Community Install Manager

Community Install Manager

Install, enable, and configure Obsidian community plugins from JSON files in your vault. Useful for syncing the same plugin setup across devices or sharing a ready-made configuration.

Works on desktop and mobile. Tested automatically on Windows, Linux and Android; iOS is not covered by the automated tests.

What it does

The plugin reads two files in your vault’s .obsidian folder:

• community-plugins-list.json — which community plugins to install (optionally with pinned versions)
• community-plugins-settings.json — settings to apply to those plugins
• vault-setup.json — your theme, CSS snippets, custom hotkeys and core plugins (optional)

You can export your current vault setup into those files, preview what an import would do, then import on another machine.

Typical uses:

• Keep the same plugins on several computers and your phone or tablet
• Share a team vault starter setup
• Bootstrap a new vault from a known list
• Reinstall community plugins after git clone when .obsidian/plugins/ is gitignored (keep a list JSON in the repo, then Import)

Security warning

This plugin can download and install other community plugins.

• Only use it with vaults and JSON files you trust
• Review community-plugins-list.json before turning on auto-install
• Installed plugins can access your notes (and more on desktop)
• Unpinned plugins install the latest suitable release, which may include breaking changes
• Use at your own risk; the author is not responsible for plugins installed on your behalf

Features

• Install plugins from the Obsidian Community Plugins registry (via Obsidian’s own installer)
• Optional version pins so setups stay reproducible
• Export / import / preview of your plugin list and settings
• Optional auto-install on startup and settings sync on startup (off by default)
• Auto-enable after install and apply settings on install (on by default for new installs)
• Merge plugin settings into existing ones (on by default for new installs)

Languages

The plugin follows Obsidian's language: English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Polish, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional). Anything not translated falls back to English. Translations live in src/i18n/locales/; to add a language, copy en.ts, translate the texts and register it in index.ts. The tests check that every language has every text, the same {placeholders} and the plural forms its language needs.

Network use

No telemetry. Network use happens only when you import/install (or when auto-install is enabled). The installer avoids calling api.github.com so anonymous rate limits are less likely.

Installation

1. In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search Community Install Manager → Install → Enable
   Or download the latest GitHub release (main.js, manifest.json, styles.css) into .obsidian/plugins/automatic-installation-of-plugins/
2. Settings → Community plugins → turn Restricted mode off (if needed)
3. Enable Community Install Manager

Configuration files

.vault/
└── .obsidian/
    ├── community-plugins-list.json
    ├── community-plugins-settings.json
    └── vault-setup.json   (optional)

Plugin list — community-plugins-list.json

Simple list (install latest if missing; leave alone if already installed):

[
  "calendar",
  "dataview",
  "templater-obsidian",
  "obsidian-git"
]

Pinned versions (install or change to that version):

[
  { "id": "calendar", "version": "1.5.10" },
  { "id": "dataview", "version": "0.5.68" },
  "obsidian-git"
]

You can mix plain IDs and { "id", "version" } objects. Export writes pinned objects from your currently installed versions.

Per device and on/off (optional fields):

[
  { "id": "obsidian-git", "devices": "desktop" },
  { "id": "calendar", "devices": ["desktop", "mobile"] },
  { "id": "dataview", "enabled": false }
]

• devices: "desktop", "mobile" or both. Import skips the plugin on other kinds of device, and Preview shows it as "Other device". Without it, the plugin is for every device.
• enabled: false: Import installs the plugin but leaves it turned off. Plugins that are already installed keep their on/off state either way.

Export fills these in for you: enabled: false for plugins that are turned off, and devices: ["desktop"] for desktop-only plugins. If you set devices or add your own fields (a note, for example), Export keeps them. Older versions of the plugin ignore these fields.

Plugin settings — community-plugins-settings.json

Maps plugin IDs to settings objects applied to each plugin:

{
  "templater-obsidian": {
    "templates_folder": "Templates",
    "command_timeout": 5
  },
  "obsidian-git": {
    "pullInterval": 60
  }
}

Theme, snippets, hotkeys and core plugins — vault-setup.json

{
  "theme": { "name": "Minimal", "version": "9.1.3" },
  "snippets": {
    "my-tweaks": { "enabled": true, "css": "body { --line-width: 44rem; }" }
  },
  "hotkeys": {
    "editor:toggle-bold": [{ "modifiers": ["Mod", "Shift"], "key": "B" }]
  },
  "corePlugins": { "daily-notes": true, "graph": false }
}

• theme: a community theme by its name in the theme browser, optionally pinned to a version. Import installs it if needed and switches to it. "name": "" switches back to the default theme. Leave theme out to keep whatever theme each device has.

• snippets: CSS snippets by file name (without .css). Import writes new and changed ones; snippets it creates follow enabled, snippets that already exist keep their on/off state.

• hotkeys: custom hotkeys by command id, in the same format as Obsidian's hotkeys.json (Mod is Ctrl on Windows and Linux, Cmd on macOS). Import sets them for the listed commands; other commands keep their hotkeys. An empty list removes a command's default hotkey.

