Light Mindmap

Auto-renders markdown headings as a colorful, interactive mindmap — no extra syntax required.

Preview

How It Works

Add type: mindmap to any note's frontmatter. The plugin replaces the editor/reading view with a live mind map built from the note's heading hierarchy.

---
type: mindmap
---

# My Plan
## Life
### walk the dog
### cook dinner
### call my parents
## *Work*
### write report
### team discussion
### send emails
## Study
### learn new words
### listen to podcast
### practice coding
## Shopping
### buy fruits
### get stationery
### pick up snacks

The mind map updates in real time as you edit the source.

Features

Auto-Render from Headings

• Parses all heading levels (# through ######) into a tree
• Strips inline markdown (bold, italic, links, wikilinks, code) from node labels
• When multiple top-level headings exist, a virtual root node (named after the file) is created automatically
• Fenced code blocks are skipped during parsing

Layouts

Three layout modes, switchable from the toolbar or via command:

Layout	Description
Balanced	Children are distributed to both sides of the root, weighted by subtree height
Right	All branches expand to the right
Left	All branches expand to the left

Themes

Seven built-in color palettes:

Theme	Style
Vibrant	Indigo/violet/pink gradient — the default
Classic	Earth tones on a warm cream background
Fresh	Greens and teals on a light mint background
Ocean	Blues and indigos on a pale blue background
Sunset	Reds, oranges, and pinks on a warm background
Midnight	Neon accents on a dark slate background
Slate	Cool blue-grey with a subtle tech grid pattern

Themes adapt automatically to Obsidian's dark/light mode.

Connection Line Styles

Style	Shape	Dash
Smooth	Cubic Bézier curve	Solid
Smooth Dashed	Cubic Bézier curve	Dashed
Straight	Direct line	Solid
Right Angle	Horizontal + vertical segments	Solid
Right Angle Dashed	Horizontal + vertical segments	Dashed

Node Shapes

Shape	Appearance
Rounded	Rounded rectangle (default)
Square	Sharp corners
Borderless	No border or background on leaf nodes
Pill	Fully rounded capsule
Doodle	Hand-drawn style with slight rotation

Pan & Zoom

• Drag the canvas background to pan (mouse or touch)
• Pinch to zoom on touch devices
• Scroll to pan vertically/horizontally
• Ctrl/Cmd + Scroll to zoom in/out around the cursor
• Toolbar buttons: Fit (fit all nodes into view), + / − (step zoom)

Node Editing

Nodes can be edited directly on the canvas — changes are written back to the markdown file:

Action	Gesture / Key
Select node	Click
Edit node text	Double-click or F2
Confirm edit + add sibling	Enter
Confirm edit + add child	Tab
Cancel edit	Escape
Add sibling (without editing)	Select node, press Enter
Add child (without editing)	Select node, press Tab
Delete node	Select node, press Delete or Backspace
Collapse / expand node	Select node, press Space

• The root node cannot be deleted.
• Pressing Enter on the root node has no effect (no sibling can be added above root).
• Pressing Tab on a collapsed node auto-expands it and adds a new child.
• Double-clicking or pressing F2 on a collapsed node auto-expands it and enters edit mode.
• Collapsed nodes display a + badge after the text. The badge is also rendered in exported PNGs.

Persisted Settings

All per-file display preferences are written to frontmatter and restored on next open:

Frontmatter key	Values
mindmap-layout	balanced / right / left
mindmap-theme	vibrant / classic / fresh / ocean / sunset / midnight / slate
mindmap-line	curve / straight / polyline / polyline-dashed / curve-dashed
mindmap-node	rounded / square / borderless / circle / doodle

Toggle Source View

• Edit Markdown button in the toolbar hides the mind map and shows a floating Show Mindmap button
• Returning from source view auto-fits the mindmap to the viewport
• Command palette: Toggle mindmap / source view
• Command palette: Cycle mindmap layout (balanced / right / left)

Export PNG

Click the Export PNG button in the toolbar to save the current mindmap as a high-resolution PNG image (2x scale). A system file dialog will let you choose the save location.

Installation

From Obsidian Community Plugins (recommended)

1. Open Settings → Community plugins → Browse
2. Search for Light Mindmap
3. Click Install, then Enable

Manual

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release
2. Copy the three files into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-light-mindmap/
3. Reload Obsidian and enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins

Example Frontmatter

---
type: mindmap
mindmap-layout: balanced
mindmap-theme: vibrant
mindmap-line: curve
mindmap-node: rounded
---

Compatibility

• Minimum Obsidian version: 1.4.0
• Desktop and mobile supported
• Works with both light and dark Obsidian themes

License

MIT