Aside

Side note index

Agent reply

Aside is a tool for thought. It helps you capture, connect, and go deeper into your knowledge. Optionally, local AI agents can assist you along the journey. For durable storage and sync across devices, use Aside with [Obsidian Sync](https://obsidian.md/sync).

Features

• Uses a dedicated sidebar for drafting, editing, resolving, reopening, and deleting comments.
• Adds page notes to markdown, PDF, and HTML files. Text-anchored notes work in markdown files only.
• Supports Obsidian-style [[wikilinks]] inside side comments to link existing notes or create new markdown notes.
• Type # in a side note to search existing tags or add a new one.
• Type @todo to mark follow-ups that appear in the Todo index tab.
• Browse, filter, and batch-apply local side-note tags from the active note sidebar.
• Keeps resolved comments archived instead of removing them.
• Generates 🐰 Aside Index.md as a vault-wide comment index.
• Lets the index sidebar switch between the comment list and a thought-trail graph built from side-note wiki links. The graph follows those links across connected markdown files, so it can show multi-step trails instead of only direct one-hop links.
• Built-in agent help on desktop Obsidian. Type @codex or @claude in a thread to get a reply, create anchored side notes, or apply explicit edits to the source note.
• Experimental Cloudflare Pages publishing for testers on desktop Obsidian.

Network access

Aside does not send vault contents, note paths, tags, or clipboard contents to an Aside-operated analytics service. Network-capable actions are user initiated: opening an external link, sending a support report in a build where a support endpoint is configured, invoking a local agent CLI, or publishing through the user's local Wrangler installation. The generated Aside index uses the default remote image at ichef.bbci.co.uk unless the user replaces or clears that image URL; Obsidian may request that image when it renders the note.

Declared plugin hosts: ichef.bbci.co.uk

Local vault indexing

Aside indexes markdown note paths and cached tags locally so link suggestions, tag suggestions, move targets, Thought Trail, and the generated comment index stay current. The index is seeded once when the plugin loads and then updated from Obsidian vault and metadata events. Publishing traverses only the configured publishing folder. Aside does not transmit the local note or tag index.

Clipboard access

Aside reads clipboard data only from a paste event initiated by the user. It writes clipboard text only after an explicit copy action and uses a temporary, detached textarea when the async clipboard API is unavailable. Aside does not poll, read, persist, or log clipboard contents in the background.

External services

• Local Codex and Claude agent commands run only after the user saves a side note that explicitly mentions that agent. Those tools may use their own configured services and policies.
• Experimental publishing runs the user's local Wrangler CLI against the Cloudflare Pages project selected by the user.
• Support reports are sent only after the user reviews and submits the report, and only when that build has a support endpoint configured.
• Aside has no hidden telemetry or self-update service.

How to Get Started

1. Install Aside from Obsidian's Community plugins browser.
2. Optional: install and sign in to the local agent CLI you want to use on the same machine.
3. Optional: install the Aside skill for better agent workflows.

   $skill-installer install https://github.com/vicky469/aside/tree/main/skills/aside
   

4. Experimental, for testers only: configure Cloudflare Pages publishing.
   • Install Wrangler so wrangler --version works in Terminal.
   • Run wrangler login with the Cloudflare account that owns the Pages project.
   • Create or choose a Cloudflare Pages project.
   • If you use a custom domain, attach it to the Pages project in Cloudflare first.
   • Optional for immediate unpublish cache invalidation on a custom domain:
     • Deploy workers/cache-purge-broker after setting ALLOWED_HOSTS to your publishing hostname.
     • Store CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN, CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID, and BROKER_AUTH_SECRET as Worker secrets. The API token needs Cloudflare's Cache Purge permission for that zone.
     • In Aside settings, enter the deployed broker's /purge URL and select an Obsidian SecretStorage entry containing the same broker auth secret.
     • Remote purge does not support *.pages.dev; use a custom domain in a Cloudflare zone you control.
   • In Aside settings, turn on Publishing and set the Publishing URL to your public Pages URL, for example https://publish.example.com.
   • Put publishable Markdown, HTML, and PDF files under public/. Aside creates public/ when Publishing is enabled if it does not already exist.

Workflow

1. Open a markdown, PDF, or HTML file.
2. Add a side note. In markdown, select text and right-click Add comment to selection, or use the sidebar for a page note. In HTML and PDF files, use the sidebar to add a page note for the whole file.
3. Write your comment in the sidebar. Type @todo for follow-ups, @codex if you want Codex to take the task, or @claude if you want Claude to take it.

Glossary

• thread
  One Aside discussion attached to one target. A thread can have one first entry and later replies.

• entry
  One message inside a thread. The first saved entry creates the thread. Later child entries are replies in the same thread.

• page note
  A thread attached to the whole file, not to a text selection. Page notes work on markdown files, PDFs, and HTML files.

• anchored note
  A thread attached to a specific text selection in a markdown note. HTML files and PDFs support page notes only.

• orphaned note
  An anchored thread whose original text can no longer be matched in the file. The thread still exists; its anchor is just currently missing.

• resolved note
  A thread that has been archived instead of deleted.

• 🐰 Aside Index.md The generated vault-wide index note. It is derived output, not the source of truth.

• thought trail
  The graph view built from [[wikilinks]] inside side-note threads.

Writing in Side Notes

Action	How it works
Save draft	Click Save.
Insert a newline	Press Enter.
Mark a todo	Type @todo in the note.
Publish public Markdown	Put the .md file under public/, open it, then click Publish Markdown in the pane header.
Publish public HTML	Put the .html file under public/, open it, then click Publish HTML in the pane header. If it is generated from Markdown, keep the source .md under public/ too.
Publish a public PDF	Put the .pdf file under public/, open it, then click Publish PDF in the pane header.
Republish public content	Open the published file under public/, then click the matching Republish Markdown, Republish HTML, or Republish PDF action.
Unpublish public content	Open the published file under public/, then click the matching Unpublish Markdown, Unpublish HTML, or Unpublish PDF action.
Open published content	Open the published file under public/, then click the matching Open published Markdown, Open published HTML, or Open published PDF action.
Ask a local agent from a side note	Type @codex or @claude in the note, then save it.
Link a note	Type [[ to open note suggestions and insert an Obsidian wikilink.
Add a tag	Type # to open tag suggestions and insert a tag.
Reopen link or tag suggestions	Press Tab while the cursor is inside an unfinished [[... or #... token.
Bold or highlight text	Use the sidebar B and H buttons to wrap the current selection with **bold** or ==highlight==.
Cancel a draft or edit	Press Esc.

Commands

• Aside: Add comment to selection

Reporting Bugs

Open a GitHub issue using the bug report template:

https://github.com/vicky469/aside/issues/new?template=bug_report.yml

For suspected vulnerabilities or other sensitive security issues, do not file a public issue. Email vickyli819@proton.me instead.

License

MIT

Keep Aside brewing.