MacDownApp / MacDownApp/macdown

contribute.md and help.md being opened on every single launch

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Description

👋🏻 Hello folks. Longtime MacDown user, thanks for building such a great tool!

I recently installed MacDown (via `brew`, then updated to `Version 0.7.3 (1008.4)`) on a new Mac running Catalina (`Version 10.15.6 (19G2021)`). Every time I open MacDown (after first fully quitting the application) the built-in `contribute.md` and `help.md` files are automatically opened. As a user, I would expect to see these files on the first launch, but **only that once**.

Additionally, if I delete `/Applications/MacDown.app/Contents/Resources/contribute.md` or `/Applications/MacDown.app/Contents/Resources/help.md` from inside the application bundle, MacDown crashes instantly, and permanently on launch. If I then `touch` these files back into existence, MacDown stops crashing at launch, but still opens these two (now empty) files.

| Launch method | First ever launch? | Files I would expect to open | Files that currently open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotlight | Yes | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Spotlight | No | `Untitled` | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Clicking on the App | Yes | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Clicking on the App | No | `Untitled` | `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Running `macdown somefile.md` | Yes | ⚠️ `Untitled`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Running `macdown somefile.md` | No | `somefile.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Running `open somefile.md` | Yes | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Running `open somefile.md` | No | `somefile.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Clicking on `somefile.md` | Yes | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |
| Clicking on `somefile.md` | No | `somefile.md` | `somefile.md`, `contribute.md`, & `help.md` |

Thanks you for your insight, cheers!

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the listed launch cases on macOS, including launches with `somefile.md`, and check how `contribute.md` and `help.md` are opened from the application bundle. Done means those files open only on the first launch, ordinary file launches open the requested document, and missing resource files do not crash MacDown.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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