Vault File Renamer

Vault File Renamer automatically standardizes vault file and folder names. It converts names to lowercase, removes accents, applies configurable replacement rules, and preserves user-defined exceptions.

Features

• Automatic Renaming (toggleable):
  When enabled, standardizes names on file/folder create and manual rename events.
• Consistent Naming Rules:
  Lowercase and accent removal are built in. Custom regex rules run afterward and can be edited, disabled, removed, or reordered by changing the list.
• Path Preservation:
  Keeps items in their original folders—no moves, just safe renames.
• Link updates:
  Uses Obsidian's file manager rename flow so internal links are updated when notes and folders are renamed.
• Allow-list for Extensions:
  Target extensions (e.g., md, canvas, png). If set, only these are renamed.
• Excluded Extensions (highest priority):
  Never rename these extensions—even if they are in the allow-list. If the allow-list is empty (meaning all), excluded extensions are still skipped.
• Folder Blacklist (recursive):
  Nothing inside listed folders is renamed. Pick from suggestions and one-click to add.
• File Blacklist (exact path):
  Specific files are never renamed (great for extensionless files). Pick from suggestions and one-click to add.
• Manual “Sweep” command:
  Standardize everything now runs an explicit pass over the entire vault (respects all blacklists and rules).
• Duplicate safety:
  If a target path already exists, the plugin appends a numeric suffix such as -2.
• Safe defaults:
  Starts disabled; the current vault configuration folder is blacklisted by default.

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository.

2. Run npm install in the plugin folder to install dependencies.

3. Build the plugin using:

   npm run build
   

4. Copy the generated main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css to your Obsidian plugins folder (usually .obsidian/plugins/vault-file-renamer).

5. Open Obsidian, go to Settings → Community Plugins, and enable Vault File Renamer.

Usage

• Enable the toggle:
  In Settings → Vault File Renamer, turn on Automatically rename. From now on, new creations and manual renames will be standardized.

• Configure file types:

  • Target extensions (allow-list): Set a comma-separated list (e.g., md, canvas). If this list is empty, the plugin treats it as all extensions.
  • Excluded extensions (highest priority): These are never renamed—even if also present in the allow-list. Example: allow-list md, excluded xml → xml files are still skipped.

• Blacklist what you don’t want touched:

  • Folder blacklist: Nothing inside those folders (recursively) is renamed. Use the search field to pick from suggestions and click to add.
  • File blacklist: Exact file paths that are never renamed—ideal for files without extensions. Also supports click-to-add from suggestions.

• Run a full pass on demand:
  Use the command “Standardize everything now” to sweep the entire vault once, respecting all blacklists and extension rules.

• Customize renaming rules:
  Rules use JavaScript regular expressions. For example, keeping spaces requires disabling the default spaces-to-dashes rule and allowing whitespace in the special-character rule.

Enjoy a tidier vault with standardized filenames.

Development

To set up the development environment:

1. Install Dependencies:

   npm install
   

2. Watch for Changes (Development Mode):

   npm run watch
   

3. Lint and type-check:

   npm run lint
   npx tsc --noEmit
   

4. Build for Production:

   npm run build
   

Feel free to contribute and open issues if you find any bugs or have feature requests!

Credits

Developed by Louan Fontenele.
Inspired by the Obsidian Sample Plugin.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.