mdquiz

Parse markdown quiz files into structured objects. Supports YAML frontmatter, checkbox answers, code blocks, and per-answer explanations.

Install

npm install mdquiz

Usage

Parse a single file

import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
import { parseQuestionFile } from 'mdquiz'

const md = readFileSync('question-001.md', 'utf-8')
const question = parseQuestionFile(md, 'question-001')

console.log(question.question) // "Which syntax defines a job?"
console.log(question.answers) // [{ id: 'a1', text: '...', isCorrect: true, explanation: '...' }, ...]
console.log(question.isMultiSelect) // false

Parse a directory

import { parseDirectory } from 'mdquiz'

const questions = parseDirectory('./questions', {
  filePrefix: 'question-', // only parse files starting with this prefix
  recursive: false, // walk subdirectories (default: false)
})

Markdown Format

---
question: "Which GitHub Actions syntax correctly defines a job that runs on Ubuntu?"
---

- [x] `runs-on: ubuntu-latest`
> This is the correct syntax for specifying a runner
- [ ] `os: ubuntu-latest`
- [ ] `platform: ubuntu-latest`
- [ ] `environment: ubuntu-latest`

Only the question field is required in frontmatter. Any additional fields you include (e.g. title, category, difficulty) are accessible via question.frontmatter:

---
question: "What is a pull request?"
difficulty: easy
tags: ["git", "collaboration"]
---

Structure

Section	Required	Description
Frontmatter	Yes	YAML with question field (and any custom fields)
Code block	No	Context code shown before answers
Answers	Yes	Checkbox list: - [x] correct, - [ ] incorrect
Answer explanation	No	Blockquote (>) after an answer provides a per-answer explanation

Answer formats

Both ordered and unordered lists work:

- [x] Correct answer
- [ ] Wrong answer

1. [x] Correct answer
1. [ ] Wrong answer

Multiple [x] marks make the question multi-select automatically.

Per-answer explanations

Add a blockquote (>) immediately after an answer to provide an explanation. Multi-line explanations are joined with newlines:

- [x] Correct answer
> This is why it's correct
- [ ] Wrong answer
> This is wrong because...
> Here is more detail

API

parseQuestionFile(content: string, id: string): Question

Parse a markdown string into a Question object.

parseDirectory(dir: string, options?: ParseDirOptions): Question[]

Parse all .md files in a directory. Skips files starting with _.

Types

interface Question {
  id: string
  question: string
  answers: AnswerOption[]
  isMultiSelect: boolean
  codeBlock?: string
  frontmatter: Record<string, unknown>
}

interface AnswerOption {
  id: string
  text: string
  isCorrect: boolean
  explanation?: string
}

interface ParseDirOptions {
  recursive?: boolean
  filePrefix?: string
  strict?: boolean
}

License

MIT License