From dc1a301b92198860b8c67a697628eea18093fcf9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Stevan Freeborn <65925598+StevanFreeborn@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:48:43 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] chore: update README.md

---
 README.md | 58 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 56 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f5ab374..d37a12f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,61 @@
 
 # Zoeae
 
-⚠️ Under Construction ⚠️
+**Zoeae** is a small, native desktop text editor written in Rust. It's a learning project focused on building a fast, minimal editor with a Markdown preview capability — an experimental alternative to lightweight editors like Notepad with built-in preview features.
 
-This is a desktop application that I am building to learn about desktop development and the Rust programming language. My goal is to hopefully end up with something that can replace Notepad, but includes the ability to preview markdown.
+## Features
 
+- **Lightweight editor:** fast startup and minimal UI surface.
+- **Markdown preview:** live or on-demand preview of Markdown files.
+- **Cross-platform Rust codebase:** implemented in Rust (see [src/](src/)).
+
+### Install
+
+Pre-built artifacts and installers are published on GitHub Releases. See the [releases](https://github.com/StevanFreeborn/zoeae/releases) page for the latest published assets:
+
+## Usage
+
+Launch the binary and open files from the app UI or run the binary directly from the terminal.
+
+## License
+
+See [LICENSE.txt](LICENSE.txt) for license details.
+
+## Contributing
+
+Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome. Please open issues or pull requests on GitHub.
+
+## Build
+
+Install Rust toolchain (recommended via `rustup`) with `cargo`. For Windows: have a working C toolchain (MSVC or GNU) if building native dependencies.
+
+### Clone the repository
+
+```pwsh
+git clone https://github.com/StevanFreeborn/zoeae.git
+cd zoeae
+```
+
+### Build (release)
+
+```pwsh
+cargo build --release
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> The built binary will be in `target/release/` (e.g. `target/release/zoeae`).
+
+### Run (debug)
+
+```pwsh
+cargo run
+```
+
+### Install locally
+
+```pwsh
+cargo install --path .
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> This installs the `zoeae` binary into your Cargo bin directory (usually `~/.cargo/bin`).