Vault Spotlight

A Raycast-style command center for Obsidian: find notes fast, reopen recurring work instantly, and act on results — all without leaving the keyboard.

Vault Spotlight is a keyboard-first command center for three jobs:

• Search — fuzzy-find any note, command, heading, link, folder, or open editor in one launcher.
• Workflows — save a search and bring back the same project, meeting, or follow-up context in one keystroke.
• Actions — open, copy, rename, batch-edit, export, or preview results without breaking flow.

Free is genuinely useful on day one. Pro adds deeper search, unlimited workflows, and batch actions for people who live in the launcher.

Search

Find the right note, command, or vault object fast.

• Fuzzy launcher — partial names, initials, and light typos; recent files and open editors are boosted automatically.
• Modes without menus — Tab/Shift+Tab (or a configurable prefix) cycles files, commands (:), symbols ($), open editors (=), and folders (/).
• Tag & property filters — narrow with #work, @status:done, or a name plus metadata filters.
• Content & heading search (Pro) — search inside note bodies (>) and jump to any heading (^); browse backlinks/outlinks with links mode (~).

Workflows

Reopen repeated work in one keystroke.

• Save the current search — mode + query (+ optional ranking and scope) — with Cmd/Ctrl+S, then re-run it from the Browse screen.
• One saved object — pin the ones you use daily. Free includes 2; Pro is unlimited and can seed curated starters.

Actions

Do useful work immediately after finding something.

• Action palette (Free) — press Cmd/Ctrl+K on any result to open it, copy a Markdown link or path, or rename it.
• Batch actions (Pro) — select a working set with Cmd/Ctrl+Space, then open, tag, set a property, move, or turn results into a map-of-content note.
• Export (Pro) — copy selected results as Markdown links, or create a search-results note for handoff.
• Starred pins (Pro) — Cmd/Ctrl+D keeps high-value files at the top of Browse.

Quick actions

Instant tools from the input bar — no mode-switching.

• Calculator & converter (Free) — 1234*0.19, 20% of 250, 10 km to mi, 40 USD to EUR; Enter copies, Shift+Enter inserts. Offline rates you control.
• Date jump (Free) — today, next friday, or an ISO date opens (or creates) that day's daily note.
• Quick capture (Free) — press +, jot a thought, and Enter appends it to today's daily note without opening it.

Free vs Pro

Pro ($8 one-time) turns Spotlight into a reusable work cockpit — repeated leverage, richer actions, and deeper search. Basic file operations stay free.

Area	Free	Pro
File launcher, commands, symbols, editors, folders	Yes	Yes
Tag / property filters in file search	Yes	Yes
Calculator, converters, date jump, quick capture	Yes	Yes
Ranking controls & match-reason badges	Yes	Yes
Action palette (Cmd/Ctrl+K): open, copy, rename	Yes	Yes
Saved workflows	2	Unlimited + starters
Body content search (>) and heading search (^)	No	Yes
Links mode, live preview pane	No	Yes
Batch actions, export, starred pins	No	Yes
Snippets, capture to inbox / under a heading	No	Yes
Workflow scope, aliases & advanced query (OR, filters)	No	Yes
Canvas / PDF / Bases discovery & search	No	Yes

Purchase: Buy Me a Coffee — Vault Spotlight Pro. License keys are verified offline (Ed25519) — no account, server, or subscription.

Advanced & automation

Power-user depth — the advanced query language (Boolean OR, filters), aliases, workflow scope, ripgrep acceleration, Canvas/PDF/Bases, integrations, the URL scheme, and the global API — lives in docs/advanced.md.

Privacy & data

Vault Spotlight never phones home. All state lives in the plugin's local data.json (settings plus ranking data). Because that includes note paths and query text, add .obsidian/plugins/vault-spotlight/data.json to .gitignore if you commit your .obsidian folder.

Install

Manual: copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into .obsidian/plugins/vault-spotlight/, then enable Vault Spotlight in Settings → Community plugins. Open from the ribbon icon or bind a hotkey to Open spotlight (no default hotkey, per Obsidian guidelines).

Community directory: search Vault Spotlight in Settings → Community plugins.

Activate Pro

1. Purchase on Buy Me a Coffee.
2. Your license key is emailed to you automatically, within seconds — delivery is fully automated, no waiting.
3. Obsidian → Settings → Vault Spotlight → paste the key. Pro unlocks immediately (offline verification).

Feedback and support

Bug reports, feature requests, and questions all go to the GitHub issue tracker. It is the only place I track them, so an issue will always get further than a review comment.

• Report a bug — please include your Obsidian version, your operating system, and the steps that reproduce it.
• Request a feature — describe the workflow you are trying to make faster; that is more useful than a proposed solution.
• Browse open issues — worth a look first, in case it is already tracked.

More plugins by the same author

Small, local-first Obsidian plugins that each do one job and keep your data in your vault. All of them are in the community directory — search the name under Settings → Community plugins.

Search and views

• Bases Power Pack — kanban, calendar, Gantt, and outline views over your notes or a .base file.

Vault health

• Vault Triage — find stale, orphaned, unfinished, and metadata-broken notes, then work through them.
• Attachment Audit — find orphaned, duplicate, oversized, and misplaced attachments, then clean them up safely.
• Patina — score every note's staleness from edits, opens, and inbound links.
• Vault Router — move new notes out of Inbox with fast local routing rules.
• FlowKit Health Dashboard — find which add-on is breaking your vault, and score every one installed.

Writing and research

• Prose Lens — live writing feedback — passive voice, adverbs, hedges, cliches, and a reading grade.
• Prior Art — show similar existing notes while you write, and merge duplicates without losing links.
• Standing Questions — track the open questions in your vault and surface new notes that may answer them.
• Unwritten — report the notes you never wrote — unexplained link pairs, stub hubs, unreasoned decisions.
• Effort Index — measure the editing time behind every note and resurface the expensive ones.

Time and billing

• Task Calendar Bridge — export dated Markdown tasks to standards-based ICS calendar files.
• Invoice Forge — turn #billable notes into numbered invoices, so nothing is missed or billed twice.
• Time Tracker and Invoicing — track billable time against notes and projects, then invoice by client.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test        # typecheck + lint + full suite, incl. the fixture-vault & modal harnesses

Listed as Optional payments in the Obsidian Community directory (free core + paid Pro unlock).