Tidy YAML

Tidy YAML is a simple Obsidian community plugin for hiding or collapsing YAML frontmatter without changing note contents.

• Click the left-ribbon eye to hide or unhide YAML in the current file.
• Click the YAML strip above a note's frontmatter to collapse or expand that file.
• Use six direct commands for current-file toggles or deterministic vault-wide actions.

The plugin works in Source mode, Live Preview, and Reading view. It leaves Obsidian's separate Properties sidebar unchanged.

How it works

Every valid leading YAML block has one of three display states:

• Shown: YAML is visible and the strip points down.
• Collapsed: YAML is replaced visually by the strip, which points right.
• Hidden: Both the YAML and strip are hidden.

Hiding remembers whether the file was Shown or Collapsed and restores that state when it is unhidden. File states are saved by vault-relative path, moved when files or folders are renamed, and removed when they are deleted.

The interface deliberately has only two visible controls:

The strip is a full-width keyboard-accessible button with a clear hover state, focus outline, tooltip, and expanded/collapsed ARIA state.

Commands

Open the command palette with Command/Ctrl + P. These six commands are always available and can be assigned hotkeys:

• Tidy YAML: Hide all
• Tidy YAML: Show all
• Tidy YAML: Collapse all
• Tidy YAML: Expand all
• Tidy YAML: Collapse/expand this file
• Tidy YAML: Hide/show this file

The four all commands set a definite vault state and clear saved file states so every note follows the command. The two current-file commands save only that file's state.

Source safety

Tidy YAML never edits YAML or Markdown. It uses CodeMirror decorations and view-scoped CSS to change presentation only. Notes with absent, malformed, unclosed, or non-leading YAML are left untouched, and current-file commands show a notice when there is no valid frontmatter.

Shown mode respects Obsidian's Settings → Editor → Properties in document setting. Select Visible or Source there if Obsidian's own Hidden setting prevents frontmatter from appearing. See Obsidian's Properties documentation.

Installation

Community Plugins

After the plugin is accepted into the Obsidian community directory:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins → Browse.
2. Search for Tidy YAML.
3. Select Install, then Enable.

Manual installation

1. Download or build main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css.
2. Create <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/frontmatter-visibility/.
3. Copy those three files into the new folder.
4. Reload Obsidian and enable Tidy YAML under Community plugins.

For a local build:

npm ci
npm run build:release

The three ready-to-copy files will be in release/.

Settings

The settings page contains only:

• The vault default: Shown, Collapsed, or Hidden.
• The number of saved file states and a confirmed reset action.
• Obsidian Properties compatibility guidance.

Upgrading from 1.x preserves the vault default and valid per-file states. Removed ribbon, status-bar, and editor-chevron settings are discarded automatically.

Development

Node.js 20 or newer is required.

npm ci
npm run dev

See CONTRIBUTING.md and the manual testing checklist.

Releasing

Tags must exactly match manifest.json without a v prefix.

npm version patch --no-git-tag-version   # or minor / major
# Update CHANGELOG.md before committing the release.
npm run verify
npm run build:release
git add package.json package-lock.json manifest.json versions.json CHANGELOG.md
git commit -m "chore: prepare version 2.1.1"
git tag 2.1.1
git push origin main
git push origin 2.1.1

Replace 2.1.1 with the version produced by the bump. The version lifecycle updates manifest.json and versions.json. A matching tag without a v prefix runs verification and creates a GitHub release containing exactly main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css.

For repository details, commit-message examples, and ready-to-copy 2.1.0 release notes, see GITHUB_RELEASE.md.

For the first Community Plugins submission, publish a GitHub release, then sign in at community.obsidian.md, connect your GitHub account, and add the repository under Plugins → New plugin. Follow the official submission and release requirements.

Privacy and safety

The plugin works locally, makes no network requests, and never edits frontmatter or note contents. Its data.json stores only the vault display preference and path-based file states.

License

MIT