Manuscript Export

Export a book manuscript written in Obsidian to a clean, valid EPUB — including one-command export of Longform projects. No separate paid tool, no leaving Obsidian.

Works with Longform

If you write in Longform, you already have your scenes in order. Run "Export Longform project to EPUB" and you get a properly structured EPUB of that project — scenes exported in your Longform order (not filename order), with the project's title as the book title. Multiple projects in one vault? You'll get a picker. Single-file Longform projects are split into chapters on # headings.

No Longform? Use "Export manuscript to EPUB" with a plain folder of chapter notes (one note per chapter, natural-sort filename order — "Chapter 2" correctly sorts before "Chapter 10").

Why

If you write long-form fiction or nonfiction in Obsidian, getting a properly formatted EPUB out the other end usually means a separate paid tool (Vellum, Atticus) or a fragile export chain. This handles the common case cleanly:

• Wikilinks ([[Note]], [[Note|Display text]]) render as plain text — a reader doesn't care about your internal note names.
• Image embeds (![[cover.png]]) are embedded directly into the EPUB.
• Scene breaks (*** or --- on their own line) render as a centered divider.
• YAML frontmatter is stripped — metadata never leaks into your book.
• Callouts (> [!note] ...) are stripped entirely, not rendered — they're almost always private author annotations (reminders, continuity notes), not content meant for a reader.
• Plain blockquotes (no [!type] marker) render normally, for genuine in-story quotes.
• Standard bold/italic formatting.

Chapter titles come from a note's title: frontmatter field, its leading # Heading, or its filename — in that order.

Installation

In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for "Manuscript Export", install, and enable.

Or manually: download manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css from the latest release into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/manuscript-export/, then enable the plugin under Settings → Community plugins.

Usage

1. In the plugin's settings tab, set your author name, language, and an output folder (book title is optional — Longform exports default to the project's own title). For folder-based export, also set the manuscript folder.
2. Open the command palette (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) and run "Export Longform project to EPUB" or "Export manuscript to EPUB".
3. Your .epub appears in the output folder, ready for Calibre, Kindle Previewer, or your distributor of choice.

Current limitations (v0.2.0)

• EPUB export only — no print-PDF export yet.
• Non-image note embeds (![[Another Note]], transcluding another note's content) are silently skipped, not resolved.
• Nested Longform scenes are flattened — every scene becomes its own chapter; indentation isn't rendered as a part/chapter hierarchy yet.

Missing something you need? Open an issue — real requests from real manuscripts drive what gets built next.

Development

npm install
npm run dev      # watch mode
npm run build    # production build -> main.js
npm test         # validates markdown conversion, Longform parsing + EPUB structure, no Obsidian required

License

MIT — see LICENSE.