Automatic Plugin Manager

Automatically install, enable, and configure Obsidian community plugins from simple JSON configuration files. Perfect for syncing plugin setups across devices or sharing vault configurations.

✨ Overview

Automatic Plugin Manager is a powerful Obsidian plugin that automates the installation, enabling, and configuration of community plugins. Simply define your desired plugins in a JSON file, and the plugin handles the rest—downloading, installing, enabling, and applying settings automatically.

Perfect for:

• 🔄 Syncing plugin setups across multiple devices
• 👥 Sharing vault configurations with team members
• 🚀 Quick environment setup for new vaults
• 📦 Reproducible plugin configurations for development workflows

🔧 Features

• ✅ Automatic Installation - Installs missing plugins from the Obsidian Community Plugins registry
• ✅ Auto-Enable Plugins - Automatically enables installed plugins after installation (configurable)
• ✅ Smart Plugin Detection - Refreshes plugin list to ensure newly installed plugins are recognized
• ✅ Settings Synchronization - Applies predefined plugin settings from configuration files
• ✅ UI Auto-Refresh - Automatically updates the Obsidian UI to show newly installed plugins
• ✅ Error Handling - Comprehensive error handling with detailed logging
• ✅ Flexible Configuration - Simple JSON-based configuration system

⚠️ Security Warning

IMPORTANT: This plugin automatically downloads and installs plugins from the Obsidian Community Plugins registry. Please be aware of the following security considerations:

• Only use with trusted vaults: Only install this plugin in vaults where you trust the source of the community-plugins-list.json file
• Review plugin lists: Always review the community-plugins-list.json file before enabling this plugin
• Plugin permissions: Installed plugins may have access to your vault data and file system
• Automatic updates: This plugin installs the latest version of each plugin, which may include breaking changes
• Use at your own risk: The plugin author is not responsible for any issues caused by automatically installed plugins

Recommendation: Review the community-plugins-list.json file in your vault's .obsidian folder before enabling this plugin.

🚀 Installation

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from the GitHub repository
2. Extract the archive to your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ folder
3. Rename the extracted folder to automatic-installation-of-plugins
4. Open Obsidian Settings
5. Go to Community plugins
6. Make sure Safe mode is off
7. Find "Automatic Plugin Manager" in the installed plugins list
8. Click the toggle to Enable the plugin

📁 Configuration Files

This plugin uses two simple JSON configuration files located in your vault's .obsidian folder:

.vault/
├── .obsidian/
│   ├── plugins/
│   ├── community-plugins-list.json      ← Plugin IDs to install
│   └── community-plugins-settings.json ← Plugin settings

community-plugins-list.json

A simple array of plugin IDs to install and enable:

[
  "advanced-tables",
  "templater-obsidian",
  "obsidian-linter",
  "obsidian-git"
]

community-plugins-settings.json

An object mapping plugin IDs to their configuration settings:

{
  "templater-obsidian": {
    "templates_folder": "Templates",
    "trigger_on_file_open": true,
    "command_timeout": 5
  },
  "obsidian-linter": {
    "auto_format_on_save": true,
    "lint_on_load": false
  },
  "obsidian-git": {
    "pullInterval": 60,
    "autoPullInterval": 0
  }
}

🧠 Use Cases

Sync Plugins Across Devices

1. Set up your plugins on one device
2. Export your community-plugins-list.json and community-plugins-settings.json
3. Copy these files to other devices
4. Enable the plugin on each device—your plugin setup will be automatically synchronized

Share Vault Configurations

Create a vault template with predefined plugins and settings. Anyone who opens the vault will automatically get the same plugin configuration.

Quick Environment Setup

Set up a new vault with your favorite plugins in seconds by copying your configuration files.

Development Workflows

Maintain consistent plugin configurations across development environments.

🗂️ Example Workflow

1. Create your plugin list:

   [
     "obsidian-git",
     "templater-obsidian",
     "obsidian-linter"
   ]
   

2. Configure plugin settings (optional):

   {
     "obsidian-git": {
       "pullInterval": 60
     },
     "templater-obsidian": {
       "templates_folder": "Templates"
     }
   }
   

3. Enable the plugin in Obsidian settings

4. Restart Obsidian - The plugin will automatically:

   • Install missing plugins
   • Enable installed plugins
   • Apply configured settings
   • Refresh the UI

⚙️ Settings

The plugin provides the following settings (accessible via Settings → Community plugins → Automatic Plugin Manager):

Setting	Description
Auto install plugins on startup	If enabled, plugins from community-plugins-list.json will be automatically installed on Obsidian startup
Auto enable plugins after installation	If enabled, all installed plugins will be automatically enabled after installation. The plugin list will be refreshed first
Load plugin settings on install	If enabled, plugin configuration will be loaded from community-plugins-settings.json after installation
Load plugin settings on startup	If enabled, plugin configuration will be loaded from community-plugins-settings.json into installed plugins' data.json on each startup

📝 How It Works

1. On Obsidian startup, the plugin checks for community-plugins-list.json in your vault's .obsidian folder
2. If the file exists and contains plugin IDs, the plugin attempts to install any missing plugins from the Obsidian Community Plugins registry
3. After installation, if enabled, the plugin:
   • Refreshes the plugin list to ensure newly installed plugins are recognized
   • Automatically enables all installed plugins
   • Updates the Obsidian UI to show the changes
4. Settings application: If community-plugins-settings.json exists and contains settings for installed plugins, those settings are applied to each plugin's data.json file
5. On each startup, if enabled, the plugin can re-apply settings from community-plugins-settings.json to already installed plugins

🔍 Finding Plugin IDs

To find the ID of a plugin you want to install:

1. Go to the Obsidian Community Plugins website
2. Search for the plugin you want
3. The plugin ID is usually visible in the URL or plugin page
4. Alternatively, check the plugin's GitHub repository - the ID is often in the repository name

Common plugin IDs:

• obsidian-git - Git plugin
• templater-obsidian - Templater
• obsidian-linter - Linter
• calendar - Calendar
• dataview - Dataview

🐛 Troubleshooting

Plugins not installing

• Check that community-plugins-list.json exists and contains valid plugin IDs
• Verify plugin IDs are correct (they're case-sensitive)
• Check the console (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I) for error messages
• Ensure you have an internet connection

Plugins not enabling

• Check the "Auto enable plugins after installation" setting is enabled
• Check the console for any errors during the enable process
• Try manually reloading plugins (Settings → Community plugins → Reload)

Settings not applying

• Verify community-plugins-settings.json exists and is valid JSON
• Check that plugin IDs in the settings file match the installed plugin IDs
• Ensure the "Load plugin settings on install" or "Load plugin settings on startup" setting is enabled

🔗 Links

• Author: Konstantin Volobuev
• GitHub Repository: obsidian-automatic-installation-of-plugins
• Report Issues: GitHub Issues

📄 License

This plugin is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Obsidian community for creating amazing plugins and to all contributors who help improve this plugin.

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Made with ❤️ for the Obsidian community