README file from
GithubHover Highlight
An Obsidian plugin that adds a soft cursor glow effect to Canvas, creating a subtle dot-grid spotlight that follows your mouse.
Features
- Dot-grid spotlight — two overlaid dot grids (base gray + lit white) with a CSS mask creating a radial glow effect
- Smooth cursor following — configurable lerp-based animation for buttery-smooth movement
- Fade animation — glow fades out when the cursor stops moving
- Customizable settings:
- Glow radius (50–500px)
- Dot brightness (1–100%)
- Cursor follow smoothness
- Fade animation toggle
- Performance-friendly — uses
requestAnimationFrame, GPU-accelerated CSS transforms, andwill-changehints - Canvas-only — activates only when viewing an Obsidian Canvas
How it works
The plugin replaces the default Canvas dot background with a dynamic spotlight:
- A base grid of gray dots is always visible at 40% opacity
- A second grid of bright white dots is masked with a radial gradient centered on the cursor
- The mask smoothly follows the cursor via linear interpolation
- When the cursor stops, the mask fades out over 800ms
Installation
From Obsidian Community Plugins (once published)
- Open Settings → Community plugins
- Disable Safe mode
- Click Browse and search for "Hover Highlight"
- Install and enable
Manual
- Download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.cssfrom the latest release - Copy them into your vault's
.obsidian/plugins/hover-highlight/folder - Enable the plugin in Obsidian Settings > Community Plugins
Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable glow | Toggle the dot glow effect | On |
| Glow radius | Size of the glow in pixels (50–500) | 120 |
| Dot brightness | How bright the lit dots appear (1–100%) | 50% |
| Smoothness | How smoothly the glow follows the cursor (lower = smoother) | 0.12 |
| Fade animation | Fade the glow out after cursor stops moving | On |
Development
git clone https://github.com/raito1chi/hover-highlight.git
cd hover-highlight
npm install
npm run dev # watch mode
npm run build # production build
npm run lint # type check
Structure
src/
main.ts Plugin entry point, canvas detection, lifecycle
spotlight.ts Core dot-grid renderer with CSS mask animation
settings.ts Settings tab UI
styles.css Dot layer styles
Compatibility
- Requires Obsidian v0.15.0+
- Works on desktop and mobile
License
MIT