Getting started

Create a new plugin

Run the generator with the package manager you use:

Package manager	Runner	Command
npm	create	npm create @mnaoumov/obsidian-plugin
npm	npx	npx @mnaoumov/create-obsidian-plugin
pnpm	create	pnpm create @mnaoumov/obsidian-plugin
pnpm	dlx	pnpm dlx @mnaoumov/create-obsidian-plugin
yarn	create	yarn create @mnaoumov/obsidian-plugin
yarn	dlx	yarn dlx @mnaoumov/create-obsidian-plugin
bun	create	bun create @mnaoumov/obsidian-plugin
bun	bunx	bunx @mnaoumov/create-obsidian-plugin

This starts an interactive wizard. It asks about your plugin, then about its tooling, and scaffolds the project into a new obsidian-<plugin id> folder. At the end it offers to install the dependencies, initialize a git repository and create a GitHub repository for you.

To pass flags to the generator through npm create, put a "--" before them, quoted. See The – separator in PowerShell for why the quotes matter.

What the wizard asks

First, the project’s own details:

• the plugin id, name and description;
• your name and GitHub username;
• the default branch, main unless you say otherwise. git init creates it, and the CI workflow runs on it;
• where people can support you: a funding platform and your username on it, or any URL;
• the path to a test vault’s .obsidian folder, which each build copies the plugin into. It is written to the project’s .env as OBSIDIAN_CONFIG_FOLDER.

Then the tooling: a preset, and, if you choose to customize, every question listed in Feature options. The recommended answers are the defaults, so pressing Enter all the way through gives you a working project.

The Community directory checks

The id, name and description are checked against the rules the Obsidian Community directory’s automated review enforces, and a rejected value says which rule it broke. This matters most for the id: the directory reads your manifest.json again when you submit, and an id can never be changed once your plugin is published.

Once the answers are in, the generator also checks that no plugin in the directory already uses your id. If the list cannot be fetched, it warns and carries on.

Next steps

When it finishes, the wizard prints what is left to do, for example:

cd obsidian-my-tool && npm install && npm run dev

The generated project describes the files you get and the scripts you can run.

A finished example

Sample Plugin Extended is a plugin generated with this tool.