Default View Mode

Set a default view mode — read or edit — for each note individually via frontmatter. Open your homepage in read view, your daily notes in edit view, and everything else however you like.

Features

• Per-note default view — each note remembers its preferred view mode through a simple frontmatter field
• Automatic switching — the view switches as soon as you open a note, no extra clicks
• Command palette support — three commands to set or clear a note's default view without leaving the keyboard
• Zero-config — no settings tab, no global toggles; everything is controlled at the note level

How It Works

The plugin reads a view-mode key from each note's YAML frontmatter. When you open a note, it checks the key and switches to the matching view. If no key is set, Obsidian's default behavior is left unchanged.

---
view-mode: read
---

Commands

Command	Description
Set view-mode: read	Adds view-mode: read to the active note's frontmatter
Set view-mode: edit	Adds view-mode: edit to the active note's frontmatter
Clear view-mode	Removes the view-mode key from the active note's frontmatter

Installation

Community Plugin Gallery

Once accepted, this plugin will be available in the Obsidian Community Plugin gallery.

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release
2. Copy them into {vault}/.obsidian/plugins/default-view-mode/
3. Reload Obsidian and enable the plugin under Settings → Community Plugins

Compatibility

• Requires Obsidian 1.12.0 or later
• Works on desktop and mobile

License

MIT