Obsidian Custom Views

A plugin for Obsidian that lets you create custom HTML views for your notes based on filter rules. Transform how your notes are displayed by defining custom templates that match specific files.

The plugin's main feature is custom views, which allow you to:

• Create beautiful, custom HTML templates for specific notes
• Match files using powerful filter rules (file properties, frontmatter, tags, etc.)
• Transform data using filter chains (date formatting, text transformations, etc.)
• Render note content as markdown within your custom templates

Perfect for creating card views, dashboards, or any custom presentation of your notes!

Usage

Getting Started

Basic Example

Let's create a simple view for movie notes. First, add a filter rule:

• Property: file.folder
• Operator: contains
• Value: Movies

Then, create a template like this:

<div class="movie-card">
  <h1>{{title}}</h1>
  <p>Year: {{year}}</p>
  <p>Rating: {{rating}}/10</p>
  <div>{{file.content}}</div>
</div>

Now, any note in a folder containing "Movies" will be displayed using this custom template instead of the default markdown view!

Features

Filter Rules

Match files using powerful filter rules based on file properties or frontmatter. You can combine multiple conditions using AND, OR, or NOR logic.

Available Properties:

• File properties: file.name, file.path, file.folder, file.size, file.ctime, file.mtime, file.extension
• Frontmatter: Any property from your note's frontmatter (e.g., title, tags, status, date)
• Tags: The tags property (automatically detected as a list)

Operators:

• Text: contains, does not contain, is, is not, starts with, ends with, is empty, is not empty
• Numbers: =, ≠, <, ≤, >, ≥, is empty, is not empty
• Dates: on, not on, before, on or before, after, on or after, is empty, is not empty
• Lists/Tags: contains, does not contain, is empty, is not empty
• Checkboxes: is (true/false)

HTML Templates

Write custom HTML templates using a simple placeholder syntax. Access file properties using {{file.property}} and frontmatter properties using {{property}}.

Basic Placeholders:

• {{file.name}} - The full filename (e.g., "My Note.md")
• {{file.basename}} - The filename without extension (e.g., "My Note")
• {{file.path}} - The full file path
• {{file.folder}} - The folder path
• {{file.size}} - File size in bytes
• {{file.ctime}} - Creation timestamp
• {{file.mtime}} - Modification timestamp
• {{file.content}} - The note body rendered as markdown
• {{file.tags}} - File tags (from both body and frontmatter)
• {{property}} - Any frontmatter property (e.g., {{title}}, {{cover}}, {{rating}})

Array Access:

• {{file.tags[0]}} - First tag
• {{file.tags[1]}} - Second tag
• etc.

Filter Chains

Transform values using filter chains. Chain multiple filters together using the pipe (|) operator.

Example:

<h1>{{title | capitalize}}</h1>
<p>Published: {{date | date:"MMMM DD, YYYY"}}</p>
<p>Tags: {{file.tags | join:", " | wikilink}}</p>

Available Filters:

Date Filters

• date:"FORMAT" - Format a date (e.g., date:"YYYY-MM-DD", date:"MMMM DD, YYYY")
• date:"FORMAT":"INPUT_FORMAT" - Parse and format a date with custom input format
• date_modify:"+1 year" - Modify a date (e.g., "+1 year", "-2 months")

Text Transformation

• capitalize - Capitalize first letter
• upper - Convert to uppercase
• lower - Convert to lowercase
• title - Title case
• camel - Convert to camelCase
• kebab - Convert to kebab-case
• snake - Convert to snake_case
• trim - Remove leading/trailing whitespace
• replace:"search":"replace" - Replace text (supports regex: replace:"/pattern/flags":"replace")

Markdown Formatting

• wikilink:"alias" - Convert to wikilink [[value|alias]]
• link:"text" - Convert to markdown link [text](value)
• image:"alt" - Convert to markdown image ![alt](value)
• blockquote - Convert each line to blockquote

Array Operations

• split:"," - Split string into array
• join:", " - Join array into string
• first - Get first element
• last - Get last element
• slice:0:5 - Slice array or string
• count - Get length of array or string

HTML Processing

• strip_tags - Remove HTML tags

Math

• calc:"+10" - Perform calculation (+, -, *, /, ^)

View Modes

The plugin works in different view modes based on your settings:

• Reading Mode: Custom views always work in reading mode (preview mode).
• Live Preview: Optionally enable custom views in live preview mode via Settings → Custom Views → Work in Live Preview.
• Source Mode: Custom views are disabled in pure source mode (true editor mode).

