⚠️ UPDATE (NOV 2023): This plugin is not maintained. Do not install it, use supported alternatives.

⚠️ CM6-based editor (default option in Obsidian >= v13.0.0) is not supported. Consider using Legacy editor.

Text Expander Plugin

The plugin replaces shortcuts of format {{<text>}} on Tab press. The replacement can be either static text or the result of execution of arbitrary commands.

⚠️ Currently, the plugin supports Windows only partially. See the Known Issues section.

Use Cases

Shortcuts for static text templates: {{trigger}} -> Some template text
For dynamic values: {{now}} -> 14:23, {{date}} -> 2021-01-15
For python expressions: {{eval:2**10}} -> 1024, {{eval:len(open("<note_path>").readlines())}}, {{py:from numpy import*;print(linalg.inv(triu([1,2,3,4])))}}, ...
For shell commands: {{shell:ls <vault_path>/attachments}}
For custom tools: {{mytool:extract_all_lines_starting_with_(#tag)}} -> #tag Text\n#tag ...

Installation

Open Settings > Third-party plugins > Community Plugins > Browse, then search for Text Expander and click Install.

Settings

The shortcuts are defined as a JSON-list of entries, each containing three fields: regex (required), replacement (optional) and command (optional).

regex field defines the trigger pattern. The entries are tried sequentially, until regex matches the input.
replacement simply replaces the shortcut, if provided.
command contains the command which is run in shell. The shortcut is replaced with its output.

Default Shortcuts

Below is the default configuration that can be changed in Settings > Plugin Options > Text Expander > Shortcuts:

[
    {
        "regex": "^trigger$",
        "replacement": "## Example replacement\n- [ ] ",
    },
    {
        "regex": "^now$",
        "command": "printf `date +%H:%M`",
    },
    {
        "regex": "^py:",
        "command": "echo <text> | cut -c 4- | python3"
    },
    {
        "regex": "^eval:",
        "command": "echo <text> | cut -c 6- | python3 -c 'print(eval(input()), end=\"\")'"
    },
    {
        "regex": "^shell:",
        "command": "echo <text> | cut -c 7- | sh"
    },
    {
        "regex": "^tool:",
        "command": "echo <text> | cut -c 6- | python3 <scripts_path>/tool.py"
    },
    {
        "regex": "^sympy:",
        "command": "echo <text> | cut -c 7- | python3 <scripts_path>/sympy_tool.py"
    }
]

Variables

With <variable_name> you can insert the value of a variable into the command field before it is executed. The following variables can be used:

<text> The contents of brackets, with escaped single-quotes. Recommended in most cases.
<text_raw> Same as <text>, but nothing is escaped.
<vault_path> The absolute path of current vault.
<inner_path> The directory of the current note in obsidian file explorer. E.g. inside <vault_path>/folder/folder2/note.md its value will be folder/folder2.
<note_name> The filename of the current note, i.e. note.md in the example above.
<note_path> The shortcut for <inner_path>/<note_name>.
<scripts_path> The shortcut for <vault_path>/.obsidian/scripts.

Example flows

Example #1

{{trigger}}Tab is entered
^trigger$ matches trigger -> the first shortcut is used
replacement field of the first shortcut replaces {{trigger}}

Example #2

{{now}}Tab
^trigger$ doesn't match now -> proceeding to the second shortcut
^now$ matches now -> the second shortcut is used
command field is executed in the specified shell, then the output is used to replace {{now}}

Example #3

{{sympy:latex(integrate(x, x))}}Tab
Only the last shortcut's regex matches the input
Variables are processed: echo <text> | cut -c 7- | python3 <scripts_path>/sympy_tool.py -> echo 'sympy:latex(integrate(x, x))' | cut -c 7- | python3 /path/to/vault/.obsidian/scripts/sympy_tool.py
The command is executed: cut cuts the sympy: prefix and latex(integrate(x, x)) is passed as input to sympy_tool.py
sympy_tool.py outputs \frac{x^{2}}{2}, which replaces the {{sympy:latex(integrate(x, x))}}

Custom Scripts

You can place any scripts to <vault_path>/.obsidian/scripts to use them in commands. The examples folder contains two sample scripts, enabling {{tool: and {{sympy: shortcuts.

Security

As the plugin is shell-powered, one can easily run destructive commands just by typing {{shell:rm -rf ...}}Tab. Think twice before pressing Tab when your cursor is on something like {{shell:...}}. I also strongly discourage using the {{shell:...}} pattern, which was added mostly for demonstration purposes, and recommend writing python scripts instead.

Future Work

<cursor> placeholder, defining the cursor position after replacement. Example usage: {{texenv:cases}} -> \begin{cases}\n\t<cursor>\n\end{cases}. In case if multiple <cursor> placeholders are used in single shortcut, then Tab will switch the cursor position between them until all are visited.
Special syntax (something like {*{<text>}}) for preview-time rendering instead of instant replacement.
Static-only support for Windows.

Known Issues

Long-running commands can cause issues. E.g. if you type {{shell:sleep 10 && echo 1}}Tab and before it finishes type {{now}}Tab, then {{now}} will be replaced with 1.
Windows support is currently limited:
- Shortcuts with replacement field are processed correctly
- To use command field on Windows you need to have a WSL Subsystem installed and set Settings > Plugin Options > Text Expander > Shell executable to <your os name>.exe(ubuntu.exe for Ubuntu), also make sure any python packages you use are installed
- or set Settings > Plugin Options > Text Expander > Shell executable to powershell and use Powershell syntax in your commands.

Credits

The project was inspired by the PoC text expander implementation. I also used certain ideas from the Run Snippets plugin.

Release Notes

1.1.0

Added support for :now syntax. Use {{py: long command}} syntax for triggers containing whitespace characters and :trigger for short triggers without whitespace
Shell executable is now automatically respawned on "Shell executable" value change

1.0.1

Fixed errors caused by incorrect "Shell executable" value

konodyuk / obsidian-text-expander