English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文 | Deutsch | Français | Русский | Português | 日本語 | Español | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt

DocWen Assistant - Obsidian Plugin

An Obsidian plugin for the DocWen desktop application.

✨ Features

Core Features

• ✅ Sidebar Quick Launch: Add an icon to the Obsidian sidebar for one-click launch
• ✅ Automatic File Passing: Automatically pass the currently open file path to DocWen
• ✅ Command Palette Integration: Quick access via Ctrl/Cmd + P
• ✅ Background Export (CLI): Export to Word/Excel/Markdown via DocWenCLI.exe without opening the GUI (pickers may appear when needed)
• ✅ Heading Numbering (CLI): Add/remove numbering for Markdown headings via DocWenCLI.exe
• ✅ Doctor Check (CLI): One-click environment/diagnostics check
• ✅ Path Validation: Real-time validation of executable path
• ✅ File Browser: Easily select executable file via browse dialog
• ✅ Success Feedback: Friendly notifications on launch
• ✅ Right-click Context Menu: Right-click any file in the explorer → DocWen submenu (convert formats, manage heading numbering, open in DocWen)
• ✅ Single Instance Management: Automatically sends file to running instance
• ✅ Multi-language Support: Supports 11 languages (zh-CN, zh-TW, en, de, fr, ru, pt-BR, ja, ko, es, vi)

---

📦 Quick Start

Prerequisites

1. Install Node.js

   • Visit Node.js Official Website
   • Download and install the LTS version
   • Verify installation: node -v and npm -v

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install
   

Development Mode

Use watch mode during development for automatic recompilation on code changes:

npm run dev

Build Plugin

Quick Build (no type checking)

npm run build:quick

Full Build (with type checking and minification)

npm run build

Release Build (auto-package)

npm run release
# Or run directly: node scripts/build.js

This command will:

1. Compile TypeScript code
2. Create release directory
3. Copy required files
4. Generate usage instructions

---

🚀 Install to Obsidian

Method 1: Download Release (Recommended)

1. Go to the GitHub Releases page
2. Download and extract the latest release
3. Copy the docwen-assistant folder to <Your Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/
4. In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → Reload plugins → Enable DocWen Assistant

Method 2: Build from Source

1. Install dependencies and build:

   npm install
   npm run release
   

2. Copy the release/docwen-assistant folder to <Your Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/
3. Reload and enable the plugin in Obsidian

---

⚙️ Configuration

1. Open Obsidian Settings → Community plugins → DocWen Assistant

2. Configure GUI or CLI executable path (either one is enough):

   • Full path to DocWen.exe or DocWenCLI.exe
   • If only one is set, the plugin tries to auto-detect the other in the same folder (e.g., detect DocWenCLI.exe next to DocWen.exe, and vice versa)

3. Path validation:

   • ✓ Green indicates valid path
   • ✗ Red indicates invalid path or file not found

---

📖 Usage

Launch DocWen

Three ways to launch:

1. Sidebar Icon

   • Click the document icon in the left sidebar

2. Command Palette

   • Press Ctrl/Cmd + P to open command palette
   • Search for "Launch DocWen"

3. Launch with Current File

   • Search "Launch DocWen with current file" in command palette
   • Only available when a file is open

Background Export (CLI, no GUI popup)

Search in command palette:

• “Export to Word (Docx) in background” — for .md/.markdown/.txt files, select a template from the picker
• “Export to Excel (XLSX) in background” — for .md/.markdown/.txt files, select a template from the picker
• “Export to Markdown (MD) in background” — if optimization types are available for the current file type and language, select one from the picker (or skip)

Requires DocWenCLI.exe.

Right-click Context Menu

Right-click any file in the file explorer to see the DocWen submenu. Available actions depend on file type:

• Convert to Markdown — for docx, xlsx, pdf, images, etc.
• Convert to Word (Docx) / Convert to Excel (XLSX) — for .md/.markdown/.txt files
• Add/Remove heading numbering — for .md files only
• Open in DocWen — available for all files

Heading Numbering (CLI)

Search in command palette:

• “Add numbering to Markdown headings” — select a numbering scheme from the picker
• “Remove numbering from Markdown headings”

Only available when a .md file is open. Requires DocWenCLI.exe.

Doctor Check (CLI)

Search in command palette:

• “DocWen doctor check”

Requires DocWenCLI.exe.

Automatic File Passing

• If a file is open, the plugin automatically passes its full path to DocWen
• If no file is open, only launches the DocWen program

Single Instance Management

• First Click → Launch DocWen and pass current file
• Click Again (with file) → Replace with new file (Single File Mode)
• Click Again (no file) → Activate DocWen window

---

🛠️ Development Scripts

Available Commands

Command	Description
npm run dev	Development mode (watch)
npm run build	Full build (type check + minify)
npm run build:quick	Quick build (no type check)
npm run lint	ESLint check
npm run lint:fix	ESLint auto-fix
node version-bump.js [patch|minor|major]	Update version number
npm run release	Build release package

Version Management

Update version number:

# Patch version (1.0.0 → 1.0.1)
node version-bump.js patch

# Minor version (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
node version-bump.js minor

# Major version (1.0.0 → 2.0.0)
node version-bump.js major

---

📁 Project Structure

docwen-obsidian/
├── src/                 # 📁 Source code directory
│   ├── main.ts          # Plugin main logic
│   ├── settings.ts      # Settings page
│   ├── i18n.ts          # Internationalization module
│   └── utils/           # Utility modules
│       └── suggest-modal.ts # Picker modal
├── dist/                # 🔨 Build output directory
│   └── main.js          # Compiled code
├── docs/                # 📄 Documentation
│   └── plugin-readme/    # User-facing README (multi-language)
├── scripts/             # 📜 Build scripts
│   ├── build.bat        # Windows one-click build
│   ├── build.js         # Cross-platform build script
│   └── README.md        # Script usage guide
├── release/             # 📦 Release artifacts
├── .vscode/             # 🛠️ Editor configuration
│   └── settings.json    # VS Code settings
├── manifest.json        # Plugin manifest
├── package.json         # Project configuration
├── tsconfig.json        # TypeScript configuration
├── eslint.config.cjs    # ESLint configuration
├── .gitignore          # Git ignore file
├── version-bump.js     # Version management script
├── README.md           # This document (English)
└── README_zh-CN.md     # Chinese documentation

---

🐛 Troubleshooting

Plugin Won't Load

1. Check if main.js and manifest.json are correctly copied
2. Click Reload plugins in Obsidian
3. Check developer console (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I) for errors

Cannot Launch DocWen

1. Check if executable path is correct
2. Confirm path status shows green ✓
3. Confirm executable has proper permissions

File Path Not Passed

1. Confirm a file is currently open
2. Check if file path contains special characters
3. Check console logs for passed arguments

---

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contact

• GitHub: https://github.com/ZHYX91/docwen-obsidian
• DocWen Main Project: https://github.com/ZHYX91/docwen
• Contact Author: zhengyx91@hotmail.com

---

Author: ZhengYX