# Note Inspector

[**English**](README.md) | [简体中文](README.zh.md)

![The Note Inspector panel showing properties, outline and footnotes](docs/images/panel.png)

Obsidian's **File properties**, **Outline** and **Footnotes** views stacked in a
single side panel for the note in focus. Every section folds on its own, and the
panel remembers what you folded.

## Why

Note Inspector grew out of a personal LLM wiki, whose notes are built to the
**Open Knowledge Format (OKF)**. That is why their frontmatter is structured
rather than free-form: OKF has a note record its own provenance, so
`generated` says which actor produced the content and when. Add long outlines
and plenty of footnotes, and checking one note meant hopping between three
views — so all three now live in one panel.

## Install

Requires Obsidian **1.13.0** or newer.

### From the community directory

Search for **Note Inspector** in **Settings → Community plugins → Browse** once
the plugin is listed there.

### Manually

Download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` from the
[latest release](https://github.com/xinthink/obsidian-note-inspector/releases), put
them in `<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/note-inspector/`, and enable the plugin in
**Settings → Community plugins** (with restricted mode off). Reload Obsidian if
it does not show up.

## Using the panel

The panel lives in the right sidebar (or run **Open note inspector** from the
command palette) and follows the note you are working on — clicking the panel
itself never hides its content. The header shows the current note and two
buttons: **collapse/expand all sections** and **refresh**.

### Properties

Shows the note's frontmatter in YAML order, nested objects included.

- Click a value to edit it inline; booleans are checkboxes. **Enter** saves,
  **Esc** cancels.
- Arrays of plain values are chips: click one to rename it, `×` to remove it, `+`
  to add one. Arrays of records (like `references`) show one line per record —
  click to expand — and **`+ Add item`** adds a record with the same fields as the
  previous one.
- **`+ Add property`** adds a top-level property; choose Text, List or Dict first.
  **`+ Add field`** adds a key inside a dictionary, even an empty `{}`.
- Links in values are clickable. Click a property key to reveal that line in the
  note; hover a row to delete it.
- Editing a property behaves like the built-in property editor, which may rewrite
  the formatting of the frontmatter block (`tags: [a, b]` can become a block
  list). Hand-crafted YAML is best edited in the note itself — click the key to
  jump there.

### Outline

Heading tree with configurable depth. Click a heading to jump to it: cursor and
scroll in source mode, scroll in reading mode. Optional `H1`–`H6` badges and a
highlight of the heading the cursor is currently in.

### Footnotes

![Footnotes with the reference lines folded](docs/images/folded.png)

- Numbered in reference order, with the definition text (links included) and the
  number of times each footnote is referenced.
- Click a definition to edit it in place: <kbd>Cmd/Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd> or ✓
  saves, <kbd>Esc</kbd> or ✗ cancels, and clearing the text deletes the definition.
  Saving is undoable with <kbd>Cmd/Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Z</kbd>.
- By default a footnote shows its definition and a reference count. **Click the
  count** to see where it is used, or use the section header button to open or
  close every footnote at once. What you opened resets after restarting Obsidian;
  turn on *Show footnote context* to have the lines visible from the start.
- Click a footnote's **number or id** to select its whole definition in the editor;
  click a **reference line** to select that exact `[^id]`.
- References without a definition are marked *No matching definition* (`+` writes
  one at the end of the note); definitions nobody links to are marked *Defined but
  never referenced*. Long definitions are clamped to three lines until you press
  **Show more**.

## Settings

| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Show item counts | on | Show how many items each section holds |
| Outline depth | 6 | Deepest heading level shown in the outline |
| Show heading level badges | on | Prefix outline entries with `H1`–`H6` |
| Highlight current heading | on | Highlight the heading of the section the cursor is in |
| Show footnote context | off | List the line each footnote is referenced from; when off, click a count to peek |
| References shown per footnote | 3 | Longer lists collapse behind “Show more” |
| Reset panel state | — | Restore default settings and fold state |

Labels follow the **Obsidian UI language** (Chinese for `zh*`, English
otherwise); there is no separate language setting.

## Good to know

- Headings and footnotes come from Obsidian's metadata cache, so they refresh a
  moment after you stop typing — the same behaviour as the built-in Outline view.
- The plugin only reads and writes the note's frontmatter and footnote lines. No
  network access, no telemetry, no ads.

## Development

Contributor guide: [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md). Design and implementation
notes for maintainers and agents: [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md).

## License

[MIT](LICENSE)