obsidian-plugin

Obsidian Plugin Development

Build production-ready Obsidian plugins using the obsidian-sample-plugin-plus template.

Quick Start: New Plugin

1. Create from Template

# Clone the template (or use GitHub's "Use this template" button)
gh repo create my-plugin --template davidvkimball/obsidian-sample-plugin-plus --public --clone
cd my-plugin

# Or clone directly
git clone https://github.com/davidvkimball/obsidian-sample-plugin-plus.git my-plugin
cd my-plugin
rm -rf .git && git init

2. Configure Plugin Identity

Update these files with your plugin's info:

manifest.json:

{
  "id": "my-plugin",
  "name": "My Plugin",
  "version": "0.0.1",
  "minAppVersion": "1.5.0",
  "description": "What your plugin does",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "authorUrl": "https://yoursite.com",
  "isDesktopOnly": false
}

package.json: Update name, description, author, license.

README.md: Replace template content with your plugin's documentation.

3. Initialize Development Environment

pnpm install
pnpm obsidian-dev-skills          # Initialize AI skills
./scripts/setup-ref-links.sh      # Unix
# or: scripts\setup-ref-links.bat  # Windows

4. Clean Boilerplate

In src/main.ts:

• Remove sample ribbon icon, status bar, commands, modal, and DOM event
• Keep the settings tab if needed, or remove it
• Rename MyPlugin class to your plugin name

Delete styles.css if your plugin doesn't need custom styles.

Development Workflow

Build & Test

pnpm dev      # Watch mode — rebuilds on changes
pnpm build    # Production build
pnpm lint     # Check for issues
pnpm lint:fix # Auto-fix issues
pnpm test     # Run unit tests

Install in Obsidian

Copy build output to your vault:

# Unix
cp main.js manifest.json styles.css ~/.obsidian/plugins/my-plugin/

# Or create a symlink for development
ln -s $(pwd) ~/.obsidian/plugins/my-plugin
`...