Search Baidu / Bing / Google and read web pages as clean Markdown inside VS Code or Cursor — no Python required.
Uses an embedded Chromium (Playwright) plus Readability and Turndown.
Browser (no WSL required): On normal Windows VS Code/Cursor, auto uses Microsoft Edge (usually preinstalled) or Chrome. Playwright Chromium is only downloaded when needed (e.g. Linux, or Remote-WSL where Windows Edge cannot be used).
Features
- Sidebar search with an in-sidebar Settings panel
- Proxy + SwitchyOmega-style rule list (proxy vs direct per URL)
- In-reader navigation (Ctrl/⌘+Click opens the system browser)
- Chapter prev / next / contents detection and keyboard shortcuts
- Fanqie Novel font deobfuscation (PUA → real Chinese characters)
- Export the current article as
.md
Usage
- Activity Bar → Web2Markdown
- Search, or paste a URL and Open
- Click links in the reader to continue as Markdown
Reading shortcuts
(While the reader panel is focused, and when prev/next/toc are detected.)
←/A/PageUp— previous chapter / page→/D/PageDown— next chapter / pageC— contents / 目录- Ctrl+Click (⌘+Click) — open link in the system browser
Settings
Open the sidebar ⚙ 设置 panel, or VS Code Settings and search for web2markdown.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
web2markdown.defaultEngine |
bing |
baidu / bing / google |
web2markdown.searchResultLimit |
30 |
Max search results (5–50) |
web2markdown.proxy |
`` | Local HTTP(S) proxy |
web2markdown.proxyRuleListEnabled |
true |
Use rule list for proxy vs direct |
web2markdown.proxyRuleListProfile |
proxy |
Profile when a rule matches |
web2markdown.proxyDefaultProfile |
direct |
Profile when nothing matches |
web2markdown.readerFontSize |
16 |
Reader font size (px) |
web2markdown.hideReaderTitle |
false |
Hide the large article title in the reader |
Recommended proxy rules (like SwitchyOmega): rule list → proxy, default → direct, so domestic sites stay direct while blocked sites use the proxy.
Privacy
- Crawling runs locally in the embedded browser.
- No account and no telemetry from this extension.
- Search engines and target sites receive normal page requests from your network / proxy.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Web2Markdown: Open URL | Convert a URL to Markdown |
| Web2Markdown: Search | Focus the search sidebar |
| Web2Markdown: Export Current | Save the open article as .md |
| Web2Markdown: Restart Browser | Restart the embedded Chromium |
Notes
- Google often captcha-blocks headless browsers; the extension falls back to Startpage when needed.
- Some sites geo-block overseas egress IPs. Under WSL + VPN TUN, use Open in system browser if both proxy and direct fail with the same client IP.