Multiple Views

You can create multiple custom views. The plugin will use the first matching view for each file. This allows you to have different templates for different types of notes.

Example:

• View 1: Movie cards (matches file.folder contains "Movies")
• View 2: Book cards (matches file.folder contains "Books")
• View 3: Project dashboards (matches file.status is "active")

Script Support

You can include <script> tags in your templates for dynamic behavior. Scripts are executed when the template is rendered, allowing you to add interactivity to your custom views.

<div class="interactive-card">
  <h2>{{title}}</h2>
  <button onclick="toggleDetails()">Show Details</button>
  <div id="details" style="display: none;">{{file.content}}</div>
</div>

<script>
function toggleDetails() {
  const details = document.getElementById('details');
  details.style.display = details.style.display === 'none' ? 'block' : 'none';
}
</script>

[!WARNING] Scripts in templates are executed when the view is rendered. Be careful with scripts from untrusted sources.

Examples

Movie Card View

Filter Rule:

• file.folder contains Movies

Template:

<div class="movie-card" style="max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 20px; border: 1px solid var(--background-modifier-border); border-radius: 8px;">
  <h1 style="margin-top: 0;">{{title}}</h1>
  <div style="display: flex; gap: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
    <div>
      <strong>Year:</strong> {{year}}
    </div>
    <div>
      <strong>Rating:</strong> {{rating}}/10
    </div>
    <div>
      <strong>Genre:</strong> {{genre | join:", "}}
    </div>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-top: 20px;">
    {{file.content}}
  </div>
</div>

Project Dashboard

Filter Rule:

• file.status is active

Template:

<div class="project-dashboard">
  <h1>{{file.name | replace:".md":"" | title}}</h1>
  <div class="metadata">
    <p><strong>Status:</strong> {{status | capitalize}}</p>
    <p><strong>Due Date:</strong> {{due_date | date:"MMMM DD, YYYY"}}</p>
    <p><strong>Progress:</strong> {{progress}}%</p>
  </div>
  <div class="tags">
    Tags: {{file.tags | join:", " | wikilink}}
  </div>
  <hr>
  <div class="content">
    {{file.content}}
  </div>
</div>

Book Review Card

Filter Rule:

• file.tags contains book

Template:

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr; gap: 20px; padding: 20px;">
  <div>
    <img src="{{cover_image}}" alt="{{title}}" style="width: 100%; border-radius: 4px;">
  </div>
  <div>
    <h1>{{title}}</h1>
    <p><strong>Author:</strong> {{author}}</p>
    <p><strong>Published:</strong> {{published | date:"YYYY"}}</p>
    <p><strong>Rating:</strong> {{rating}}/5 ⭐</p>
    <div style="margin-top: 20px;">
      {{file.content}}
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Commands

The plugin adds the following commands to the Command palette:

• Enable Custom Views - Enable the plugin (only shown when disabled)
• Disable Custom Views - Disable the plugin (only shown when enabled)

Settings

Access settings via Settings → Custom Views.

Global Settings

• Work in Live Preview - If enabled, custom views work in both reading mode and live preview mode. If disabled, custom views only work in reading mode.

View Configuration

Each view has:

• Name - A descriptive name for the view
• Filter Rules - Conditions that determine which files match this view
• HTML Template - The custom HTML template to render for matching files

Template Reference

Placeholder Syntax

For file properties:

{{file.PROPERTY[INDEX] | FILTER1:ARG1,ARG2 | FILTER2:ARG3}}

For frontmatter properties:

{{PROPERTY[INDEX] | FILTER1:ARG1,ARG2 | FILTER2:ARG3}}

• PROPERTY - The property name (file property with file. prefix, or frontmatter key without prefix)
• [INDEX] - Optional array index (e.g., [0] for first element)
• | FILTER:ARGS - Optional filter chain

Special Placeholders

• {{file.content}} - Renders the note body as markdown. This is always rendered as markdown, regardless of context.

Context-Aware Rendering

Placeholders are rendered differently based on context:

• Inside HTML attributes (e.g., href="{{file.path}}" or src="{{cover}}"): Returns raw string value
• In HTML body: Renders as markdown if the value contains markdown syntax (like [[links]])

Filter Chain Syntax

Filters are chained using the pipe (|) operator:

{{date | date:"YYYY-MM-DD" | upper}}

Filter arguments can be:

• Simple values: date:"YYYY-MM-DD"
• Multiple arguments: replace:"old":"new" (comma-separated, or use quotes for strings with commas)
• Regex patterns: replace:"/pattern/flags":"replace"

Contributing

Any contributions and PRs are welcome! Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.