you’ll need to install the HackMD GitHub App on your GitHub account. Once that’s complete, you’ll connect (and authorize) the appropriate account and repositories.

With that complete, you’re set to start syncing.

Syncing your notes to GitHub

Pushing a note to or pulling a file from GitHub for the first time involves choosing the repository, branch, and file you’d like to sync the note to.

And if you need a new branch or file, creating it within HackMD is as straightforward as typing the new name.

LinkNotetoGitHub_HackMD

NOTE: You can sync and edit .md/.mdx/.rmd/.markdown files in HackMD. But HackMD does not support rendering of MDX and R syntax.

Maintaining your synced notes

Once linked, the target repository and file appear in the Versions panel within your note settings. You can effortlessly push further changes, pull from, or unlink the note from GitHub directly in your Versions panel.

Working with other collaborators on GitHub? You can add a badge to the top of your synced note, flagging to your community where they can join the conversation and contribute to the documentation process.

Pushing and pulling notes to GitHub also lives within your Version panel.

Here you can choose which named version to push. Once pushed, each named version will appear as a “commit” in Git, while the name and description will appear as the commit message.

Pulling from GitHub simply requires the branch you want to pull from or the section of revisions you’d like to merge into your note.

Line break rendering

We can’t end without covering line break rending. Understanding the nuances of these rules between HackMD and GitHub ensures consistent formatting across platforms.

HackMD aligns with the CommonMark Spec to ensure your notes are compatible with other platforms. But line breaks have a few rules of their own, often affecting how notes appear on GitHub.

Since HackMD and GitHub render line breaks differently, your notes may look different on the two platforms. That said, you can always change your default line break rendering directly in your note settings or by clicking on the Breaks button at the bottom of your note. This will apply to all future notes.

Evelating your documentation experience

We know how frustrating it can be to manage multiple tools at once.

HackMD’s GitHub integration offers a robust solution for syncing notes and enhancing collaboration seamlessly between two powerful tools.

By bridging the gap between platforms, users experience a headache-free environment for efficient documentation and teamwork.

You can learn more about the GitHub integration here.

We can’t wait to see what you create.

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