Emacs Text Editor for Obsidian

This plugin adds a few commands to use Obsidian with Emacs-like keybindings.

Purpose of the project

What is this plugin:

1. Basic imitation of Emacs commands to make text editing for Emacs users more smooth

What isn't this plugin:

1. Implementation of complete GNU Emacs functionality and integration elisp into Obsidian
2. Exact reproducing behavior of GNU Emacs commands

How to install

Run:

export OBSIDIAN_PLUGINS_DIR=/path/to/obsidian/vault/.obsidian/plugins
make install

How to uninstall

export OBSIDIAN_PLUGINS_DIR=/path/to/obsidian/vault/.obsidian/plugins
make uninstall

Example of keybindings configuration

Hotkey	Obisdian command	Description
Ctrl + b	Backward char	Move cursor one character backward
Alt + Backspace	Backward kill word	Delete one word backward
Alt + Shift + [	Backward paragraph	Move cursor one paragraph backward
Alt + b	Backward word	Move cursor one word backward
Alt + Shift + ,	Beginning of buffer	Move to the beginning of a buffer
Ctrl + d	Delete char	Delete the following char
Alt + Shift + .	End of buffer	Move to the end of a buffer
Ctrl + f	Forward char	Move cursor one character forward
Alt + Shift + ]	Forward paragraph	Move cursor one paragraph forward
Alt + f	Forward word	Move cursor one word forward
Ctrl + g	Keyboard quit	Signal a ‘quit’ condition (works only for selection)
Ctrl + k	Kill line	Kill the rest of the current line
Ctrl + w	Kill region	Cut a selected region
Alt + w	Kill ring save	Copy a selected region
Alt + d	Kill word	Delete chars until end of a word
Ctrl + a	Move beginning of line	Move cursor to beginning of line
Ctrl + e	Move end of line	Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl + n	Next line	Move cursor to next line
Ctrl + p	Previous line	Move cursor to previous line
Ctrl + l	Recenter	Scroll window to center current line
Ctrl + Shift + -	Redo	Redo
Ctrl + Space	Set mark command	Mark the beginning of a selection
Ctrl + /	Undo	Undo
Ctrl + y	Yank	Paste (Yank) a cut or copied a region
(not configured)	Upcase word	Make entire next word uppercase, advance cursor
(not configured)	Downcase word	Make entire next word lowercase, advance cursor
(not configured)	Capitalize word	Capitalize next word or rest of current word, advance cursor
(not configured)	Upcase region	Make entire selected region uppercase
(not configured)	Downcase region	Make entire selected region lowercase
(not configured)	Capitalize region	Capitalize each word in selected region
Alt + u	Upcase dwim	Uppercase selection if selection exists, else word
Alt + l	Downcase dwim	Lowercase selection if selection exists, else word
Alt + c	Capitalize dwim	Capitalize selection if selection exists, else word
Alt + x	Open command palette	Open command palette

Key Repeat

When enabled in Settings → Community plugins → Emacs text editor, the following additional hotkeys will repeat when held down, as in emacs:

• Character movement: Ctrl+F, Ctrl+B
• Line movement: Ctrl+N, Ctrl+P
• Word movement: Alt+F, Alt+B
• Character, Word Deletion: Ctrl+D, Alt+D

In the Settings, you can also adjust the initial repeat delay or interval, or use quick presets (Slow/Medium/Fast). This repeat mechanism works around Obsidian API limitations which prevent changing ctrl or alt key repeats. It is separate from your OS keyboard repeat controls; changing repeat timing here affects only Obsidian hotkey behavior.

Known issues

1. Move to beginning of line command (Ctrl + a) conflicts with select all action. Solution: Use Home/End + Shift.
2. Conflicts with existing hotkeys. Solution: use additional plugin for custom bindings, for example https://github.com/tgrosinger/leader-hotkeys-obsidian
3. Absent support of "kill-ring". Solution: use plugin https://github.com/Karakaz/obsidian-paste-from-history with Alt + y keybinding
4. Absent support of scroll-up/scroll-down commands. Solution is not found