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Documentation Index

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The on keyword lets you spin up a new Obsidian note from Alfred in a single keystroke. Type a name, hit ⏎, and the note appears in your vault — no need to switch to Obsidian first, open the command palette, or navigate to a folder.

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Creating a Note

Type on followed by the title you want to give the note. For example, on meeting notes creates Meeting notes.md in your configured location and opens it in Obsidian.
1

Invoke the keyword

Open Alfred and type on followed by your desired note title — for example, on foobar.
2

Confirm

Press ⏎ to create the note and open it in the current Obsidian tab, or press ⌘ + ⏎ to create and open it in a new tab instead.
3

Note opens in Obsidian

Obsidian opens (or comes to the foreground) and focuses the new note, ready for editing.

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Filename rules

The workflow applies a few automatic transformations to whatever you type after on:
  • The first letter is capitalised automatically — on foobar produces Foobar.md.
  • The characters \, /, and : are silently stripped from the filename because macOS does not allow them in file names.
  • If you invoke on without a title, the note is named Untitled.md.
  • If a file with the same name already exists, the workflow appends 1 to avoid overwriting it (e.g. Foobar 1.md).
The Filename Heading Sync plugin automatically rewrites a note’s first heading to match its filename. If you have that plugin enabled, it may alter the content of newly created notes immediately after creation.

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Template Support

You can pre-populate every new note with the contents of a template file. Set the template_note_path workflow variable to a path relative to your vault root, for example Templates/New Note.md (the .md extension is optional). When the template is applied, the placeholder {{title}} is replaced with the new note’s filename. This is the only supported placeholder — other Obsidian or Templater variables are not processed at this stage. 
# {{title}}

## Summary

## Notes
If the above file is your template and you run on weekly review, the new note will open with the heading # Weekly review already in place.
If you use the Templater plugin with Folder Templates enabled, Templater may overwrite the template applied by this workflow when the note is opened in Obsidian. Disable Folder Templates or make sure the target folder is not covered by a Templater rule if you want the workflow template to take effect.

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Location Configuration

By default, new notes land in your vault root. To place them in a specific folder instead, set the new_note_location workflow variable to a path relative to the vault — for example, Inbox or Projects/Active. If the folder does not exist yet, Obsidian will create it when the note is opened.

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Creating Notes While Browsing a Folder

When you are already browsing a folder through the o keyword (by selecting a folder from the search results), you can type new as your search query to create a note directly inside that folder. This uses the same template configured in template_note_path, and the note is placed in the folder you are currently browsing rather than the default new_note_location.

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Configuration Reference

All of the following variables are set in the workflow configuration panel inside Alfred Preferences. Open Alfred Preferences → Workflows → Shimmering Obsidian → the [x] icon in the top-right corner.
VariableDescription
template_note_pathVault-relative path to the template note (e.g. Templates/New Note). Leave empty to create blank notes.
new_note_locationVault-relative folder where new notes are saved (e.g. Inbox). Leave empty to use the vault root.
create_in_new_tabSet to true to always open new notes in a new Obsidian tab (equivalent to pressing ⌘ + ⏎ manually).

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