Shimmering Obsidian 🎩
An Alfred Workflow with dozens of features for Obsidian. Featured in the Alfred Gallery.
Feature Overview
For a full documentation & usage guide, follow the links to the respective subsection.
Powerful Alfred-based Quick Switcher
- Search for Notes
- Includes Aliases
- Search Headings (included heading levels configurable)
- Search Bookmarked Notes
- Search Recent Notes
- Browse Folders (move to parent folders, create notes in folders)
- Search Notes via Tags
- Browse a note's links (outgoing, backlinks, external)
- Open External Links of a Note (without switching to the document or opening Obsidian)
- Search only for attachments (non-markdown files) in your vault
- Graph Traversal via Alfred
- Smart Search: A query like
o foobar #moc starreddisplays only files named "foobar" with the tag#mocthat are also starred. - Visual Search: Add Icons to your tags based on their tags, similar to the Supercharged Links Plugin.
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Note-related Features
- Create new Notes, based on a template
- Quickly append to a scratchpad note
Screenshot Features
- OCR-Screenshots
- Image Screenshot
- Both work for screenshots taken in quick succession, for example during a live presentation or lecture.
Utility Features
🆕 Open the current browser tab directly in Obsidian.- Backup your Vault
- Access various folders like
.obsidianor.trash - Update Plugins (including beta Plugins installed via BRAT)
Plugin & Theme Search
- Search Community Plugins and Themes
- Open in Obsidian or GitHub
- Access Plugin Settings
- Search & Create GitHub Issues
Workspace Switcher
- Switch workspaces
- Works with via Switcher Modal or Hotkeys
- Save Workspaces
- Manage Workspaces
- Automatically toggle spellchecking when switching to certain workspaces
Settings & Local Plugin Search
- Search & open specific Settings Tabs, the Theme Browser, or the Community Browser
- Update all plugins
- Open Plugin Settings
- Open local plugin folders in
.obsidian/plugins/ - Enable or disable plugins
Documentation Search
- Search the Official Obsidian Documentation
- Simultaneously search the Obsidian Hub
Vault Switcher
- Switch the Vault controlled by this Alfred workflow.
- Open vaults in Obsidian, Finder, or the Terminal.
CSS-related Features
- Access themes & CSS Snippets
Features for Developers
- Open various development-related folders
- Open a local plugin's folder in Finder or the Terminal
- Quick Copy of a plugin's ID
- Open the Vault's root in the default Terminal or in Finder
- Add & Update Beta Plugins via BRAT
- Search the official developer docs
Workflow Installation
This workflow requires the Alfred 5 with Powerpack.
- Install the Obsidian plugins Advanced URI & Metadata Extractor. Enable both plugins.
- Verify you have not renamed your Obsidian config folder, meaning it is still
.obsidian(Settings → About → Advanced → Override config folder). - Download the latest release at GitHub. Double-click the
.alfredworkflowfile to install it. - Run the Alfred Command
osetupand select the vault you want to control with Shimmering Obsidian. Obsidian then restarts. (Even if you have only one vault, you need to confirm that one vault once before you can use the workflow.)
Credits & Thanks
- Big shout-out to @kometenstaub for developing the metadata extractor plugin, for which this workflow is the main client.
- Also thanks to @Vinzent03 for his invaluable Advanced URI plugin, which enables Alfred to control various aspects of Obsidian.
- Most icons created by Freepik - Flaticon
About the Developer
In my day job, I am a sociologist studying the social mechanisms underlying the digital economy. For my PhD project, I investigate the governance of the app economy and how software ecosystems manage the tension between innovation and compatibility. If you are interested in this subject, feel free to get in touch.
Profiles
Note that for questions, bug reports, or feature requests for this workflow, please open a GitHub issue, since it is better suited for technical support.
