This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Miloš P.
Markdown is everywhere — from README files to blog engines. Yet, most Markdown-to-HTML converters today are either:
- Too heavy (like Pandoc)
- Too limited (like VS Code preview)
- Or simply unsafe (Typora exports HTML without XSS filtering)
As someone who needed a fast, embeddable Markdown-to-HTML converter in C#, I couldn't find anything that met all of these goals:
✅ Small and dependency-free
✅ Fully supports advanced Markdown (TOC, footnotes, tables, tasks...)
✅ XSS-safe and robust for user input
✅ Easy to integrate into console, desktop, or web apps
So I built it.
⚡ One C# File. One Line to Use It
Instead of building a framework, I created a single-file class you can just drop into your project and use like this:
string html = Markdown.ToHtml(mdSource);
Done. No NuGet packages. No third-party libs. No surprises.
🛡️ Bonus: Syntax + Security Warnings Built-In
Not only does the converter produce clean HTML5 — it also scans your input for:
- Common Markdown errors (e.g. unclosed
**bold**or*italic*) - Suspicious input like
<script>or phishing links - And appends a styled warning block to the HTML output
It’s ideal for batch-processing Markdown or handling user-submitted content.
📦 Try It or Fork It
- 🔹 Just want to test it? Download the
.exeand run:
mdoc.exe input.md output.html
- 🔹 Want to embed or extend it? Just copy the
.csfile into your project and you're done.
If you're tired of bloated or unsafe Markdown tools — try this minimalist approach. I built it for me, but maybe it's exactly what you need too.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Miloš P.
Miloš P. | Sciencx (2025-07-19T18:09:07+00:00) Why I Built a C# Markdown-to-HTML Converter (That’s Actually Fast and Safe). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/19/why-i-built-a-c-markdown-to-html-converter-thats-actually-fast-and-safe/
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