Tree Modal

Obsidian plugin that opens files from the file explorer in a modal preview instead of in the editor.

Features

• Click a file in the tree → 80% viewport modal with Obsidian's native view header (read/edit toggle, full width)
• Cmd/Ctrl-click → opens the file normally in the editor (escape route)
• Right-click → "Open in modal" as a fallback (survives Obsidian DOM updates)
• Internal links inside the modal are captured and opened in-place in the same modal
• Configurable trigger modifier (none / Shift / Alt)
• Toggle to hide the center workspace area and give the space to the sidebars
• Toggle to hide sidebar toggles and sync status icon
• Optional: ensure a terminal view stays mounted in the right sidebar after startup

Install

Community plugin (once accepted)

Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "Tree Modal" → Install → Enable.

Manual

1. Download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release.
2. Copy them into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/tree-modal/.
3. Reload Obsidian, then enable the plugin under Settings → Community plugins.

Development

npm install
npm run dev     # watch mode
npm run build   # production build (minified)

For local testing, symlink the plugin folder into your vault:

ln -s "$(pwd)" <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/tree-modal

How it works

The default click handler of the file explorer is intercepted via a DOM event listener on document in capture phase, filtered to .nav-file-title elements. preventDefault() and stopPropagation() block the default "open in editor" behavior; Cmd/Ctrl-click and folder clicks pass through unchanged.

The modal embeds a detached WorkspaceLeaf in markdown mode, so everything Obsidian provides (live preview, wikilink completion, Templater, the native read/edit toggle) keeps working inside the modal.

As a supported second path, a file-menu entry "Open in modal" is registered via the official API, independent of the DOM structure.

Limitations

• data-path on .nav-file-title is not part of the official plugin API. It works reliably today but could theoretically break with an Obsidian update. The file-menu fallback keeps the core feature usable in that case.
• Non-markdown files show a hint instead of a preview; Cmd/Ctrl-click opens them normally.

License

MIT