# Copy Linked File

Copy Linked File is a Windows desktop plugin for Obsidian. It adds a right-click action that copies the real file behind an internal link, local file URL, embed, or file menu item to the Windows clipboard.

Use it when a note contains a file link such as:

```markdown
[[paper.pdf]]
![[data.xlsx]]
[[attachments/report.docx|report]]
[spreadsheet](attachments/book.xlsx)
[slides](<file:///I:/data/Research/20260509-0900%20Meeting/20260509-0900%20JC.pptx>)
```

After choosing **Copy linked file**, paste into File Explorer, email, chat apps, or browser upload controls as if you had copied the file from Explorer.

## Requirements

- Obsidian desktop
- Windows
- PowerShell available as `powershell.exe`

The plugin is marked `isDesktopOnly` because it uses Node.js and Windows clipboard APIs. macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android are not supported.

## Usage

Right-click one of these targets and choose **Copy linked file**:

- A vault file in Obsidian's file explorer
- An internal wikilink or embed in the editor
- A Markdown link that points to a local `file:///` URL
- A rendered internal file link or embed when Obsidian provides the linked file menu

The plugin resolves vault targets using Obsidian's link resolver, resolves local `file:///` URLs directly, then writes the target file into the Windows clipboard as a file drop list.

## Privacy and security

- No network requests
- No telemetry
- No account required
- No note or attachment modifications
- Reads only the target vault file path needed for the copy action
- Invokes Windows PowerShell locally to write the file path into the system clipboard

The plugin encodes file paths as UTF-16LE base64 before passing them to PowerShell. This preserves paths containing spaces, commas, non-ASCII characters, and punctuation such as em dashes.

## Development

Install dependencies:

```bash
npm install
```

Run checks:

```bash
npm test
npm run typecheck
```

Build the release asset:

```bash
npm run build
```

The release asset `main.js` is generated at the repository root and is intentionally ignored by git. Upload `main.js` and `manifest.json` to the GitHub release whose tag matches the manifest version.

## Release checklist

1. Update `manifest.json` and `versions.json`.
2. Run `npm test` and `npm run typecheck`.
3. Run `npm run build`.
4. Create a GitHub release with a tag matching `manifest.json` `version`.
5. Attach `main.js` and `manifest.json` to the release.
6. Submit the plugin to `obsidianmd/obsidian-releases`.

Community plugin entry template:

```json
{
  "id": "copy-linked-file",
  "name": "Copy Linked File",
  "author": "Ximkool",
  "description": "Copy the vault file behind an internal link or file menu item to the Windows clipboard.",
  "repo": "YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/obsidian-copy-linked-file"
}
```

## License

MIT