Ordinal Headings

Live Word-style numbering for Heading 1–6 in Obsidian. Numbers are visual by default (your Markdown stays clean) and update as you edit.

Features

• Multilevel presets (decimal, parenthetical, classic outline, chapter, Chinese 第X章, …)
• Custom format tokens: {n} {dotted} {1}–{6} {roman} {Roman} {alpha} {Alpha} {zh}
• Live Preview + Reading view (desktop and Android)
• Per-note frontmatter override
• Optional bake / strip commands for the current note only

Install

Copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/ordinal-headings/

Enable Ordinal Headings in Community plugins.

How numbering works

By default, numbers are visual only. They appear next to headings while you edit or read, but they are not written into the Markdown file. They update automatically when you add, remove, or reorder headings.

If a heading already starts with a number-like prefix (for example 1. or 2.1), the visual label is skipped so you do not see doubles like 1. 1. Title.

Put numbers into Markdown (bake)

Baking writes the numbers into the file text (useful for PDF, Publish, search, and the outline). It is manual and only affects the note you currently have open — it does not auto-insert while you type, and it does not process the whole vault.

Steps

1. Open the note you want to number (use Edit mode on mobile).
2. In Settings → Ordinal Headings, choose your style in the List library (bake uses the active preset).
3. Open the Command palette:
   • Desktop: Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac)
   • Android: use Obsidian’s Commands / command palette entry
4. Run: Ordinal Headings: Bake numbers into current note
5. Headings in that note are rewritten, for example:

# Intro
## Background

may become (decimal preset):

# 1 Intro
## 1.1 Background

(Exact text depends on your preset / custom formats.)

Re-bake after edits

After you add, remove, or reorder headings, baked numbers can go stale. Run Bake again to renumber.

Bake strips an old recognizable prefix first, so you should get # 2.2 Title, not # 2.2 2.1 Title.

Remove baked numbers

Command palette → Ordinal Headings: Strip baked numbers from current note

Frontmatter (per-note)

ordinal-headings: off
ordinal-headings-style: zh-chapter

• ordinal-headings: off (or on) — disable / enable for this note
• ordinal-headings-style — preset for this note (decimal, zh-chapter, custom, …)

You can also run Toggle numbering for current note from the command palette.

Commands summary

Command	What it does
Bake numbers into current note	Write numbers into this note’s Markdown
Strip baked numbers from current note	Remove recognizable number prefixes
Toggle numbering for current note	Frontmatter on/off for this note
Refresh heading numbers	Re-apply visual decorations

Develop

npm install
npm run build