• corePlugins: core plugins by id, true for on and false for off. Import turns them on or off to match. Core plugins that this Obsidian version or device doesn't have are skipped.

Every part is optional. Export writes all four for you when Sync theme, snippets, hotkeys and core plugins is on. Undo puts snippet files back, but it doesn't switch the theme back or undo hotkey and core plugin changes.

Quick start

1. On a vault that already has the plugins you want: Command Palette → Export plugin setup to JSON
2. Copy the two JSON files (or the whole vault config) to another device
3. There: Preview plugin setup import, review the report, then Import plugin setup from JSON
4. Turn on only the automatic options you need in Settings

Commands

Settings

Auto-install and sync-on-startup stay off so a fresh vault does not download plugins until you opt in. Review the list file before enabling auto-install.

Sharing your setup

Export shareable setup pack first shows your installed plugins, all turned on: turn off the ones you don't want to share. It then writes setup-pack.json to your vault: the plugins you kept (with versions), their settings, and, when syncing it is on, your theme, snippets, hotkeys and core plugins. Plugins you turned off leave no trace: neither their settings nor their hotkeys go in. Secrets are always left out of it, whatever the export setting says. Put it somewhere public, such as a GitHub gist, and share the link.

Import setup pack from a link takes that link (an https link; GitHub gist and file pages work too) or the path of a pack file in your vault. It shows the pack's name, where it came from, every plugin in it and what would change in your theme and snippets. Nothing happens until you click Add to my setup and import. Then the pack is added to your own files (it wins where both have something) and Import runs. Undo last change puts your files back.

You can also share a link that opens the same confirmation in Obsidian:

obsidian://install-setup-pack?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2Fyou%2Fabc123

Updates

Check for plugin updates looks up the newest version of each installed community plugin the same way Obsidian does, and shows the ones that can be updated. If the newest version needs a newer Obsidian, it offers the newest one that runs on yours and says so. Updating keeps the plugin's settings, restarts it if it was running, and moves its pin in community-plugins-list.json to the new version, so the next Import doesn't take you back.

Secrets and undo

Plugin settings often hold API keys and tokens, and the settings file tends to end up in git or a shared folder. With Leave out secrets on export on, Export writes <secret removed on export> instead of any text value whose setting name looks like a secret (token, password, API key, webhook and similar), and tells you how many it left out. Add your own names under Extra secret setting names. Import and Apply settings never write that placeholder into a plugin: the plugin keeps the value it already has.

Before Import, Apply settings or Export overwrites anything, the plugin saves a copy of those files. Undo last change (a button in settings and a command) puts them back and reloads the affected plugins. You can undo several times in a row; the last 10 changes are kept in .obsidian/community-install-manager-backups. Undo restores settings and setup files only. Plugins that Import installed stay installed.

On phones and tablets

If you sync your .obsidian folder (Obsidian Sync, iCloud, git), these settings reach your phone too. To avoid surprise downloads on mobile data:

• Auto-install and sync on startup do not run on mobile until you turn on Run automatic actions on mobile there. The commands and buttons work as usual.
• Import skips desktop-only plugins on mobile and says so in a notice.
• Export on mobile keeps list and settings entries for plugins that are not installed on that device, so exporting from a phone does not drop your desktop-only plugins.

Finding plugin IDs

Use the ID from the plugin’s Community plugins page or its manifest.json (for example dataview, templater-obsidian, obsidian-git).

Troubleshooting

Nothing installs

• Check that community-plugins-list.json exists and the IDs are correct
• Use Preview to see planned actions
• Confirm network access to GitHub
• Open the console (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I) if import fails
• On mobile, keep Obsidian open until the import finishes; it downloads every plugin

Plugins stay disabled

• Confirm Auto-enable plugins after installation is on (check data.json if the toggle looks wrong in Obsidian 1.13 settings search)
• Import only turns on plugins it installed or changed in that run; plugins that were already installed keep their on/off state
• Or enable them under Community plugins
• After Import, the Community plugins tab should refresh; if toggles look stale, close and reopen Settings

Settings look wrong

• Confirm IDs in community-plugins-settings.json match the installed plugins
• With Merge on, only listed keys are updated; with it off, the whole settings file for that plugin is replaced
• Turn on Apply settings on installation and/or Sync settings on every startup, or run Apply settings from JSON

Development

npm test             # unit tests
npm run test:e2e     # Obsidian desktop (minimum and latest version, plus mobile UI emulation)
npm run test:android # Obsidian for Android in an Android Virtual Device named obsidian_test

The end-to-end tests download Obsidian into .obsidian-cache and install real plugins from GitHub. Android tests need the Android SDK (ANDROID_HOME) and Java 17.

Links

• Author: Konstantin Volobuev
• Repository: obsidian-automatic-installation-of-plugins
• Issues: GitHub Issues

License

MIT. See LICENSE.