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mq

mq is a command-line tool that processes Markdown using a syntax similar to jq.
It's written in Rust, allowing you to easily slice, filter, map, and transform structured data.

demo

[!IMPORTANT]
This project is under active development.

Why mq?

mq makes working with Markdown files as easy as jq makes working with JSON. It's especially useful for:

LLM Workflows: Efficiently manipulate and process Markdown used in LLM prompts and outputs
LLM Input Generation: Generate structured Markdown content optimized for LLM consumption, since Markdown serves as the primary input format for most language models
Documentation Management: Extract, transform, and organize content across multiple documentation files
Content Analysis: Quickly extract specific sections or patterns from Markdown documents
Batch Processing: Apply consistent transformations across multiple Markdown files

Since LLM inputs are primarily in Markdown format, mq provides efficient tools for generating and processing the structured Markdown content that LLMs require.

Features

Slice and Filter: Extract specific parts of your Markdown documents with ease.
Map and Transform: Apply transformations to your Markdown content.
Command-line Interface: Simple and intuitive CLI for quick operations.
Extensibility: Easily extendable with custom functions.
Built-in support: Filter and transform content with many built-in functions and selectors.
REPL Support: Interactive command-line REPL for testing and experimenting.
IDE Support: VSCode Extension and Language Server Protocol (LSP) support for custom function development.
Debugger: Includes an experimental debugger (mq-dbg) for inspecting and stepping through mq queries interactively.
External Subcommands: Extend mq with custom subcommands by placing executable files starting with mq- in ~/.mq/bin/.

Installation

Quick Install

curl -sSL https://mqlang.org/install.sh | bash

The installer will:

Download the latest mq binary for your platform
Install it to ~/.mq/bin/
Update your shell profile to add mq to your PATH

Cargo

# Install from crates.io
cargo install mq-run
# Install from Github
cargo install --git https://github.com/harehare/mq.git mq-run --tag v0.5.24
# Latest Development Version
cargo install --git https://github.com/harehare/mq.git mq-run --bin mq
# Install the debugger
cargo install --git https://github.com/harehare/mq.git mq-run --bin mq-dbg --features="debugger"
# Install using binstall
cargo binstall [email protected]

Binaries

You can download pre-built binaries from the GitHub releases page:

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-aarch64-apple-darwin -o /usr/local/bin/mq && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq
# Linux x86_64
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu -o /usr/local/bin/mq && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq
# Linux arm64
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu -o /usr/local/bin/mq && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq
# Windows (PowerShell)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.exe -OutFile "$env:USERPROFILE\bin\mq.exe"

Homebrew

# Using Homebrew (macOS and Linux)
brew install mq

Docker

$ docker run --rm ghcr.io/harehare/mq:0.5.24

mq-lsp (Language Server)

The mq Language Server provides IDE features like completion, hover, and diagnostics for mq query files.

Quick Install

curl -sSL https://mqlang.org/install_lsp.sh | bash

Cargo

# Install from crates.io
cargo install mq-lsp
# Install from Github
cargo install --git https://github.com/harehare/mq.git mq-lsp --tag v0.5.24
# Latest Development Version
cargo install --git https://github.com/harehare/mq.git mq-lsp
# Install using binstall
cargo binstall [email protected]

Binaries

You can download pre-built binaries from the GitHub releases page:

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-lsp-aarch64-apple-darwin -o /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp
# Linux x86_64
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-lsp-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu -o /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp
# Linux arm64
curl -L https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-lsp-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu -o /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mq-lsp
# Windows (PowerShell)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/harehare/mq/releases/download/v0.5.24/mq-lsp-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.exe -OutFile "$env:USERPROFILE\bin\mq-lsp.exe"

Visual Studio Code Extension

You can install the VSCode extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace.

Neovim

You can install the Neovim plugin by following the instructions in the mq.nvim README.

Zed

You can install the Zed extension by following the instructions in the zed-mq README.

GitHub Actions

You can use mq in your GitHub Actions workflows with the Setup mq action:

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v6
  - uses: harehare/setup-mq@v1
  - run: mq '.code' README.md

Web API

You can try mq without installing anything via the hosted REST API at https://api.mqlang.org.

The interactive API documentation (Swagger UI) is available at https://api.mqlang.org/docs.

Language Bindings

Language bindings are available for the following programming languages:

Usage

For more detailed usage and examples, refer to the documentation.

For a comprehensive collection of practical examples, see the Example Guide.

Basic usage

Complete list of options (click to show)

Usage: mq [OPTIONS] [QUERY OR FILE] [FILES]... [COMMAND]

Commands:
  repl  Start a REPL session for interactive query execution
  fmt   Format mq files based on specified formatting options
  help  Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Arguments:
  [QUERY OR FILE]  
  [FILES]...       

