VIM is a powerful text editor that can be used to preview rendered Markdown. To do this, you will need to install a plugin called “instant-markdown-d” which will allow you to preview the Markdown in a browser while you are editing it in VIM.

First, you will need to install Node.js, which is a JavaScript runtime that is required by the instant-markdown-d plugin. Once Node.js is installed, open up your terminal and type in the following command to install the plugin:

npm -g install instant-markdown-d

This will install the plugin globally on your system, so it can be used by VIM.

Next, open up VIM and create a new file with the .md file extension (for example, test.md). In VIM, type the following command to start the instant-markdown-d server:

:InstantMarkdownPreview

This will start the server and open up a browser window showing the preview of the Markdown document. You can now start editing the document in VIM, and the preview will automatically update as you make changes.

Additionally, you can use the following command to toggle the preview on and off while editing:

:InstantMarkdownToggle

If you want to stop the server, you can type the following command in VIM:

:InstantMarkdownStop

It’s worth noting that the instant-markdown-d plugin uses the CommonMark specification for rendering Markdown, which is considered to be the most accurate and reliable way to render Markdown.

Additionally, there are other plugins available to preview markdown in VIM such as “vim-markdown-preview” which also allows you to see a rendered version of markdown as you type. You can install it using a package manager like Vundle or Pathogen and use it in similar ways as above.

In conclusion, previewing rendered Markdown in VIM is a great way to see how your document will look before publishing it. The instant-markdown-d plugin makes it easy to preview Markdown documents while you are editing them in VIM, and it uses the CommonMark specification for accurate and reliable rendering. Other alternatives like “vim-markdown-preview” also available for use.