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ABOUT MTX

monad txt xpansion — plain text expansion syntax.

the problem

markdown traps

_underscores_ trigger italic — your file_path_name breaks
**double stars** trigger bold — shell globs break
# triggers headings — code comments break
> triggers blockquote — shell redirects break
--- triggers horizontal rules — visual separators break

markdown looks safe until you write real text. then everything triggers.

html soup

open tags. close tags. matching names. entity escaping. unreadable in plain text.

html is powerful but you cannot read the source without rendering it.

the solution

mtx uses ; as the only trigger character. plain text stays plain.

one trigger: ; — nothing else is special
10 closers: all ; + 1 character — zero ambiguity
formatting is opt-in — you choose when to trigger
readable rendered AND unrendered
.md-inert — mtx inside .md files renders as plain text, nothing triggers accidentally

three levels

lvl1 — minimal

headings only. everything else is plain text. for notes, plans, config docs.
file extension: .tx.txt or plain .txt with ;#mtx;.;#mn;. header.

lvl2 — md-ish

full doc markup. headings, lists, code, bold, italic, links, tables, images.
everything .md can do, but without the traps.
file extension: .mt.txt

paragraphs and line breaks are auto-detected:
single enter = line break. double enter = new paragraph.
no explicit markup needed.

lvl3 — html-ish

full html replacement. every html element mapped to a 2-character code.
elements, attributes, containers, void elements, datapod data structures.
file extension: .ht.txt

readable in source. no tag soup. same ; trigger as everything else.

the semcon rule

semcon = semicolon character.

one semcon = always an operator trigger
duo semcon = always a literal semicolon in output
no third meaning. no exceptions. every level. every context.

one rule. learn it once. write with confidence forever.

10 closers

every closer is ; + 1 character. one job each.

closer	job
`;.`	inline content (headings, bold, links, items)
`;\|`	block container (div, nav, form)
`;"`	attribute value
`;z`	raw zone (svg, mathml)
`;x`	table cell
`;c`	contained inline (nested formatting)
`;v`	void element (no content)
`;b`	branch list (parent with children)
`;,`	sequence separator (datapod items)
`;>`	key-value separator (datapod keys)

design principles

plain text is default. formatting is opt-in.
; is the only trigger. no character traps.
levels are usage preferences, not parser restrictions
one escape rule everywhere: ;; = literal ;
lvl2 is a strict subset of lvl3. zero conversion cost.
.txt is the universal extension

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