# Title First Search

An Obsidian plugin that searches note **titles** first, then hands the same query
to the core full-text search when you need it.

Obsidian's search can sort by date, modification time, or name — but there is no
"scan every title first, then look inside the notes" option. When you know the
answer is in a title, it gets buried under body matches.

This plugin gives you that missing first pass.

## How it works

There are two ways to use it. The first needs no setup at all.

### 1. In the core search panel

Open Obsidian's normal search. A **Title matches** section appears above the
usual results, listing the notes whose *filename* matched, ordered by where the
match landed. The rest of the results are untouched below it.

```
🔍 meeting
──────────────────────────
TITLE MATCHES  3
  Meeting notes 2026-08-19
  Weekly meeting recap
  Meeting room booking
──────────────────────────
Project A
  …at today's meeting we…
Budget memo
  …the meeting concluded…
```

Nothing to configure and no hotkey to learn — enable the plugin and it is there.
If the section is empty, nothing matched a filename.

This part reaches into Obsidian's internals, which are not a public API. If a
future Obsidian update changes them, the section quietly stops appearing and
everything else keeps working.

### 2. The title-only modal

Run the command **Search titles first**. A modal opens.

```
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ meeting                              │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ > Meeting notes 2026-08-19    Work   │  ← starts with the query
│   Meeting checklist                  │
│   Weekly meeting recap        Work   │  ← starts a word
│   Allhandsmeeting agenda             │  ← mid-word
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│   🔍 Search in file contents: meeting│  ← always last
└──────────────────────────────────────┘
```

- Titles are matched by **substring**, not fuzzy — what you type is what you get.
- Every space-separated token must appear in the filename, in any order.
- The last row is always there. Pick it and the core search panel opens with the
  same query, so nothing is lost when the title pass comes up short.
- With an empty query you get your 10 most recently modified notes.

### Ranking

Matches are ordered by where the query lands in the title:

| Rank | Rule |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sum of match tiers — start of title `0`, start of a word `1`, mid-word `2` |
| 2 | Shorter title first |
| 3 | Recently modified first |
| 4 | Alphabetical, then by path |

Only the filename is matched. Folder paths and aliases are not — the path shown
on the right is there to tell same-named notes apart.

## Hotkey

No hotkey is assigned by default, on purpose: Obsidian's plugin guidelines
advise against default hotkeys because they collide with other plugins.

Assign your own in **Settings → Hotkeys**, search for *Search titles first*.
`Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + O` sits next to the built-in quick switcher and is a good fit.

## Installation

### From the community plugin list

Not yet listed.

### Manual

1. Download `main.js`, `manifest.json`, and `styles.css` from the
   [latest release](https://github.com/SKKUKang/obsidian-title-first-search/releases).
2. Put them in `<your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/title-first-search/`.
3. Reload Obsidian, then enable the plugin under **Settings → Community plugins**.

## Development

```bash
npm install
npm test          # unit tests for the ranking logic
npm run build     # type-check and bundle to main.js
npm run dev       # build, then copy into a vault for testing
```

`npm run dev` needs to know which vault to install into. Either set
`OBSIDIAN_VAULT`, or create `vault.local.json` in the repo root:

```json
{ "vault": "C:\path\to\MyVault" }
```

It only ever writes to `<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/title-first-search/`.

`src/ranking.ts` deliberately does not import `obsidian`, so the matching and
sorting logic can be tested as plain functions.

## License

MIT

---

## 한국어

노트 **제목(파일명)** 을 먼저 훑어 보여주고, 거기서 못 찾으면 같은 검색어를
**코어 본문 검색**으로 넘기는 Obsidian 플러그인.

명령어는 **Search titles first**. 기본 단축키는 없으므로
**설정 → 단축키** 에서 직접 할당한다 (`Ctrl + Shift + O` 추천).

- 제목은 fuzzy 가 아니라 **부분 문자열** 로 매칭한다. 친 대로 나온다.
- 공백으로 나눈 토큰이 **전부** 파일명에 있어야 한다. 순서는 상관없다.
- 목록 맨 아래 "본문에서 검색" 항목은 **항상** 있다. 고르면 코어 검색 패널이
  같은 검색어로 열린다.
- 검색어가 비면 최근 수정한 노트 10개를 보여준다.

정렬은 매치 위치 우선이다: 제목 맨 앞 → 단어 시작 → 단어 중간 순.
같은 등급이면 짧은 제목 → 최근 수정 → 사전순.

폴더 경로와 별칭(alias)은 매칭 대상이 아니다. 오른쪽에 흐리게 뜨는 경로는
같은 이름의 노트를 구분하기 위한 표시일 뿐이다.