annotab

annotab

A lightweight browser-based tool for reviewing and annotating tabular data, text, and Markdown files. Supports CSV, TSV, plain text, and Markdown. Comments are output as YAML to stdout.

Features

• CSV/TSV support: View tabular data with column/row freezing and filtering
• Markdown support: Side-by-side preview with synchronized scrolling
• Text support: Line-by-line commenting for plain text files
• Multi-file support: Open multiple files simultaneously on separate ports
• Drag selection: Select rectangular regions or multiple rows for batch comments
• Real-time: Hot reload on file changes via SSE
• YAML output: Comments exported with file, mode, row, col, value, and text

Installation

npm install -g annotab

Or run directly with npx:

npx annotab <file>

Usage

# Single file
annotab <file> [--port 3000] [--encoding utf8|shift_jis|...]

# Multiple files (each opens on consecutive ports)
annotab file1.csv file2.md file3.tsv --port 3000

• Browser opens automatically (macOS: open / Linux: xdg-open / Windows: start)
• Click cells to add comments, or drag to select multiple cells/rows
• Close the tab or click "Submit & Exit" to output comments as YAML and terminate the server
• Encoding defaults to UTF-8; use --encoding to specify or let chardet auto-detect (Shift_JIS, CP932, etc.)
• Use --no-open to prevent automatic browser opening

Screenshots

CSV View

Markdown View

Output Example

file: data.csv
mode: csv
reason: button
at: '2025-11-26T12:00:00.000Z'
comments:
  - row: 2
    col: 3
    text: This value needs review
    value: '150'

Development

• Main source: cli.cjs
• Tests: npm test (vitest + playwright)

License

MIT