Obsidian Plugin Development Guidelines

Follow these comprehensive guidelines derived from the official Obsidian ESLint plugin rules, submission requirements, and best practices.

Getting Started

Quick Start Tool

For new plugin projects, an interactive boilerplate generator is available:

• Script: tools/create-plugin.js in the skill repository

• Slash command: /create-plugin for guided setup

• Generates minimal, best-practice boilerplate with no sample code

• Detects existing projects and only adds missing files

Recommend the boilerplate generator when users ask how to create a new plugin, want to start a new project, or need help setting up the basic structure.

Rules Reference (eslint-plugin-obsidianmd v0.1.9)

Submission & Naming

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

1 Plugin ID Omit "obsidian"; don't end with "plugin" Include "obsidian" or end with "plugin"

2 Plugin name Omit "Obsidian"; don't end with "Plugin" Include "Obsidian" or end with "Plugin"

3 Plugin name Don't start with "Obsi" or end with "dian" Start with "Obsi" or end with "dian"

4 Description Omit "Obsidian", "This plugin", etc. Use "Obsidian" or "This plugin"

5 Description End with .?!) punctuation Leave description without terminal punctuation

Memory & Lifecycle

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

6 Event cleanup Use registerEvent() for automatic cleanup Register events without cleanup

7 View references Return views/components directly Store view references in plugin properties or pass plugin as component to MarkdownRenderer

Type Safety

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

8 TFile/TFolder Use instanceof for type checking Cast to TFile/TFolder; use any ; use var

UI/UX

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

9 UI text Sentence case — "Advanced settings" Title Case — "Advanced Settings"

10 JSON locale Sentence case in JSON locale files (recommendedWithLocalesEn ) Title case in locale JSON

11 TS/JS locale Sentence case in TS/JS locale modules Title case in locale modules

12 Command names Omit "command" in command names/IDs Include "command" in names/IDs

13 Command IDs Omit plugin ID/name from command IDs/names Duplicate plugin ID in command IDs

14 Hotkeys No default hotkeys Set default hotkeys

15 Settings headings Use .setHeading()

Create manual HTML headings; use "General", "settings", or plugin name in headings

API Best Practices

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

16 Active file edits Use Editor API Use Vault.modify() for active file edits

17 Background file mods Use Vault.process()

Use Vault.modify() for background modifications

18 User paths Use normalizePath()

Hardcode .obsidian path; use raw user paths

19 OS detection Use Platform API Use navigator.platform /userAgent

20 Network requests Use requestUrl()

Use fetch()

21 Logging Minimize console logging; none in onload /onunload in production Use console.log in onload /onunload

Styling

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

22 CSS variables Use Obsidian CSS variables for all styling Hardcode colors, sizes, or spacing

23 CSS scope Scope CSS to plugin containers Use broad CSS selectors

24 Style elements Use styles.css file (no-forbidden-elements ) Create <link> or <style> elements; assign styles via JavaScript

Accessibility (MANDATORY)

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

25 Keyboard access Make all interactive elements keyboard accessible; Tab through all elements Create inaccessible interactive elements

26 ARIA labels Provide ARIA labels for icon buttons; use data-tooltip-position for tooltips Use icon buttons without ARIA labels

27 Focus indicators Use :focus-visible with Obsidian CSS variables; touch targets ≥ 44×44px Remove focus indicators; make touch targets < 44×44px

Security & Compatibility

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

DOM safety Use Obsidian DOM helpers (createDiv() , createSpan() , createEl() ) Use innerHTML /outerHTML or document.createElement

iOS compat Avoid regex lookbehind (iOS < 16.4 incompatibility) Use regex lookbehind

Code Quality

Rule ✅ Do ❌ Don't

Sample code Remove all sample/template code Keep class names like MyPlugin, SampleModal

Object.assign Object.assign({}, defaults, overrides) (object-assign ) Object.assign(defaultsVar, other) — mutates defaults

LICENSE Copyright holder must not be "Dynalist Inc."; year must be current (validate-license ) Leave "Dynalist Inc." as holder or use an outdated year

Async Use async/await Use Promise chains

Detailed Guidelines

For comprehensive information on specific topics, see the reference files:

