URL Namer

An Obsidian plugin that converts plain URLs in selected text into Markdown links using each page's title.

What's New in v1.1.0

Thanks to mvexel for contributing these improvements:

• Modernized TypeScript code
• Added option to auto-name URLs on paste (enable in Settings -> URL Namer)
• Added offline detection with graceful fallback
• Improved title extraction (supports og:title, twitter:title)
• Updated build tooling

Usage

1. Select text that contains one or more plain URLs.
2. Run the command Name the URL links in the selected text.

Notes:

• Process a small batch of URLs at a time for best reliability.
• While the command is running, do not edit or reselect the text.
• URLs that are already inside Markdown links (for example [label](https://example.com)) are skipped.
• Optional: enable Settings -> URL Namer -> Auto-name links on paste to convert pasted plain-text URLs automatically.
• If Obsidian is offline, the plugin keeps links unchanged and shows a single notice.

Development

• npm install: install dependencies.
• npm run dev: build in watch mode.
• npm run build: run TypeScript checks and create a production bundle (main.js).
• npm run lint: run ESLint.
• npm run smoke:title -- https://example.com: quickly test title extraction for a URL.

Installation

From source (manual)

1. Build the plugin with npm run build.
2. Create (or open) your vault plugin folder: VaultFolder/.obsidian/plugins/url-namer/

Use Vault switcher -> Manage vaults to see the exact local vault path.

3. Copy these files into that folder:
   • main.js
   • manifest.json
   • styles.css (if present)
4. In Obsidian, open Settings -> Community plugins, refresh, and enable URL Namer.

Customization

The URL-matching regex is currently hard-coded in main.ts as UrlTagger.rawUrlPattern.

Title extraction defaults to the HTML <title> tag. For sites that rely on custom metadata, site-specific parsing may be required (for example the existing WeChat og:title handling).

Known Limitations

• Some websites block requests or return non-HTML content.
• JavaScript-rendered pages may not expose a useful title in the initial response.
• The plugin currently has no user settings for regex or per-site parsing rules.

Future Development

• Move URL regex configuration into plugin settings.
• Add configurable site-specific title extraction rules.