Auto Sidebar

Hover the edge of the window to reveal the sidebar — hides automatically when not in use. A compact mode for Obsidian inspired by Zen Browser.

Quick Start

1. Install from Settings → Community plugins → Browse → "Auto Sidebar"
2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P) and run Toggle compact mode
3. Move the cursor to the left edge of the window — the sidebar slides in

Features

Feature	Description
Hover-to-reveal	Sidebar hides offscreen; hover the left edge to show it
CSS transitions	Fast hide (0.15s), smooth reveal (0.25s ease-out)
State persistence	Remembers compact mode and sidebar width across restarts
Command toggle	Toggle compact mode on/off from the command palette
Window-aware	Concedes sidebar when tabbing away or switching monitors

Motivation

Obsidian's sidebar takes up screen space even when unused. Standard collapse narrows the editor but keeps the sidebar dock visible. Auto Sidebar removes the sidebar entirely from the layout — it overlays on demand — giving the note-taking area the full window while preserving one-click access to the file tree and navigation.

How it works

The plugin positions the left sidebar absolutely and translates it offscreen via CSS transform. A mouse within 8 px of the left window edge triggers the overlay. Moving away hides it after a 150 ms delay. mouseleave and blur events catch context switches.

Installation

Community plugin directory

• Settings → Community plugins → Browse → "Auto Sidebar"

BRAT (manual)

Add TYBLHQY/auto-sidebar to your BRAT plugin list.

Compatibility

Target	Status
Obsidian ≥ 0.15.0	Supported
Mobile	Not available

Desktop-only. Hover detection and window blur events depend on an Electron environment.

Privacy

Auto Sidebar makes no network requests, collects no telemetry, and communicates with no external services. All data (compact mode state, sidebar width) is stored locally in the Obsidian plugin data directory.

Contributing

Open an issue or pull request.

License

MIT