Implicit Macros
eriskii132 downloadsInline AI macros: type !!prompt! and have it expand in place via an OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint.
- Overview
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An Obsidian plugin for inline AI macros. Type !!prompt!, the closing ! fires a call to an OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint, and the response streams back in place of the source.
While the call is running, the macro text is replaced with animated braille-dot spinners sized to match the original width. As tokens arrive they replace the spinners; each freshly inserted chunk briefly highlights in the accent color and fades to normal over 1.5 seconds.
Install
Install via Obsidian's Community Plugins browser (search for Implicit Macros), or install from source:
- Build the plugin from source (see below) — produces
main.js. - Make sure you have
manifest.json,main.js, andstyles.css. - Copy them to
<your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/implicit-macros/. - In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → disable Restricted Mode if needed → Refresh under Installed plugins → enable Implicit Macros.
For active development, symlink this repo into your vault's plugin directory and use the Hot Reload plugin so rebuilds pick up automatically.
Build from source
git clone <this repo>
cd implicit-macros
npm install
npm run build # tsc --noEmit + esbuild → main.js
# or
npm run dev # esbuild watch mode
External imports (obsidian, every @codemirror/* and @lezer/* module, Node builtins) are not bundled — they resolve to Obsidian's runtime copies.
Setup
After enabling, open Settings → Implicit Macros and configure:
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| API key | (empty) | OpenAI-compatible bearer token. Encrypted at rest with a per-device AES-256-GCM key kept in localStorage; the encrypted blob is what lands in data.json. You re-enter on each device. |
| Base URL | https://api.openai.com/v1 |
Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. |
| Model | gpt-4o-mini |
Chat completions model id. |
| System prompt | built-in | Sent on every macro call; empty falls back to the default. |
| Context chars | 1500 | How many characters of preceding note text to include as grounding. |
| Open delimiter | !! |
Customize to @!, <<, etc. |
| Close delimiter | ! |
Same — anything non-empty without newlines. |
Usage
The Idiot is a novel by !!one sentence on its central theme!
The closing delimiter fires the call. The macro is single-line and won't fire inside fenced code, indented code, or inline backtick spans.
Data flow and privacy
This plugin sends data to a third-party AI service that you configure. Specifically, when a macro fires:
- What is sent: the macro prompt itself, plus up to
Context chars(default 1500) characters of preceding note text, plus the system prompt. Together these become a single chat-completions request. - Where it goes: the OpenAI-compatible endpoint set in Base URL (default
https://api.openai.com/v1). You can point this at OpenAI, a local server (Ollama, llama.cpp, LM Studio, etc.), or any other compatible provider. - Authentication: your API key is sent as a
Bearertoken to the configured endpoint and nowhere else. It is encrypted at rest indata.jsonwith a per-device AES-256-GCM key. - No telemetry: the plugin does not send anything to the author or to any third party other than the endpoint you configure.
If you set Base URL to a remote provider, that provider will receive the prompt and surrounding note context every time a macro fires — review their data-retention policy before pointing this plugin at sensitive notes.
License
GPL-3.0-only. Forks must remain open-source under the same license — see LICENSE.