Retype for Obsidian

Install and manage Retype directly from your Obsidian vault.

Features

• Sidebar panel — Start, Stop, and Build buttons for the Retype CLI
• Console output — Scrollable log of CLI output with color-coded error, warning, success, and URL lines
• Server status card — Live indicator (stopped / starting / running / error) with the server URL displayed as a clickable link
• Status bar item — Optional status bar entry showing the current server state; click to open the server URL or toggle the panel
• Project detection — Automatically finds the nearest retype.yml config file relative to the active document
• CLI detection — Detects the Retype CLI on your system PATH (including via nvm, Homebrew, dotnet tools, etc.)
• Install gate — When the Retype CLI is not found, the panel shows a two-step setup guide with install options instead of Start/Build/Console controls
• User-triggered install — Install the Retype CLI with one click using npm, yarn, or dotnet (auto-detected in that order)
• Auto-detection polling — When the CLI is not found, the plugin polls every few seconds and automatically transitions to the ready state if the CLI is installed externally
• Three settings — Retype Key (stored securely), Open browser automatically, Show status bar item

Installation

Manual install

1. Download or clone this repository.

2. Run npm install then npm run build in the project root.

3. Copy main.js, styles.css, and manifest.json into your vault at:

   <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/retype-for-obsidian/
   

4. Open Settings → Community plugins, enable Retype.

Usage

1. Click the Retype ribbon icon (or run Retype: Open Retype panel from the command palette) to open the sidebar panel.
2. The panel displays the detected Retype project name and config file path. If no retype.yml is found, it shows "No project".
3. Click Start to launch the Retype development server. The status card updates in real time and the output log streams CLI output.
4. Click Stop to shut down the server, or Build to run a one-off build (only available when the server is stopped).
5. Open Settings → Retype to configure:
   • Retype Key — your Retype Pro or Community license key (stored in Obsidian's secure secret storage)
   • Open browser automatically — open the default browser when the server starts
   • Show status bar item — toggle the Retype status indicator in the Obsidian status bar

CLI Detection & Installation

The plugin detects whether the retype CLI is installed on your system when it loads. It uses your full shell PATH — including paths added by nvm, Homebrew, dotnet tools, and other environment managers.

How detection works

1. The plugin runs which retype (macOS/Linux) or where retype (Windows) using an enriched shell environment.
2. If found, it runs retype -v to confirm the binary works and retrieves the version number.
3. The detected version is displayed in the panel header badge.

Install gate

If the Retype CLI is not detected, the panel shows a two-step setup guide instead of the normal Start/Build/Console controls:

• Step 1 — Plugin installed ✅ — Confirms the plugin is installed and directs you to Step 2
• Step 2 — Add Retype CLI — Provides a Retype CLI button (if a supported package manager is detected), a code block with the install command you can copy and run manually, and a link to the Retype installation guide

The plugin also polls for the CLI every few seconds while in this state. If you install Retype externally (e.g. from a terminal), the panel automatically transitions to the ready state without requiring a restart.

User-triggered install

When you click the Retype CLI button, the plugin:

1. Detects which package manager is available (checked in order: npm, yarn, dotnet)
2. Runs the appropriate global install command:
   • npm install retypeapp --global
   • yarn global add retypeapp
   • dotnet tool install retypeapp --global
3. Streams the install output to the console log in real time
4. On success, re-detects the CLI and transitions the panel to the ready state

If no supported package manager is detected, the install button is hidden and only manual instructions are shown.

Manual installation

You can always install Retype manually by running one of these commands in your terminal:

npm install retypeapp --global
# or
yarn global add retypeapp
# or
dotnet tool install retypeapp --global

See the Retype installation guide for more options.

Commands

Command	Description
Retype: Open Retype panel	Open or reveal the Retype sidebar
Retype: Start Retype server	Start the Retype service open website
Retype: Stop Retype server	Stop the Retype service

License

Apache License 2.0