Memory Management & Lifecycle

• Using registerEvent() , addCommand() , registerDomEvent() , registerInterval()

• Avoiding view references in plugin

• Not using plugin as component

• Proper leaf cleanup

Type Safety

• Using instanceof instead of type casting

• Avoiding any type

• Using const and let over var

UI/UX Standards

• Sentence case enforcement (TypeScript, JSON locale, TS/JS locale modules)

• recommendedWithLocalesEn config for locale file checks

• Command naming conventions (no "command", no plugin name, no plugin ID)

• Settings and configuration best practices

File & Vault Operations

• View access patterns

• Editor vs Vault API

• Atomic file operations

• File management

• Path handling

CSS Styling Best Practices

• Avoiding inline styles

• Using Obsidian CSS variables

• Scoping plugin styles

• Theme support

• Spacing and layout

Accessibility (A11y)

• Keyboard navigation (MANDATORY)

• ARIA labels and roles (MANDATORY)

• Tooltips and accessibility

• Focus management (MANDATORY)

• Focus visible styles (MANDATORY)

• Screen reader support (MANDATORY)

• Mobile and touch accessibility (MANDATORY)

• Accessibility checklist

Code Quality & Best Practices

• Removing sample code

• Security best practices

• Platform compatibility

• API usage best practices

• Async/await patterns

• DOM helpers

Plugin Submission Requirements

• Repository structure

• Submission process

• Semantic versioning

• Testing checklist

• Additional resources and important notes

Plugin Submission Validation Workflow

Before submitting a plugin, follow this sequence:

• Run ESLint — npx eslint . using eslint-plugin-obsidianmd ; fix all errors (warnings are informational)

• Validate manifest — Confirm id , name , description , version , and minAppVersion meet naming and formatting rules (rules 1–5)

• Check LICENSE — Copyright holder must not be "Dynalist Inc." and the year must be current

• Test on mobile — Verify no regex lookbehind, no fetch() , and touch targets ≥ 44×44px (skip only if plugin is declared desktop-only)

• Keyboard accessibility audit — Tab through all interactive elements; confirm focus indicators and ARIA labels are present

• Submit — Open a PR to the community plugins repository with the updated manifest.json and community-plugins.json entry

If ESLint reports new errors after fixing, re-run from step 1.

When Reviewing/Writing Code

Use this checklist for code review and implementation:

• Memory management: Are components and views properly managed?

• Type safety: Using instanceof instead of casts?

• UI text: Is everything in sentence case?

• Command naming: No redundant words?

• File operations: Using preferred APIs?

• Mobile compatibility: No iOS-incompatible features?

• Sample code: Removed all boilerplate?

• Manifest: Correct version, valid structure?

• Accessibility: Keyboard navigation, ARIA labels, focus indicators?

• Testing: Can you use the plugin without a mouse?

• Touch targets: Are all interactive elements at least 44×44px?

• Focus styles: Using :focus-visible and proper CSS variables?

Common Patterns

Proper Command Registration

// ✅ CORRECT this.addCommand({ id: 'insert-timestamp', name: 'Insert timestamp', editorCallback: (editor: Editor, view: MarkdownView) => { editor.replaceSelection(new Date().toISOString()); } });

Safe Type Narrowing

// ✅ CORRECT const file = this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(path); if (file instanceof TFile) { // TypeScript now knows it's a TFile await this.app.vault.read(file); }

Keyboard Accessible Button

// ✅ CORRECT const button = containerEl.createEl('button', { attr: { 'aria-label': 'Open settings', 'data-tooltip-position': 'top' } }); button.setText('⚙️');

button.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => { if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') { e.preventDefault(); performAction(); } });

Themed CSS

/* ✅ CORRECT */ .my-plugin-modal { background: var(--modal-background); color: var(--text-normal); padding: var(--size-4-4); border-radius: var(--radius-m); font-size: var(--font-ui-medium); }

.my-plugin-button:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid var(--interactive-accent); outline-offset: 2px; }

When helping with Obsidian plugin development, proactively apply these rules and suggest improvements based on these guidelines. Refer to the detailed reference files for comprehensive information on specific topics.