Obsidian Secret Notes

Keep sensitive content in Obsidian inside a ```secretnote fenced code block, encrypted with a password. Once encrypted, only ciphertext is written to the file — the plaintext is revealed only after entering the correct password.

🔒 Local encryption — your password never leaves your device
📝 Encrypted blocks can be edited, re-keyed, or permanently decrypted back to plaintext at any time
🖥️ Works on both desktop and mobile (Obsidian ≥ 1.5.0)

Quick Start

Write a secret code block in any note and put the content you want to protect inside it:

In reading view or live preview, it renders as a card:

Not encrypted (yellow badge): click Encrypt, enter a password (plus an optional title and password hint), and the plaintext is encrypted back into the same block.
Encrypted (green badge): shows the title and encryption date, with Edit, Decrypt permanently, and Change password actions.

Operations

Action	Entry point	Flow
Encrypt	Encrypt on an unencrypted card	Enter password + confirm (optional title, hint) → plaintext is encrypted and saved back
Edit / View	Edit on an encrypted card	Verify password → edit title / hint / plaintext in a form → re-encrypt and save back
Change password	Change password on an encrypted card	Verify old password → set a new password → re-encrypt with the new password
Decrypt permanently	Decrypt permanently on an encrypted card	Verify password → decrypt to plaintext, placed back inside the `secret` fence (returns to the unencrypted state, ready to be re-encrypted)

Write-back: in source / live-preview mode the editor is modified directly; in reading view the file is written via vault.modify — so the ciphertext always lands back in the file.

How Encryption Works

Algorithm: AES-256-GCM (authenticated encryption), performed locally via the Web Crypto API.
Key: derived from your password with SHA-256. It is never stored or uploaded.

Storage format: the code block content is a JSON object:

{
  "v": 1,
  "title": "optional title",
  "hint": "optional password hint",
  "encrypted": "<base64(iv)>:<base64(tag)>:<base64(ciphertext)>",
  "date": "encryption timestamp"
}

⚠️ Because the password is not stored, ciphertext cannot be recovered if the password is forgotten. Use a strong password and keep it safe. The password hint is shown as a placeholder in the password field — don't put the password itself in the hint.

Installation

Manual install

Download the latest release from the GitHub repository.
Place main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into your vault at:
```
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-secret-notes/
```
In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins, disable safe mode, and enable Secret Notes.

Development

The entry point is src/main.ts; build artifacts are written to dist/.

pnpm install
pnpm build      # one-shot build into dist/
pnpm dev        # watch mode

The build produces:

dist/main.js
dist/manifest.json
dist/styles.css

Copy those three files into your vault's .obsidian/plugins/obsidian-secret-notes/ to load and debug the plugin in Obsidian.

Secret Notes

Description

Reviews

Stats

Latest Version

Changelog

README file from