Features
An overview of every capability in Kova.
Themes
Swap themes from the inspector. Each theme has a distinct visual character — from minimal to editorial to bold. All support light and dark mode.
Institutional
Grove
Dover
Code
Fenced code blocks rendered with highlight.js — 190+ languages. Use the right language identifier in the fence and Kova handles the rest.
```python
def greet(name: str) -> str:
return f"Hello, {name}"
```
```typescript
const greet = (name: string) =>
`Hello, ${name}`
```Presenter tools
Add speaker notes to any slide with ??? followed by your notes. They appear in the presenter view, never on the audience display.
# Q3 Review
Revenue up 18% year-on-year.
Three new enterprise accounts.
???
Remind them of the pipeline deals.
Don't forget to mention the churn figure.Export
Export any presentation to .pptx to share with anyone, regardless of what software they use. File → Export → PowerPoint.
Export
Export any presentation to PDF — each slide becomes a page at the exact dimensions of your chosen aspect ratio. Fonts, colours, Mermaid diagrams, and syntax-highlighted code are all faithfully captured. File → Export → PDF.
Inline content
Kova extends Markdown with shortcodes for content that slides need but standard Markdown doesn't cover.
!progress — visual progress bars for results or completion!youtube — embed a video directly on a slide!poll — render a QR code for live audience polls!progress[Completed](72)
!progress[In progress](45)
!progress[Remaining](18)
!youtube[Intro to the topic](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)
!poll[Which do you prefer?](https://forms.example.com/q)Layouts
Split a slide into two columns with |||. Everything above the separator goes in the left column; everything below goes right. Combine with Mermaid charts, code blocks, or images.
# Comparison
- Option A costs less upfront
- Option A is simpler to maintain
|||
- Option B scales further
- Option B has better toolingCharts & diagrams
Pie, bar, and line charts plus flowcharts — rendered inline from fenced code blocks. No image exports needed. Your diagrams stay in the Markdown and update as you type.
```mermaid
pie title Traffic sources
"Organic" : 42
"Referral" : 28
"Direct" : 30
```Math & LaTeX
Render mathematical notation with KaTeX. Inline expressions with $...$, display equations with $$...$$. Ideal for academic lectures, science slides, and technical talks.
$E = mc^2$$$...$$ on its own lineThe sigmoid function $\sigma(x) = \frac{1}{1+e^{-x}}$
maps any value to $(0, 1)$.
$$
\text{MSE} = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n}(y_i - \hat{y}_i)^2
$$Layouts
Kova reads your content structure and applies the right layout automatically. No layout picker, no drag-and-drop. Write the content, the layout follows.
# Slide title
## Subtitle or author## Section heading
> The best way to predict the
> future is to invent it.
>
> — Alan KayLeft column content
|||
Right column contentPresentation
When you present, Kova opens a second window showing your current slide, the next slide, your speaker notes, and an elapsed timer — all at once. Your audience sees the clean slide. You see everything you need.
Images
Drop any image into the editor and Kova inserts the correct Markdown reference. No terminal, no file paths to copy. The image is copied into your project folder automatically.
Presentation
Choose between 16:9, 16:10, and 4:3 from the Inspector. Applies to both the presenter view and PowerPoint export — useful for older projectors or MacBook displays.
Keyboard
Every action in Kova has a keyboard shortcut. Remap any shortcut via the inspector or by editing ~/.kova/keybindings.yaml. Full reference in the docs.
Themes
Build your own theme as a YAML file and drop it into your project. Kova live-reloads it as you edit. Share it on github.com/kovamd/themes.
Free, open source, and runs natively on macOS, Linux, and Windows. No account required.
Early access — core features are stable. Report issues on GitHub.