PARA Navigator

A PARA-based sidebar navigator for Obsidian, with per-folder Bases tables and statistics dashboards.

PARA Navigator turns your PARA folder structure (Inbox / Projects / Areas / Resources / Archives) into a navigable note tree in the sidebar. Every node in the tree is a note: folders are represented by their folder note (Projects/My Project/My Project.md), so browsing and building hierarchy never leaves Markdown.

Features

• PARA sidebar tree — Inbox, Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives in one panel. Top-level folders are auto-detected on load, tolerating numeric prefixes (1-Projects) and English/Chinese folder names; paths stay editable in settings.
• Folder-note hierarchy — create notes, folders and sub-trees inline. A folder's note (X/X.md) is its entry; children live inside the folder.
• Leaf-to-folder conversion — turn a leaf note P/X.md into a folder note P/X/X.md at any time; vault-wide links are updated automatically.
• Inbox-first capture — native "create new note" lands in Inbox instead of the vault root.
• Drag-and-drop ordering — per-folder custom child order, remembered across restarts.
• Icons and colors — pick a Lucide icon and a name color for any node.
• Bases dashboards — one-click per-folder .base table (generated on demand in a configurable folder, existing files are never overwritten).
• Statistics dashboards — note count, subfolders, word count, open/done tasks, top tags and recently edited notes for any PARA folder.
• Tab reuse — opening a file that is already open focuses its existing tab instead of duplicating it.

Usage

1. Install and enable the plugin, then open the PARA Navigator from the ribbon icon or command palette (PARA Navigator: Open navigator).
2. If your top-level folders are not detected automatically, adjust the paths in Settings → PARA Navigator, or use Redetect folders / Create missing folders.
3. Right-click any node for actions: new note, new folder, delete (with confirmation), convert to folder note, icon/color pickers, and dashboard shortcuts.

Installation

Once approved, install from Obsidian's community plugin list: Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for "PARA Navigator".

Development

bun install
bun run dev     # watch mode, syncs to your dev vault
bun run build   # type-check + production build of main.js

Releases are built with esbuild; a release contains main.js, manifest.json and styles.css.

License

MIT