DualLink

DualLink is an efficient Obsidian plugin for linking, managing, and live previewing local and external physical files.

Due to Obsidian's vault mechanism limitations, handling large resource files (such as videos of tens of GB, lossless audio collections, or engineering source files) or system-level network drive mappings often requires keeping them outside the .obsidian vault. This plugin perfectly solves the pain point of "needing external path large file associations while also requiring smooth built-in preview", helping you seamlessly integrate external absolute path files and internal vault files within the same panel.

🌟 Core Features

• 📂 Dual Link Mode The left sidebar includes an interactive file browser that supports one-click switching between 📦 Internal Vault Mode and 🌐 External Path Mode. You can use it to quickly browse massive images and videos on external disks.
• 🖱️ Drag & Drop Mapping Directly drag external files into the Obsidian editor to instantly convert them into safe and smooth local-file:// association links, eliminating tedious manual path typing.
• 👁️ Hover & Inline Preview In reading or editing mode, simply hover over the generated link to reveal a elegant card-style preview (supports common image formats). If inline mode is enabled, external images will be rendered directly in the document flow.
• 🎵 Multimedia Instant Decoding No longer limited to images! For formats like .mp4, .webm, .mp3, etc., supports inline rendering or native application activation, without consuming any vault storage space.
• ⚙️ Multi-Protocol Adaptation Provides 3 ready-to-use link injection protocol formats for advanced user scenarios:
  1. custom-protocol:// (Recommended: safe sandbox isolation)
  2. file:/// (Standard cross-tool compatible protocol)
  3. Absolute Path (Raw direct address)
• ✨ Smart Link Detection When selecting files from the browser to inject into documents, it automatically determines: for external resources, generates corresponding external link format ![](); for "Internal Vault Mode", automatically derives standard internal link format [[ ]] and media resources auto-add prefix ![[ ]].

🚀 Installation

From Obsidian Community Plugin Marketplace

DualLink is now available on the official Obsidian Community Plugin Marketplace!

1. Open Obsidian Settings → Community Plugins
2. Turn off Safe Mode if enabled
3. Click Browse and search for "DualLink"
4. Click Install, then Enable

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
2. Extract main.js, styles.css, and manifest.json into your vault's .obsidian/plugins/dual-link/ directory
3. Enable the plugin in Settings → Community Plugins

📖 Usage Guide

1. Left External File Browser

After enabling the plugin, you'll find a new icon in the left ribbon. Click to expand the interactive panel:

• Switch Path Mode: Click the 📦/🌐 button combination to toggle between internal vault and last opened external root path.
• Browse Folder: Click "Browse" to invoke native file manager to specify external disk location.
• Quick Filter/Tags: Panel includes real-time text filter and media format filter (All/Images/Video/Audio).
• Click to Inject: Position cursor in editor, click any file in the list to inject the reference.

2. Markdown Drag & Drop

Open any system file manager, select files, drag directly to Markdown text position to generate links or image tags.

3. Three Generation Format Settings

Open plugin settings to change "Default Link Format":

• custom-protocol:// (Recommended) Uses Obsidian's exposed safe protocol routing (starting with local-file://). Benefits: ignores cross-origin and strict security policy restrictions, can load external disk content without errors.
• file:/// Standard Protocol Generated format starts with traditional browser file:// protocol. Better compatibility when using other third-party Markdown editors. May be blocked in strict security configurations.
• Absolute Path No protocol tags, raw C:\Users\... format. Recommended for physical archive management directory registration.

4. Gallery & Path Auto-Correction

• Quick Gallery Insert: Browse images/videos in the file browser panel:
  • Single Insert: Click a media file to insert with 1-column format.
  • Multi-Select Columns: Hold Ctrl or Cmd and click multiple files, "Insert N images (N columns)" button appears (auto-calculates ideal layout, supports up to 5 columns). Click to generate elegant duallink-gallery code block.
• Path Auto-Correction: For gallery content rendered in this format:
  • If internal links become dead due to folder restructuring, plugin will use internal API to search vault-wide and fix link references.
  • If external image original path is affected by relocation or disk letter changes, as long as it's still within the configured "Default External Resource Root Directory", plugin will perform background deep traversal search and silently fix the Markdown source path after finding the target!

🔌 Public API

DualLink exposes a public API for other plugins to programmatically generate links, pack files, and search external directories.

Accessing the API

const dualLinkPlugin = this.app.plugins.getPlugin('dual-link');
if (dualLinkPlugin) {
  const api = dualLinkPlugin.api;
  // use api methods...
}

API Reference

api.generateMarkdownLink(fileName: string, filePath: string): string

Generates a formatted Markdown link based on the plugin's current settings (link style, file type detection, etc.).

const link = api.generateMarkdownLink('photo.jpg', 'D:/Photos/photo.jpg');
// Returns something like: "![photo.jpg](local-file://D%3A/Photos/photo.jpg)"

api.packToVault(): Promise<void>

Opens the "Pack to Vault" modal, allowing users to copy or move external files into the Obsidian vault.

await api.packToVault();

api.packOut(): Promise<void>

Opens the "Pack Out" modal, allowing users to export vault files to an external directory.

await api.packOut();

api.findExternalFileRec(fileName: string, dir: string, maxDepth?: number, currentDepth?: number): Promise<string | null>

Recursively searches for a file by name within an external directory. Returns the full path if found, or null if not found.

const found = await api.findExternalFileRec('project-final.mp4', 'D:/Projects');
if (found) {
  // found = "D:/Projects/2025/exports/project-final.mp4"
}

🛠 Development & Build Commands

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Frontend watch mode for instant debugging
npm run dev

# Build production targets
npm run build

中文说明

DualLink 是一款专为 Obsidian 打造的高效本地及外部物理文件关联、管理与实时预览插件。

已上架 Obsidian 社区插件市场，可直接在 设置 → 第三方插件 → 浏览 中搜索 "DualLink" 安装。

核心特性

• 📂 双轨模式驱动 - 左侧边栏内置交互式文件浏览器，支持内部库与外部路径一键切换
• 🖱️ 极速拖入映射 - 外部文件拖拽进入编辑器自动转为 local-file:// 关联
• 👁️ 实时悬浮与内嵌预览 - 鼠标悬浮卡片式预览，支持图片内嵌渲染
• 🎵 多媒体即时解码 - .mp4 / .webm / .mp3 等格式内联渲染
• ⚙️ 多形式协议适配 - 3 种链接格式：custom-protocol、file:///、绝对路径
• ✨ 智能区分链接 - 自动判断内外资源生成对应格式

公共 API

其他插件可通过 this.app.plugins.getPlugin('dual-link') 获取 DualLink 实例，调用 .api 上的方法：

📝 License

MIT License