Options:
  -A, --aggregate
          Aggregate all input files/content into a single array
  -f, --from-file
          load filter from the file
  -I, --input-format <INPUT_FORMAT>
          Set input format [possible values: markdown, mdx, html, text, null, raw]
  -L, --directory <MODULE_DIRECTORIES>
          Search modules from the directory
  -M, --module-names <MODULE_NAMES>
          Load additional modules from specified files
  -m, --import-module-names <IMPORT_MODULE_NAMES>
          Import modules by name, making them available as `name::fn()` in queries
      --args <NAME> <VALUE>
          Sets string that can be referenced at runtime
      --rawfile <NAME> <FILE>
          Sets file contents that can be referenced at runtime
      --stream
          Enable streaming mode for processing large files line by line
  -F, --output-format <OUTPUT_FORMAT>
          Set output format [default: markdown] [possible values: markdown, html, text, json, none]
  -U, --update
          Update the input markdown (aliases: -i, --in-place, --inplace)
      --unbuffered
          Unbuffered output
      --list-style <LIST_STYLE>
          Set the list style for markdown output [default: dash] [possible values: dash, plus, star]
      --link-title-style <LINK_TITLE_STYLE>
          Set the link title surround style for markdown output [default: double] [possible values: double, single, paren]
      --link-url-style <LINK_URL_STYLE>
          Set the link URL surround style for markdown links [default: none] [possible values: none, angle]
  -S, --separator <QUERY>
          Specify a query to insert between files as a separator
  -o, --output <FILE>
          Output to the specified file
  -C, --color-output
          Colorize markdown output
      --list
          List all available subcommands (built-in and external)
  -P <PARALLEL_THRESHOLD>
          Number of files to process before switching to parallel processing [default: 10]
  -h, --help
          Print help
  -V, --version
          Print version

# Examples:

## To filter markdown nodes:
mq 'query' file.md

## To read query from file:
mq -f 'file' file.md

## To start a REPL session:
mq repl

## To format mq file:
mq fmt --check file.mq

Here's a basic example of how to use mq:

# Extract all headings from a document
mq '.h' README.md

# Extract code blocks containing "name"
mq '.code | select(contains("name"))' example.md

# Extract code values from code blocks
mq -A 'pluck(.code.value)' example.md

# Extract language names from code blocks
mq '.code.lang' documentation.md

# Extract URLs from all links
mq '.link.url' README.md

# Filter table cells containing "name"
mq '.[][] | select(contains("name"))' data.md

# Select lists or headers containing "name"
mq 'select(.[] || .h) | select(contains("name"))' docs.md

# Exclude JavaScript code blocks
mq '.code | select(.code.lang != "js")' examples.md

# Convert CSV to markdown table
mq 'include "csv" | csv_parse(true) | csv_to_markdown_table()' example.csv

# Extract a section by title
mq -A 'section::section("Installation")' README.md

# Filter sections by heading level (scalar or range)
mq -A 'section::sections() | section::by_level(2)' README.md
mq -A 'section::sections() | section::by_level(1..2)' README.md

Advanced Usage

You can chain multiple operations to perform complex transformations:

# Generate a table of contents from headings
mq '.h | let link = to_link("#" + to_text(self), to_text(self), "") | let level = .h.level | if (!is_none(level)): to_md_list(link, level)' docs/books/**/*.md

# String interpolation
mq 'let name = "Alice" | let age = 30 | s"Hello, my name is ${name} and I am ${age} years old."'

# Merge multiple files with separators
mq -S 's"\n${__FILE__}\n"' 'identity()' docs/books/**/**.md

# Extract all code blocks from an HTML file
mq '.code' example.html

# Convert HTML to Markdown and filter headers
mq 'select(.h1 || .h2)' example.html

# Extract specific cell from a Markdown table
mq '.[1][2] | to_text()' data.md

# Extract frontmatter metadata from markdown files:
import "yaml" | if (.yaml): yaml::yaml_parse() | get(:title)

Using with markitdown

You can combine mq with markitdown for even more powerful Markdown processing workflows:

# Extract code blocks from markdown
markitdown https://github.com/harehare/mq | mq '.code'
# Extract table from markdown
markitdown test.xlsx | mq '.[][]'

Composing Workflows with Subcommands

mq subcommands are designed to work together via Unix pipes.

# Convert Excel report to Markdown, then extract all headings
mq conv report.xlsx | mq '.h'

# Convert a Word document and extract a specific section
mq conv document.docx | mq -A 'section::section("Summary")'

# Convert and view Markdown directly in the terminal
mq conv slides.pdf | mq view

Run mq --list to see all available subcommands (built-in and external).

External Subcommands

You can extend mq with custom subcommands by placing executable files starting with mq- in ~/.mq/bin/ or anywhere in your PATH.
This makes it easy to add your own tools and workflows to mq without modifying the core binary.

External Tools

The following external tools are available to extend mq's functionality:

mq-check - A syntax and semantic checker for mq files
mq-conv - A CLI tool for converting various file formats to Markdown
mq-crawler - A web crawler that extracts structured data from websites and outputs it in Markdown format
mq-docs - A documentation generator for mq functions, macros, and selectors
mq-edit - A terminal-based Markdown and code editor with WYSIWYG rendering and LSP support
mq-lsp - Language Server Protocol (LSP) implementation for mq query files, providing IDE features like completion, hover, and diagnostics
mq-mcp - Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for AI assistants
mq-open - Graphical previewer for mq
mq-task - Task runner using mq for Markdown-based task definitions
mq-tui - Terminal User Interface (TUI) for interactive mq query
mq-update - Update mq binary to the latest version
mq-view - viewer for Markdown content

AI Assistant Integration

MCP: mq-mcp provides a Model Context Protocol server, enabling mq to be used from any MCP-compatible AI assistant.
Skill: The processing-markdown skill adds mq-aware assistance directly to your AI coding workflow.

Support

🐛 Report bugs
💡 Request features
⭐ Star the project if you find it useful!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

mq

Why mq?

Features

Installation

Quick Install

Cargo

Binaries

Homebrew

Docker

mq-lsp (Language Server)

Quick Install

Cargo

Binaries

Visual Studio Code Extension

Neovim

Zed

GitHub Actions

Web API

Language Bindings

Usage

Basic usage

Advanced Usage

Using with markitdown

Composing Workflows with Subcommands

External Subcommands

External Tools

AI Assistant Integration

Support

License

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