Askfiles for Obsidian

Askfiles ("ask, then file") is a calm, question-by-question note creator for Obsidian where your vault's folders are the choices.

Instead of staring at a blank Untitled tab or digging through a nested folder tree in the sidebar, Askfiles turns note creation into a brief, guided conversation. Pick a folder card, drill down as far as you want (or stop early with Save here), name your note, and start writing—with your frontmatter properties and template already filled in.

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Why Askfiles?

Most vaults already have a natural structure—top-level categories like Knowledge, Projects, Journal, and Study, with domains like Physics, Software, or Web App inside them.

When you press Cmd/Ctrl + N, Obsidian either drops a note at the vault root or inside whatever folder you happened to click last. Filing it properly takes extra mental overhead.

Askfiles flips the flow:

1. Zero setup required — It reads your existing vault folders immediately. No database to configure, no tags to maintain.
2. Start by Category or by Domain — Toggle between Category (top-level folders) and Domain (second-level folders across your whole vault) right on the Home page.
3. Stop at any depth — Every subfolder level gives you a Save here option if you don't want to drill any deeper, or automatically advances to the naming screen when you reach a leaf folder.
4. Borderless, quiet design — No heavy boxes or visual clutter. Cards rest gently on your theme's canvas and highlight with a soft surface tint on hover or keyboard focus.

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Walkthrough

1. Start by Category or jump straight to a Domain

On the Home page, use the Category | Domain pill right above the question to choose how you think:

• Category asks a top-level question ("What's today's job?") and presents your root folders (Journal, Knowledge, Projects, Study).
• Domain swaps to a deeper question ("Which area shall we dive into?") and shows all your second-level domain folders (Physics, Software, Web App, Calculus) with their parent category shown underneath. If a domain name exists in only one category, clicking it jumps straight to <Category>/<Domain>.

Start by Category	Start by Domain

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2. Drill down & customize the view on the fly

As you pick a folder, a clickable breadcrumb trail builds at the top so you can jump back to any earlier step with a single click.

Click the Gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner to slide out the Live-Preview Gear Panel without leaving your tab:

• Switch between Grid and List views
• Adjust Columns (Auto, 2, 3, 4), Card size, Descriptions, and Sort order
• Change how the question phrase is chosen (Fixed, Random, or Rotate) and cycle to the next phrase immediately
• Apply layout tweaks to This folder only or Everywhere

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3. Name your note & pick a Note Type

Once you reach a folder with no subfolders (or click Save here), Askfiles asks "What shall we call it?":

• Checks for duplicate note names in real time
• Lets you optionally pick a Note type (Standard, Fleeting, Literature, Project, Meeting, Reference)
• Automatically writes your path choices into YAML frontmatter (category, domain, subdomain, type) and applies any template configured for that note type

Naming & Note Types	Note Created Confirmation

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4. Fine-grained Folder Rules (Include / Exclude Tree)

Have an Archive, Templates, or Attachments folder you never want to see as a choice? Or want to hide Archive except for Archive/2024?

Open Settings → Askfiles → Folders → Open folder tree to toggle folders visually with three scopes:

• This folder and everything inside
• Only the subfolders
• Only this folder

The deeper rule always wins, so you can exclude an entire branch and re-include a specific subfolder inside it—and rules automatically update when you rename or move folders in Obsidian.

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Keyboard-First Navigation

You can complete the entire flow without touching the mouse:

Key	Action
1 – 9	Pick the matching folder card (1 selects Save here when present)
Arrow keys	Move focus between folder cards
Enter	Select the focused card or create the note
/ or Cmd/Ctrl + F	Focus the bottom quick-jump search bar
Backspace / Alt + ←	Go back one folder level
Escape	Clear search, close the Gear panel, or step back

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Commands

Open the Obsidian Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P) and run:

• Askfiles: Open Askfiles — Open the Askfiles tab (also accessible from the left ribbon icon or optionally on startup / new tab).
• Askfiles: Create note here (from current folder) — Start the Askfiles flow pre-positioned inside the folder of your currently active note.
• Askfiles: Lock / unlock folder creation — Toggle the folder lock (🔒) so no new folders can be created accidentally from the search bar or + New folder card.

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Installation

From GitHub Releases

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release.
2. In your Obsidian vault, create the folder .obsidian/plugins/askfiles/.
3. Copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into that folder.
4. Reload Obsidian and enable Askfiles under Settings → Community plugins.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/jrayas/askfiles.git
cd askfiles
npm install
npm run build

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Privacy & Offline Guarantee

Askfiles runs 100% locally inside your vault. It makes zero network requests, requires no account or telemetry, and stores all settings inside your vault's plugin configuration.

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License

MIT © Anthirayas