Obsidian Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up a fast, reproducible local development workflow for Obsidian plugins with hot-reload and testing.

Prerequisites

• Completed obsidian-install-auth setup
• Node.js 18+ with npm/pnpm
• Code editor with TypeScript support
• Obsidian desktop app

Instructions

Step 1: Configure Development Vault

# Create dedicated development vault structure
mkdir -p ~/ObsidianDev/.obsidian/plugins
mkdir -p ~/ObsidianDev/Test\ Notes

# Create test notes
cat > ~/ObsidianDev/Test\ Notes/Test.md << 'EOF'
# Test Note
This is a test note for plugin development.

## Section 1
Some content here.

## Section 2
More content with [[links]] and #tags.
EOF

Step 2: Link Plugin for Development

# Navigate to your plugin directory
cd /path/to/my-obsidian-plugin

# Create symlink to development vault
ln -sf "$(pwd)" ~/ObsidianDev/.obsidian/plugins/my-obsidian-plugin

# Verify symlink
ls -la ~/ObsidianDev/.obsidian/plugins/

Step 3: Configure Hot-Reload with BRAT

1. In Obsidian, go to Settings > Community plugins
2. Browse and install "BRAT" (Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tester)
3. Enable BRAT plugin
4. BRAT Settings > Enable "Auto-update plugins at startup"
5. Your plugin will auto-reload when main.js changes

Step 4: Configure esbuild for Watch Mode

// esbuild.config.mjs
import esbuild from "esbuild";
import process from "process";

const prod = process.argv[2] === "production";

const context = await esbuild.context({
  entryPoints: ["src/main.ts"],
  bundle: true,
  external: ["obsidian", "electron", "@codemirror/*", "@lezer/*"],
  format: "cjs",
  target: "es2018",
  logLevel: "info",
  sourcemap: prod ? false : "inline",
  treeShaking: true,
  outfile: "main.js",
});

if (prod) {
  await context.rebuild();
  process.exit(0);
} else {
  await context.watch();
}

Step 5: Add npm Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "node esbuild.config.mjs",
    "build": "node esbuild.config.mjs production",
    "test": "jest",
    "lint": "eslint src/",
    "version": "node version-bump.mjs && git add manifest.json versions.json"
  }
}

Step 6: Start Development

# Terminal 1: Start watch mode
npm run dev

# Terminal 2: Run tests in watch mode (if configured)
npm test -- --watch

# In Obsidian:
# 1. Open development vault (~/ObsidianDev)
# 2. Enable your plugin
# 3. Edit code - plugin auto-reloads

Output

• Dedicated development vault with test data
• Symlinked plugin for instant updates
• Hot-reload via BRAT or file watching
• Watch mode build with source maps
• Fast iteration cycle

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Plugin not reloading	BRAT not configured	Install and enable BRAT plugin
Symlink not working	Permission denied	Run as admin (Windows)
Build not triggering	Watch mode not started	Run npm run dev
Source maps not working	Disabled in config	Set sourcemap: "inline"
TypeScript errors	Missing types	Run npm install

Examples

Automated Plugin Reload Script

// src/dev-utils.ts
import { Plugin } from 'obsidian';

export function reloadPlugin(app: any, pluginId: string) {
  const plugins = app.plugins;
  return plugins.disablePlugin(pluginId)
    .then(() => plugins.enablePlugin(pluginId));
}

// Add command in main.ts (dev only):
if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
  this.addCommand({
    id: 'reload-plugin',
    name: 'Reload This Plugin (Dev)',
    callback: () => {
      (this.app as any).plugins.disablePlugin(this.manifest.id)
        .then(() => (this.app as any).plugins.enablePlugin(this.manifest.id));
    }
  });
}

Debug Logging Utility

// src/debug.ts
const DEBUG = process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production';

export function debug(...args: any[]) {
  if (DEBUG) {
    console.log('[MyPlugin]', ...args);
  }
}

export function debugTime(label: string) {
  if (DEBUG) console.time(`[MyPlugin] ${label}`);
  return () => {
    if (DEBUG) console.timeEnd(`[MyPlugin] ${label}`);
  };
}

VSCode Tasks

// .vscode/tasks.json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "dev",
      "type": "npm",
      "script": "dev",
      "isBackground": true,
      "problemMatcher": {
        "pattern": {
          "regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+): error: (.*)$",
          "file": 1,
          "line": 2,
          "column": 3,
          "message": 4
        },
        "background": {
          "activeOnStart": true,
          "beginsPattern": ".",
          "endsPattern": "build finished"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Resources

• BRAT Plugin
• esbuild Documentation
• Obsidian Plugin Development Docs

Next Steps

See obsidian-sdk-patterns for production-ready code patterns.