Token Count

Count tokens for the active note in the status bar, using the same tokenizers as popular LLM APIs (GPT, Claude, and Gemini). Desktop only.

Install

From Obsidian (recommended)

1. Open Settings → Community plugins.
2. Turn on Community plugins and Browse.
3. Search for Token Count and install.
4. Enable the plugin.

Manual install

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest GitHub release.
2. Create a folder in your vault: .obsidian/plugins/token-count/
3. Copy both files into that folder.
4. Enable Token Count under Settings → Community plugins.

Usage

Open any Markdown note. The status bar shows the token count for the full note, for example:

1,234 tokens · gpt-5

The count updates as you edit. It appears after Obsidian’s built-in word and character count when the core Word count plugin is enabled.

Settings

Settings → Token Count

Option	Description
Model	gpt-5, gpt-4o, gpt-4, claude, or gemini
Show model in status bar	Show the model name after the count (e.g. · gpt-5)

Notes

• Counts the entire editor content, including YAML frontmatter.
• Useful for estimating how much of a note fits in an LLM context window; system prompts or chat wrappers are not included.
• Gemini: the first count may download a vocabulary file once (requires network).
• Empty when no Markdown editor is active.

Development

Requires Node.js 18+.

npm install
npm run build

Symlink or copy this repo into <Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/token-count/ for local testing. Use npm run dev to rebuild on save.

See RELEASING.md for publishing a new version.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.