# Collate _Two drafts, side by side._ [简体中文](./README.zh-CN.md)

Latest release MIT License

![Collate: two note sheets side by side, differing words tinted in both. Concept illustration, not a plugin screenshot.](img/cover.svg) An Obsidian plugin that opens two notes in a native split and marks what differs between them — in both notes, down to the word. ![Merge view with a moved paragraph: the moved-in block carries one decision line — Accept move, Reject move, Handle separately — and the moved-out block links back with a badge. Real screenshot, version 0.8.0.](img/screenshot-merge-move.png) Chinese text is segmented through `Intl.Segmenter`, so differences are highlighted word by word instead of line by line. Both sides read the unsaved editor buffer first and refresh after a short debounce, identical text is never colored, and the highlighting itself never writes to the notes. Both sides of a split currently use the same word-difference color, meaning "unique to this side" — not a unified add/delete direction. Collate grew out of Till Friebe's [obsidian-file-diff](https://github.com/friebetill/obsidian-file-diff) (MIT) and is now maintained by SigiL as part of the ouatis Obsidian family, alongside [Desk Lamp](https://github.com/ouatis/obsidian-desklamp), [Skill Switchboard](https://github.com/ouatis/obsidian-skill-switchboard) and [Scriptorium](https://github.com/ouatis/obsidian-scriptorium). Quiet panels and thin rules share a visual rhythm with the rest of the family; colors and fonts follow your Obsidian theme. English and Simplified Chinese are available. > [!NOTE] > Collate runs on desktop Obsidian (verified on Windows); mobile is not > supported. ## Install Requires Obsidian 0.15.0 or newer. Download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` from the [releases page](https://github.com/ouatis/obsidian-bigao/releases), place them in `/.obsidian/plugins/bigao/`, then enable the plugin. ## Use Run a command from the command palette: | Command | What it does | | --- | --- | | `Collate: Start side-by-side comparison` | Pick a note and open it next to the current one in a left/right split | | `Collate: Start top-and-bottom comparison` | The same, stacked vertically | | `Collate: Close side-by-side comparison` | Close the comparison panes Collate created | | `Collate: Compare two notes` | Full-document diff view | | `Collate: Compare and merge` | Diff view with per-hunk merge actions | | `Collate: Find sync conflicts and merge` | Walk through `sync-conflict` notes and merge them one by one | In a Simplified Chinese Obsidian the same commands read `比稿：…`. The side panel follows the source cursor while you write; the follow toggle sits in its header. `Collate: Close side-by-side comparison` only closes panes that still show the note Collate opened there; panes you have repurposed are left alone. Blocks that moved between the drafts are paired into one decision — accept the move, reject it, or split the pair back into two independent hunks; near-moves (edited en route) say so and keep the revised wording. Merge actions modify notes — review the differences and keep backups before confirming. ## Notes on scale The full-diff view is bounded to 4,000 lines and 1,000,000 characters per note, and the diff computation itself to 2,000 edits or 500 ms — oversized inputs show an explicit message instead of a wrong "no differences". The inline split highlighting caps at 4,000 lines per note; past the cap the highlight stays empty, which must not be read as "no differences". Editor highlighting requires the note to be in editing mode; reading mode is not guaranteed to look the same. Comparison pairs are restored automatically after a reload while both panes stay open. Collate is a desktop plugin; it is not tested on mobile. ## Development With Node.js 22.6 or newer: ```sh npm ci npm run verify ``` runs the dependency audit, the installed-bundle regression, the strict TypeScript check, the source unit tests, a clean production build and the installed-vs-source parity checks. `AGENTS.md` records the maintenance conventions; `README.local.md` and `src/RESTORE-PLAN.md` document the restoration history. `npm run package:candidate` writes a full candidate package with checksums to `dist/candidate/` (three files; the inline diff runtime is bundled into `main.js`). For a real desktop smoke test, provide the local Obsidian paths and run `npm run test:obsidian` — it only ever touches isolated temporary vaults. ## License MIT, following upstream. Collate is based on [obsidian-file-diff](https://github.com/friebetill/obsidian-file-diff) by Till Friebe; the restoration baseline is the upstream `1.1.2` tag (`d566ded402f72e1508f33b640d6f96d7c32c9a00`). The original copyright and license text are preserved in [LICENSE](LICENSE).