# Embed Outline
Embed Outline shows one outline for a note and the notes it embeds. Each embedded note has its own row, with its headings below it. The outline also shows callout titles and headings in list items.
Use it for a book or thesis kept as one note per chapter, or a project page that embeds meeting notes.
The outline of the note and of the notes it embeds is free. Pro adds embeds inside embedded notes, word counts that include embedded text, marks for broken embeds and a Markdown copy of the outline. Pro costs $5 a month or $15 once, through GitHub Sponsors.
## Features
### Embedded notes in the outline
Each embedded note gets a row with the note name and its headings below it. The row sits under the heading that holds the embed.
A section embed, such as `![[Chapter 4#The storm]]` or `![[#Summary]]`, shows only that section's headings. A block embed such as `![[Note#^quote]]` gets a row with no headings below it. Images, PDFs and other files are left out.
### Jump to any row
Click a heading of your note and the cursor moves to that heading. Click a heading of an embedded note and the note scrolls to the embed, then to that heading inside the embed. In reading view the page scrolls to the same place.
Hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) and click a row from an embedded note to open that note in a new tab, at that heading. Rows also work from the keyboard: move to a row with Tab and press Enter.
The arrow at the start of a row folds it. The button at the top folds all top-level rows.
### Callouts and headings in lists
A callout such as `> [!warning] Spring tides` shows as a row with its title, under the heading it sits in. A callout with no title shows its type, as the app does. Links and emphasis in a title show as plain text.
A heading written inside a list item, such as `- ## Open questions`, is also a row. The app does not treat these as headings, so the core Outline never shows them. You can turn both off in the settings.
### Search the outline
Type in "Search outline" to find a heading, callout title, list heading or embed name. Search is free and ignores case and spaces at the start and end. Punctuation is literal text. Search checks the row text that the panel shows.
The panel shows each match and its parent rows. The count includes matches only. Folded paths open during search. Use the clear button or Escape to restore the full outline and its fold state. Fold controls are off during search.
Click a result, or press Enter, to go to it. The query stays during updates and clears when you open another note. Search includes the deeper embeds that Pro opens. Word counts and the Markdown copy use the full outline.
### Nested embeds (Pro)
Without Pro, the outline opens the embeds of the note itself. An embed inside an embedded note shows as a row with a lock, and a line at the top says how many there are. Pro opens them down to 5 levels. Set the depth in the settings.
### Word counts (Pro)
Pro shows the number of words next to each heading and each embed. The count of a heading covers its whole section, with the embedded text counted. The top of the panel shows the total for the note.
Links count as their visible text. Code, comments, front matter, URLs and callout markers do not count. Each Chinese or Japanese character counts as one word.
### Broken embeds (Pro)
Pro marks embeds with missing notes, headings or block IDs. It also marks loops, such as two notes that embed each other. The panel counts them. Without Pro, these embeds are left out.
### Copy as a Markdown list (Pro)
The copy button, or the command "Copy the outline as a Markdown list", puts the outline on the clipboard. Each heading becomes a link to the note it comes from, such as `[[Chapter 1#The ferry|The ferry]]`, with the word count when counts are on. Paste it into a note to get a table of contents for the whole book, with links that work.
## Install
When Embed Outline is in the community directory, open Settings, then Community plugins, then Browse, and search for "Embed Outline". Select Install, then Enable.
To install by hand, download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` from the latest release. Put them in `/.obsidian/plugins/embed-outline/`. Reload the list of community plugins, then turn on Embed Outline.
It needs Obsidian 1.13.4 or newer. It was tested on desktop with Obsidian 1.13.4 and 1.14.4. It was not tested on mobile.
## Usage
1. Turn on the plugin. The outline gets a tab in the right sidebar.
2. Open a note that embeds other notes.
3. Select the Embed outline tab, or run the command "Open the outline panel".
4. Click a row to go to it.
The outline follows the note that you open last. It updates shortly after you change that note or any note that it embeds.
## Pro
Pro unlocks nested embeds, word counts, broken embed marks and the Markdown copy. To get it:
1. Sponsor [theluckystrike on GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/theluckystrike) with $5 a month, or $15 once. A total payment of $15 meets the payment requirement for Pro without further payment. Sign-in and the checks below still apply.
2. In Obsidian, open the settings of Embed Outline and select "Sign in with GitHub".
3. The plugin copies a code and opens github.com/login/device. Paste the code there and approve.
A negative sponsorship answer turns Pro off. The free outline keeps working.
## Settings
| Setting | Default | Allowed values |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Callout titles | On | On or off |
| Headings in list items | On | On or off |
| Embed depth | 5 | 1 to 5 levels (Pro) |
| Word counts | On | On or off (Pro) |
| Broken embeds | On | On or off (Pro) |
## FAQ
### Does it replace the core Outline?
No. Both can be open at the same time. Embed Outline only reads your notes. It does not change them.
### Is it slow on a long book?
It reads the open note and the notes it embeds, from the cache of the app, and nothing else in the vault. It stops at 400 notes and 5,000 rows, and word counts stop after 20,000 embedded parts. A line at the top tells you when the row or word limit applies.
### Why does a row say "No such heading" when the embed shows in the note?
The heading text must match after the app removes special characters such as `:` and `#`. The plugin asks the app to find the heading. Check for a renamed heading.
## Payment, account and network
The core features are free. Pro features need a GitHub Sponsors sponsorship of theluckystrike: $5 a month or more, or $15 once. A total payment of $15 meets the payment requirement for Pro without further payment. Sign-in and the checks below still apply. Your notes stay readable and editable with or without Pro.
GitHub handles the payment. Sponsor at https://github.com/sponsors/theluckystrike. You need no account for the free features. Pro needs the GitHub account that sponsors.
Until you select "Sign in with GitHub" in the settings, Embed Outline makes no network requests. Sign in uses the GitHub device flow. Embed Outline sends its public client ID and the scope `read:user` to `https://github.com/login/device/code` and shows you a code. While you enter the code at https://github.com/login/device, it asks `https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token` every few seconds to check the sign-in status. The scope permits profile reads only. GitHub needs this access to show the sponsorship tier. It grants no repository scope and no write access.
After sign in, Embed Outline sends one query to `https://api.github.com/graphql`. It checks if the signed-in account sponsors theluckystrike. It asks for the tier and the total payment to theluckystrike. The plugin reuses a successful check for 7 days. Failed checks can retry after 6 hours. Select Refresh to request an earlier check. It sends no note content, file names or other vault data, and it has no telemetry.
After a successful check, Pro can work offline for up to 14 days. Sign out or a negative sponsorship answer turns Pro off. The plugin stores the GitHub token through the secret storage API of Obsidian. It does not put the token in its saved settings or its local sponsorship data. The local storage of this device keeps your GitHub login, the tier and the time of the last check. Sign out clears the token. You can also revoke the access in your GitHub settings, under Applications.
## Support
Report a bug or ask for a feature in the issue tracker of this repository. Include your Obsidian version, the embed as you wrote it, and what the outline showed.
To build from source:
```
npm ci
npm run build
npm test
```
The tests check 34 golden cases for the outline and search rules. An end-to-end test opens the sample manuscript in Obsidian and checks the outline rows, search, jumps and Pro features.
## License
MIT