Agent skill

obsidian-hello-world

Create a minimal working Obsidian plugin with commands and settings. Use when building your first plugin feature, testing your setup, or learning basic Obsidian plugin patterns. Trigger with phrases like "obsidian hello world", "first obsidian plugin", "obsidian quick start", "simple obsidian plugin".

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Forks 31

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/data/obsidian-hello-world

SKILL.md

Obsidian Hello World

Overview

Build a minimal working Obsidian plugin demonstrating core features: commands, settings, and ribbon icons.

Prerequisites

  • Completed obsidian-install-auth setup
  • Development vault configured
  • Build pipeline working

Instructions

Step 1: Create Main Plugin Class

typescript
// src/main.ts
import { App, Editor, MarkdownView, Modal, Notice, Plugin, PluginSettingTab, Setting } from 'obsidian';

interface MyPluginSettings {
  greeting: string;
}

const DEFAULT_SETTINGS: MyPluginSettings = {
  greeting: 'Hello, Obsidian!'
}

export default class MyPlugin extends Plugin {
  settings: MyPluginSettings;

  async onload() {
    await this.loadSettings();

    // Add ribbon icon
    this.addRibbonIcon('dice', 'Greet Me', (evt: MouseEvent) => {
      new Notice(this.settings.greeting);
    });

    // Add command to command palette
    this.addCommand({
      id: 'show-greeting',
      name: 'Show Greeting',
      callback: () => {
        new Notice(this.settings.greeting);
      }
    });

    // Add command with editor context
    this.addCommand({
      id: 'insert-greeting',
      name: 'Insert Greeting at Cursor',
      editorCallback: (editor: Editor, view: MarkdownView) => {
        editor.replaceSelection(this.settings.greeting);
      }
    });

    // Add settings tab
    this.addSettingTab(new MySettingTab(this.app, this));
  }

  onunload() {
    console.log('Goodbye from My Plugin!');
  }

  async loadSettings() {
    this.settings = Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_SETTINGS, await this.loadData());
  }

  async saveSettings() {
    await this.saveData(this.settings);
  }
}

Step 2: Create Settings Tab

typescript
// Add to src/main.ts
class MySettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
  plugin: MyPlugin;

  constructor(app: App, plugin: MyPlugin) {
    super(app, plugin);
    this.plugin = plugin;
  }

  display(): void {
    const { containerEl } = this;
    containerEl.empty();

    containerEl.createEl('h2', { text: 'My Plugin Settings' });

    new Setting(containerEl)
      .setName('Greeting')
      .setDesc('The message to display when greeting')
      .addText(text => text
        .setPlaceholder('Enter your greeting')
        .setValue(this.plugin.settings.greeting)
        .onChange(async (value) => {
          this.plugin.settings.greeting = value;
          await this.plugin.saveSettings();
        }));
  }
}

Step 3: Create a Modal

typescript
// Add to src/main.ts
class GreetingModal extends Modal {
  greeting: string;

  constructor(app: App, greeting: string) {
    super(app);
    this.greeting = greeting;
  }

  onOpen() {
    const { contentEl } = this;
    contentEl.createEl('h1', { text: this.greeting });
    contentEl.createEl('p', { text: 'Click outside or press Escape to close.' });
  }

  onClose() {
    const { contentEl } = this;
    contentEl.empty();
  }
}

// Add to onload():
this.addCommand({
  id: 'show-greeting-modal',
  name: 'Show Greeting Modal',
  callback: () => {
    new GreetingModal(this.app, this.settings.greeting).open();
  }
});

Step 4: Build and Test

bash
# Build the plugin
npm run build

# In Obsidian:
# 1. Open Settings > Community plugins
# 2. Enable "My Plugin"
# 3. Click the dice icon in ribbon
# 4. Open command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P) and search "Show Greeting"

Output

  • Working plugin with:
    • Ribbon icon that shows a notice
    • Commands in command palette
    • Editor command to insert text
    • Settings tab to configure greeting
    • Modal for displaying content

Error Handling

Error Cause Solution
Plugin not loading Build errors Check console for TypeScript errors
Settings not saving Missing loadData/saveData Verify async/await usage
Command not showing Plugin not enabled Enable in Community Plugins
Ribbon icon missing Wrong icon name Use valid Lucide icon name

Examples

Available Icon Names

Obsidian uses Lucide icons. Common examples:

  • file-text, folder, search, settings
  • star, heart, bookmark, tag
  • edit, trash, copy, clipboard
  • link, external-link, globe
  • dice, bot, sparkles, wand

Status Bar Item

typescript
// Add to onload():
const statusBarItem = this.addStatusBarItem();
statusBarItem.setText('Plugin Active');

Register Event Listeners

typescript
// Listen to file open
this.registerEvent(
  this.app.workspace.on('file-open', (file) => {
    if (file) {
      console.log('Opened:', file.path);
    }
  })
);

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to obsidian-local-dev-loop for hot-reload development workflow.

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