Cornell Notes for Obsidian

Renders cornell fenced code blocks as a two-column Cornell Notes layout in Reading view.

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Features

• Two-column layout with configurable column widths (default 28% cues / 72% notes)
• Supports any Markdown in both columns: paragraphs, lists, tables, code blocks, callouts, math, mermaid diagrams, images, wikilinks
• Mobile-responsive: columns stack vertically on narrow screens
• Plain-text storage — readable and editable without the plugin
• Configurable headers, borders, and column widths via the settings page (or per-block with ::noheader, ::header, ::borders, ::columns directives)

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Installation

Community plugins (once approved)

Settings > Community plugins > Browse > search Cornell Notes > Install > Enable

Manual install

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, styles.css from the latest release
2. Copy all three files into <your-vault>/.obsidian/plugins/cornell-notes/
3. Settings > Community plugins > enable Cornell Notes

Via BRAT (beta)

1. Install BRAT
2. BRAT > Add Beta Plugin > https://github.com/bytetiles/obsidian-cornell-notes

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Usage

Wrap your Cornell Notes rows in a 4-backtick cornell fence. Use ::cue to start a row and ::note to start the note for that row.

::cue
What is a window function?
::note
A calculation across related rows **without collapsing** them.

Unlike GROUP BY, all original rows stay visible.

::cue
What does PARTITION BY do?
::note
Splits rows into logical groups inside the window.

| PARTITION BY | GROUP BY       |
|--------------|----------------|
| keeps rows   | collapses rows |

Syntax rules

Element	Syntax
Start a new row	::cue on its own line
Switch to note	::note on its own line
Cue-only row	::cue with no following ::note
Code block inside	use ```lang ``` (safe inside 4-backtick outer fence)

Always use 4 backticks for the outer fence (````cornell). This lets you freely use triple-backtick code blocks inside.

Block directives

Directives go before the first ::cue in a block and override the vault-wide default for that block only. Vault-wide defaults are set in Settings → Community plugins → Cornell Notes.

Directive	Effect
::noheader	Hide the header row
::header Cues | Notes	Custom column labels (pipe-separated)
::borders solid	Border style: solid / dashed / dotted / off
::borders dashed 2pt/1pt #4A90D9	Style + accent/row thickness + hex color
::columns 20	Cue column width in % (10–90)

Rich content examples

Code block in notes:

::cue
Java import syntax
::note
```java
import org.example.project.Course.*;
```

Callouts, math, diagrams:

::cue
> [!tip] Tip in cue
::note
> [!warning] Warning callout

Inline math: $E = mc^{2}$

$$\int_0^\infty e^{-x^2}\,dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}$$

::cue
Mermaid in note
::note
```mermaid
graph LR
  A --> B --> C
```

Mobile view

On screens narrower than 700 px the columns stack vertically (cues first, then notes below).

Known limitations

Feature	Status
~sub~ / ^sup^ Obsidian syntax	✗ Not rendered — use <sub> / <sup> HTML or Unicode (₂, ²)
Live Preview two-column layout	✗ Reading view only — edit mode shows plain text