Kova

What is Kova?

Kova is an open source desktop application that turns plain Markdown into polished slide decks. It pairs a live-preview editor with auto layouts, themes, and PPTX export, giving you a PowerPoint-style workflow without the lock-in or the price tag.

Key features

• Markdown-first authoring — write slides in plain text, separated by ---
• Auto layouts — title, section, split, two-column, grid, quote, full-bleed, and more, applied automatically based on your content
• Live editor with synced preview — see your slides update as you type
• Syntax highlighting for code blocks via highlight.js
• LaTeX math support (inline and block) via KaTeX
• Mermaid diagrams — pie, bar, line charts and flowcharts inline
• Themes — 11 built-in themes, community themes, and custom YAML themes
• Focus mode for writing, plus fullscreen presentation with speaker notes and keyboard navigation
• PPTX export to PowerPoint (16:9 and 4:3)
• YouTube and poll embeds for richer decks
• File watcher that reloads when your file is edited externally
• Configurable keybindings via ~/.kova/keybindings.yaml

Why Kova?

Unlike Reveal.js or Slidev, which require you to run a web server and present in the browser, Kova is a native desktop app you can launch like PowerPoint or Keynote. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with official .dmg, .msi, .deb, and .rpm packages, and is built on Tauri (TypeScript + Rust) so it's lightweight and fast.