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Keyline

by badtobad
Screenshot of the Keyline Obsidian theme
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Code

Description

This theme supports Dark Mode
This theme supports Light Mode

README file from

Github

Keyline

Obsidian, ready to use.

Spend less time assembling your interface and more time using your notes. Keyline gives Obsidian a coordinated reading and writing space out of the box: clear typography, considered light and dark colours, and navigation that leaves room for your content. Select the theme to get the complete visual foundation, without first assembling a collection of CSS snippets.

中文 · Downloads

Keyline light and dark showcase

Light screenshot · Dark screenshot

The existing showcase uses the original Keyline interactions companion for editing tools, file-type icons and workspace switching, and Bucket Sidebar for the grouped panel on the right. With Keyline is the new companion with broadly equivalent everyday features. The theme works without these plugins. The cover is a presentation composite; the full light and dark images are native application screenshots.

Designed for everyday writing

  • Ready from the first note. Navigation, writing surfaces, tables and callouts share one visual language. Start with the supplied defaults instead of tuning each part of the interface separately.
  • Clear emphasis without a rainbow. Heading hierarchy, restrained accents and distinct highlights help you find the important parts of a page without making every element compete for attention.
  • More room for your content. Floating navigation panels and quiet split-pane boundaries separate work areas without surrounding every pane with visible lines.
  • Details that work together. Reading surfaces, spacing, rounded controls and themed menus form a consistent workspace in both light and dark mode.
  • Report-style tables, everywhere. A navy header, fine horizontal rules and tabular numerals bring structure to ordinary Markdown tables in reading and Live Preview. No mode or per-note setup; your column alignment, negative signs and original text are preserved. Totals and forecast columns are not inferred.

With the companions enabled, this same approach extends to interaction: file names use the available sidebar width until action buttons are needed, common editing controls appear beside your selection, and references can be grouped around the work at hand. Use the theme for an immediately usable visual setup; add the plugins for the full editing and organising experience.

Try the example Vault

Download Keyline-Studio-Demo-0.8.23.zip from Releases, unzip it, and use Obsidian’s Open folder as vault. Start at 00 Home/Studio showcase.md.

Explore 27 linked English notes, project pages, research material and original PDF, EPUB, image, audio and Canvas samples. All content is fictional. The prepared workspace demonstrates the theme, file-type icons, Bucket groups and workspace navigation together, so you can explore the setup before configuring your own Vault. Review and enable the bundled optional plugins to use their features. EPUB reading itself needs a separate reader.

Recommended companions

For a ready-to-use writing and organising setup, pair the theme with With Keyline and Bucket Sidebar. Choose only the parts you need.

Component What you get
Keyline theme — this repository The ready-to-use light and dark visual foundation.
With Keyline Selection toolbar, block handles, page/date mentions, property entry and themed desktop calendar, file-type icons, typography and saved-workspace switching. English and Chinese UI; limited Mobile Beta.
Bucket Sidebar Organise references into spaces and groups without moving or duplicating the originals.

The theme and these two optional plugins are separately installed. Neither plugin is mandatory, they do not require each other, and installing the theme does not install them automatically. Each companion has its own English and Chinese guide and screenshots.

Previous companion kept as a fallback. Keyline interactions on GitHub remains available (named Keyline in Obsidian’s plugin list). Its main everyday features and With Keyline's are broadly equivalent. If With Keyline has a bug in your setup, try the previous GitHub release. Disable one before enabling the other; they are alternatives, not two plugins to run together. Their settings are separate and are not automatically migrated.

Install in an existing Vault

Use Add to Obsidian on the Keyline Community page, or install manually:

  1. Back up the Vault’s .obsidian folder and close that Vault’s window.
  2. Create .obsidian/themes/Keyline/ and copy theme.css and manifest.json from the theme release into it. Keep LICENSE and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md with redistributed copies.
  3. Reopen Obsidian and select Settings → Appearance → Themes → Keyline.
  4. Install the companion plugins separately if desired. Do not overwrite your existing workspace or plugin data.json files with files from the example Vault.

The theme, With Keyline and Bucket have separate Community pages. Check each page for the current release and installation entry. With Keyline GitHub Releases are also available for manual installation. The original Keyline interactions remains on GitHub as a fallback.

Language and compatibility

The theme does not replace Obsidian’s own language. Companion menus, settings and notices support English and Chinese and follow Obsidian’s interface language; restart after changing it. Your notes and saved names are never translated.

Current theme release: 0.8.28. Minimum declared Obsidian version: 1.7.7. This update gives all Markdown tables a single report-style appearance in light/dark, reading and Live Preview. It changes presentation only: no per-note class, total/forecast detection or number rewriting. The sidebar ribbon compatibility fix from 0.8.27 and earlier code-block, search and mobile improvements remain included.

The current table checks use Obsidian 1.13.7 on macOS, including phone/tablet-sized viewports and mobile CSS states; physical iOS/Android devices and their keyboards have not yet been acceptance-tested. Earlier theme regressions also exercised 1.7.7 and the official 1.14.5 core, not a fresh complete rerun of this release on those versions. With Keyline 1.1.0+ offers limited Mobile Beta; the original Keyline interactions remains desktop-only. The desktop themed calendar uses the native picker as its mobile fallback. With Keyline requires Obsidian 1.13.7+ and is installed separately. See release verification for coverage and limits.

Feedback

Report an issue with the Obsidian version, Keyline version, light/dark mode, reproduction steps, and a screenshot without private note content. For conflicts, also try with other themes/snippets and unrelated plugins disabled in a test Vault.

License

MIT. See LICENSE and third-party notices. Companion repositories retain their applicable notices and licenses.

Sponsors