TimeLineStamp

TimeLineStamp lets you drop lightweight timestamps on highlighted passages or embedded images and review every stamp across your vault on a dedicated timeline.

Features

• Highlight any text selection or supported image embed and instantly stamp it with the current time or a custom time.
• Auto-detect existing timeline-stamp-label spans across your vault (rescans every 5 seconds) so the timeline always reflects the latest state.
• Browse all stamps in a sortable timeline view with relative time, snippet previews, and one-click navigation back to the source line.
• Optional auto-open of the timeline view after stamping and configurable Moment.js format string for your timestamps.

Installation

Option 1

1. Ensure you have Node.js 16+ installed.
2. Clone or copy this repository into your Obsidian plugins development area.
3. In the plugin folder, install dependencies and build:

   npm install
   npm run build
   

4. Copy the build output (manifest.json, main.js, styles.css, and optionally data.json) into your vault’s .obsidian/plugins/timeline-stamp/ directory.

Option 2 [WIP not on Community plugins page]

In Obsidian, head to Settings → Community plugins, reload the list if needed, and enable TimeLineStamp.

Usage

• Create a Keybinding for the following or:

• Highlight text or an image embed inside a Markdown note, open the command palette, and run either:

  • TimeLineStamp: Timestamp selection with current time
  • TimeLineStamp: Timestamp selection with chosen time

• Stamped text is highlighted (keeps existing highlights intact) and tagged with a pill label showing the formatted time.

• Click the clock ribbon icon (or run TimeLineStamp: Open TimeLineStamp timeline) to open the timeline pane; click again to close it.

• The timeline pane displays every stamp with:

  • Absolute and relative timestamps
  • Type badge (Text or Image)
  • Snippet or image reference
  • File name and line number Clicking an entry jumps directly to that location in your note.

Auto-detection

Every 5 seconds the plugin rescans all Markdown files for stamped spans (timeline-stamp-label). Any changes, manual edits, or previously existing stamps are merged into the timeline automatically.

Settings

Open Settings → TimeLineStamp to adjust:

• Timestamp format: Moment.js format string used for labels (defaults to YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm).
• Auto-open timeline after stamping: Opens the timeline pane as soon as a new stamp is created.

Development

• Run npm run dev to rebuild automatically on file changes during development.
• The bundled output is placed at the repository root as main.js and main.js.map.

Known Limitations

• The auto-scanner expects stamps to retain the <span class="timeline-stamp-label">…</span> structure; manual edits that remove the span will remove the entry from the timeline on the next scan.
• Image stamps support Markdown image embeds (![]() and ![[ ]]); HTML <img> tags are not currently detected.