Table to Base

Turn a Markdown table into organized notes and track them in a Base. Instead of creating each note by hand, plan your items in a table and let the plugin prepare the files for you.

Example: organize a course semester

Suppose you are preparing a course semester. List readings, assignments, exams, and other activities in a table inside the course note:

name	content	type	date	date_type	done	done_type	tags
Reading - week 1	Read the introductory chapter and note questions.	Reading	2026-03-09	date	false	checkbox	study
Essay	Prepare an essay on the selected text.	Assignment	2026-04-02	date	null	bool	study, writing
Midterm	Review notes from the first few weeks.	Exam	2026-05-12	date	false	check box	study

When you convert the table, each row becomes a note. The type, date, done, and tags columns are saved as properties, while content becomes the note body. The done_type column declares the type of the done property; checkbox, bool, and check box are accepted for checkboxes. You can open an activity to add notes without losing the overview of the semester.

What gets created

By default, the files are organized like this:

My semester.md                  <- the table is replaced by a Base embed
My semester_base.base           <- defines the table and filters notes by tag
base_notes/
|-- Reading - week 1.md
|-- Essay.md
`-- Midterm.md

The .base file is created at the vault root; notes are saved in base_notes/ by default. The Base shows the notes generated for that plan. If you convert another table in the same note, the plugin reuses the Base and applies the same tag to the new notes.

Convert a table

In the editor, right-click a table cell and select Convert to base+notes. Or open the command palette and run Convert the table in the current file to a base. The command palette converts only when it finds exactly one Markdown table in the file. If there is more than one, it tells you that this mode supports one table at a time.

The table must have a column for the note name and another named content. The default name column is name.

Column	Purpose
name	Name of the generated note. You can change the column name in settings.
content	Text used as the note body.
Other columns	Properties in the note's frontmatter.
tags	Comma-separated tags; the Base tag is added automatically.
<property>_type	Declares the type of the matching property. This helper column is not itself a property.

Supported types: text, list, number, bool, checkbox, date, date & time (or datetime), and tags. Use true, false, or null for boolean values. A property must use the same type in every row. Lists can be comma-separated or written as JSON; dates must use ISO format, such as 2026-03-09.

Use {{date:FORMAT}} in Output folder and in the name column to insert the current date and time. For example, {{date:YYYY}}/{{date:MM}} creates year/month folders, while Activity {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} adds the date to the note name. Formats follow Moment.js syntax.

Settings

In the plugin settings, you can choose:

• Output folder for notes. The default is base_notes; leave it empty to save notes at the vault root. To create the folder relative to the current note, use {{currentFolder}}, for example {{currentFolder}}/base_notes.
• File name column. The default is name.
• The content column provides the note body.
• Base tag. If left empty, the name of the note containing the table is used.
• Whether properties can have empty values.
• The interface Language. Choose English or Portuguese, or use automatic mode to follow Obsidian's language.

The plugin does not overwrite existing notes. If a name is already in use, it adds a suffix such as _2. If the note's .base file already exists, it is reused.

Manual installation

1. Run npm ci in the project folder.
2. Run npm run build.
3. Copy main.js and manifest.json to: <Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/table-to-base/.
4. In Obsidian, reload plugins and enable Table to Base under Settings → Community plugins.

Translations are bundled into main.js during the build; you do not need to copy files from src/.

Development

Requirements: Node.js 18 or later and npm.

npm ci
npm run dev

npm run dev rebuilds the plugin as you edit files. To validate changes:

npm test
npm run build
npm run lint

Source code is in src/. The build generates main.js in the project root; this generated file should not be committed.