Obsidian REPL plugin

• @readwithai, blog post

This plugin adds an emacs-like read evaluate print loop (REPL) to obsidian. This lets you execute javascript in a document and importantly interact with Obsidian's plugin api to perform actions in Obsidian.

This can be useful when developing plugins, or for "light-weight" scripting without having to develop a full plugin yourself.

A range of convenience functions partly inspired my emacs is also provided.

Using

Install the plugin. I would advise binding CTRL-J to the commamd (Execute the current line or selection).

You can then write javascript expressions and then run commands to execute these expressions, return the result. A "dir" method is provided to allow you to inspect objects. And various useful objects are available.

• repl is the plugin object for repl.
• editor is the editor object. You can use this to write to current-file
• app is the application object.

You might like to refer to the plugin documentation at the same time.

Convenience functions provided

Various convenience functions are provided:

• open(f:string) - Open a file in the current frame

• source(f:string) - Open the markdown file called f and execute the code in it

• dir(o:Object) - List the property in an object

• message(s:string) - Print a message

• command(s:string) - Run a command

• lineNumber - return the line number of the current line

• plugin(s:string) - Get the object for a plugin

• bufferString() - Return a string containing the entire text of the buffer

• bufferString(start, end) - Return the string between these two cursor positions (editor.getCursor())

• point() - Return the current cursor position

• mark() - Return the cursor position at the beginning of the selection

• insert(s:string) - Insert a string into the buffer

• pointMin() - Return the minimum cursor in the buffer

• pointMax() - Return the maximun cursor in the buffer

• forwardChar(count?) - Move count (or one) character forward

• writeToFile(name, string) - Overwrite the markdown file called name with the given string

• appendToFile(name, string) - Append to the markdown file called name with the given string

• selection() - Get the text contained in the selection

Defining commands

The function makeNewCommand will create a new command from a function. You can then define a hotkey to this command.

makeNewCommand(function new_command_name() {
...
})

creates a command with the name "new command name" (and the id new_command_name). You can use all repl's extra functions and variables (app, editor etc) in this function.

If you want to test this funtion by hand you can do the following

var f = makeNewCommand(function new_command_name() {
...
})

You can then call f() using eval to test the function.

Running code at startup

If you want code to run at startup, such as for defining commands then you can place this code in a special file called repl.md. If this file exists it is read when obsidian starts (or is reloaded) and the code in it is executed.

Importing modules

I experimented with the obsidian modules plugin but had issues importing full modules.

The approach I have used to getting access to modules when hacking on a new plugin is to create a new plugin and half that plugin set self.MODULE = MODULE on load. You can then access this self open from the repl.

Installation

In your obsidian vault there should be a .obsidian/plugins directory. You can clone this repo into that directory and then run the following to build the plugin:

npm install
npm run dev

You should then be able to enable the plugin in the "Community Plugins" section of settings.

About me

I make productivity tools and AI tools related to reading and research. If that sounds interesting you can follow me on twitter or bluesky.

I write about these topics on substack.

If you find this piece of software useful. Maybe give me money (like $2 dollars?) on my kofi.