Graph Label Above

An Obsidian plugin that moves graph view node labels above nodes instead of below, so an enlarged mouse pointer does not obscure them.

Works with both the built-in 2D graph and the 3D Graph community plugin.

The problem

Obsidian's graph view positions node labels directly below each node. When you hover, the label shifts down a further 21px — intended to clear the cursor tip. With a standard pointer this works. With an enlarged pointer (a common accessibility setting) the label sits underneath the cursor and is never visible.

This was requested on the Obsidian forum and discussed several times. The team acknowledged it but the behaviour has not changed. This plugin fixes it.

What it does

• Moves 2D graph labels above nodes (flips the Pixi.js render anchor and negates the y-offset)
• Moves 3D graph persistent labels above nodes (scales the Three.js sprite y-offset)
• Repositions the 3D graph hover tooltip above the cursor (CSS override)
• Adds a label distance slider so you can dial in how far above the node the label sits
• Adds an optional colour override for 2D graph labels

Installation

From the community plugin directory (once listed)

1. Settings > Community plugins > Browse
2. Search "Graph Label Above"
3. Install and enable

Manual install

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder at <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/graph-label-above/
3. Copy both files into that folder
4. Settings > Community plugins > reload and enable Graph Label Above

Settings

Changes apply immediately without restarting Obsidian.

3D graph tooltip

The 3D graph hover tooltip is repositioned via a CSS snippet rather than the plugin itself (the tooltip is a DOM element, separate from the Three.js renderer).

The plugin ships with the snippet automatically. If it is not active:

1. Settings > Appearance > CSS snippets
2. Click the refresh icon
3. Toggle 3d-graph-tooltip on

How it works

Obsidian's graph view renders using Pixi.js on a WebGL canvas — labels are not DOM elements and cannot be repositioned with CSS. The plugin monkey-patches the node prototype's render method at runtime, flipping the text anchor from top to bottom and negating the y-offset formula.

The 3D graph uses Three.js SpriteText objects. Labels are positioned once at node creation (createNodeObject). The plugin patches that method to scale the sprite's y-offset, and walks the scene on load to fix existing nodes.

Both patches store the original method and restore it cleanly on unload.

Compatibility

Tested on Obsidian 1.x. The 2D graph patch targets Obsidian's internal Pixi.js renderer and may break if Obsidian significantly changes its graph implementation. The 3D graph patch targets obsidian-3d-graph.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. The source is at src/main.ts. Build with:

npm install
npm run build

Output goes directly to .obsidian/plugins/graph-label-above/ in your vault (configured in esbuild.config.mjs — update the path for your setup).

Licence

MIT