Not Submodules

An Obsidian plugin that replaces git submodules with plain nested git repos - ignored via .gitignore and tracked with a simple YAML frontmatter convention on folder notes, instead of .gitmodules.

Submodules are brittle, especially on mobile and when using Obsidian with iOS through terminal emulators such as iSH. This plugin avoids them entirely: nested repos are just ordinary git repositories living inside your vault, ignored by the vault's own repo, and declared in your notes so they're easy to find, clone, and sync.

How it works

• A nested repo lives in a folder named <repo-name>-git-repo.

• The vault's .gitignore gets a *-git-repo/ line so nested repos are never tracked by the vault's own git history.

• A "folder note" (a markdown file with the same name as its parent folder - matching the folder-notes plugin's insideFolder convention) declares the repos that live under it via a git_repos frontmatter key:

  ---
  git_repos:
    - https://github.com/danrfletcher/obsidian-inline-agents.git
    - https://github.com/danrfletcher/obsidian-not-submodules.git
  ---
  

Features

• Initialise git repo - one-click git init for the vault itself, if it isn't a git repository yet.
• Ignore nested repos - one-click append of *-git-repo/ to the vault's .gitignore (creating it if needed).
• Nested git repos list - every registered repo, with Clone / Pull / Push controls, right in Settings.
• Bulk actions - "Clone all missing", "Pull all", and "Push all", each hidden automatically when there's nothing for it to do.
• Register a repo - point the plugin at an existing -git-repo folder (with an autocomplete path picker) and it declares it in the right folder note automatically, creating the folder note - and, if the repo sits at the vault root, a dedicated parent folder for it - when needed.
• Command palette & ribbon icon - register the repo containing your current file without leaving it.
• Reveal in navigator - click a repo's name in the list to reveal it (or, if it isn't cloned yet, its parent folder) in the file explorer.

Installation

This plugin is desktop-only (isDesktopOnly: true), since it shells out to your local git.

Manual installation: copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from a release into <your-vault>/.obsidian/plugins/not-submodules/, then enable it in Obsidian's Community plugins settings.

Development

npm install
npm run dev     # watch build
npm run build   # type-check + production build

License

MIT