QuickAdd is a powerful combination of four tools (called choices): templates, captures, macros, and multis.

A Template is a definition of how to create a new note, and composes with Obsidian's own Templates core plugin or community template plugins. For example, it would allow you to define a quick action to create a new note in a particular location, with a templatized title, and templated content.

A Capture allows you to quickly add content to predefined files. For example, you could set up a quick action to add a link to the open file to your daily note under a specific section.

Macros will allow you to compound these two together into powerful chained workflows. Imagine pressing one hotkey to automatically create a new note to track a chess match with a specific template, while automatically adding a reference to it in your "list of matches" note and in your daily note.

Multi choices are purely organisational: folders of other choices.

Throughout your choices, you can use the QuickAdd format syntax, which is similar to the Obsidian template syntax. You could, for example, use {{DATE}} to insert the current date in a filename.

Demo video

Installation

QuickAdd can be installed through the community plugin browser in Obsidian, or through manual installation. See the installation documentation for more information.

Getting Started

For detailed instructions and examples on using QuickAdd, see the QuickAdd documentation.

Development

QuickAdd uses pnpm for local development tasks:

• pnpm run test runs the unit test suite.
• pnpm run build type-checks and bundles the plugin.
• pnpm run test:e2e runs Obsidian-backed end-to-end tests.

The E2E suite depends on an installed Obsidian app and the obsidian CLI being available on PATH. By default it targets the dev vault, but the target is configurable:

pnpm run provision:e2e-vault -- --vault quickadd-my-worktree --register-via dev --print-env
export QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT='quickadd-my-worktree'
export QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT_PATH='/absolute/path/from/printed/output'
pnpm run test:e2e

provision:e2e-vault creates an isolated Obsidian vault under .obsidian-e2e-vaults/ and symlinks QuickAdd's manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css from the selected worktree. Pass --worktree /path/to/worktree to provision a vault for another checkout. --register-via dev asks the running Obsidian app to register the new vault through the already-addressable dev vault, disables Restricted Mode for the provisioned vault, and waits until quickadd:list works. Omit it if you only want to prepare the vault directory. When QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT_PATH is set, the tests verify that the Obsidian CLI resolved QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT to that exact directory before they mutate the vault.

For worktree-local Obsidian runtime isolation, use:

pnpm run obsidian:e2e -- quickadd:list
pnpm run obsidian:e2e -- dev:errors
pnpm run obsidian:e2e -- eval code='app.vault.getName()'

obsidian:e2e prepares the worktree-local vault, starts or reuses an isolated Obsidian app instance, disables Restricted Mode for that vault, waits until quickadd:list succeeds, and then forwards the requested command to the obsidian CLI with the isolated HOME and vault=<worktree vault> already set. Use this wrapper for ad hoc Obsidian CLI work in Codex worktrees instead of hand-exporting QUICKADD_E2E_* variables for every command.

To run the lower-level setup manually:

pnpm run start:e2e-obsidian -- --vault quickadd-my-worktree --print-env
export QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT='quickadd-my-worktree'
export QUICKADD_E2E_VAULT_PATH='/absolute/path/from/printed/output'
export QUICKADD_E2E_OBSIDIAN_HOME='/absolute/path/from/printed/output'
pnpm run test:e2e

start:e2e-obsidian creates a private Obsidian HOME under /tmp/quickadd-obsidian-e2e/, launches a separate Obsidian app instance with that HOME and its own Electron --user-data-dir, waits until the CLI resolves the provisioned vault through that instance's socket, disables Restricted Mode, and waits until quickadd:list succeeds. Set the printed QUICKADD_E2E_OBSIDIAN_HOME when running tests so obsidian-e2e talks to that worktree's Obsidian instance instead of the shared desktop instance.

Failed E2E runs may write artifacts to .obsidian-e2e-artifacts/.

Amp orb setup

Fresh Amp orbs run .agents/setup. It reproducibly installs the pinned Node.js/pnpm toolchain, the checksum-verified official Obsidian Linux package, Xvfb, and xauth; installs project dependencies; builds the plugin; and provisions the worktree-local test vault. The setup is idempotent and caches its downloads under ~/.cache/quickadd-orb/.

obsidian-e2e 0.10 launches isolated instances through macOS's open command. On Linux, setup patches only this worktree's installed runner to invoke the repository-local .agents/obsidian-open compatibility shim and to read the installed obsidian.asar directly. It does not replace the system /usr/bin/open. The shim launches official Obsidian on an ephemeral Xvfb display, while ~/.local/bin/obsidian exposes the official CLI redirector. Instances still use the runner's private HOME, user-data directory, vault registration, readiness probe, and teardown logic.

Run the complete suite in an orb with:

pnpm run test:e2e:orb

The wrapper starts the isolated instance, points the tests at its private HOME, and traps exit and interruption so teardown always runs. A teardown failure also makes the command fail instead of silently leaking an Obsidian process.

Amp runs .agents/resume after an existing orb wakes. It only performs fast prerequisite checks; Obsidian is intentionally started on demand because GUI processes do not survive orb pause/resume.

Support

If you have any questions or encounter any problems while using QuickAdd, you can use the community discussions for support.