The recently-added Web Viewer
core plugin’s purpose (facilitating web research within Obsidian) would be much more fully realized if it had the same ‘highlight and capture’ capabilities of the official Obsidian Web Clipper
extension for external browsers.
Totally on the same page with you here! I’ve taken the liberty of expanding this request into a more detailed and polished form: Fleshing Out ‘Save to Vault’. Maybe it makes sense to consolidate things by retiring this thread and steering the discussion over to the updated version?
Use case or problem
When using Obsidian’s in-app webview, there is currently no seamless way to save a webpage along with its metadata (such as title, URL, and content) directly to the vault. While Obsidian’s external browser plugin “Web Clipper” already achieves this functionality in external browsers, the “Save to Vault” command within the webview lacks this capability. This forces users into a multi-step process: opening the page in an external browser, using the Web Clipper plugin, and then saving it manually to the vault. The current workflow disrupts productivity and creates friction for users conducting research or organizing content within Obsidian.
Proposed solution
Enhance the existing “Save to Vault” command within Obsidian’s webview by adding functionality similar to what is provided by the Web Clipper plugin. Specifically:
-
Metadata Extraction: Automatically capture and save metadata such as:
- Page title
- URL
- Selected text (if applicable)
- Timestamp of saving
-
Content Formatting: Save the extracted metadata and page content into a Markdown file that aligns with user-defined templates or conventions (similar to Web Clipper).
-
Seamless Integration: Keep this feature lightweight and native to Obsidian’s core functionality without replicating or requiring full browser-like support for extensions.
By implementing this solution, users would be able to save pages from Obsidian’s webview into their vaults with minimal effort, streamlining workflows for research, note-taking, and content organization.
Current workaround (optional)
The current workaround involves several steps:
- Open the desired webpage in an external browser using “Open in Default Browser.”
- Use the Web Clipper plugin in that browser to save the page along with its metadata.
- Return to Obsidian to view or further organize the saved note.
While functional, this process is cumbersome and interrupts focus during research sessions.
Related feature requests (optional)
- The request for a more robust built-in web clipping tool within Obsidian has been mentioned by users seeking alternatives to third-party plugins.
- Requests related to improving integrations between core Obsidian features like
webview
andvault management
could also benefit from enhancements like this.
I would also like to explore whether there are fundamental technical limitations inherent to WebView that might preclude the implementation of such a feature. When I previously introduced this concept in a Discord discussion—admittedly, not the most appropriate venue for such a topic—the idea was dismissed by a developer as being overly niche, unnecessary, and insufficiently considered. At the time, I chose not to engage further because the discussion seemed to veer away from constructive critique and more toward outright dismissal of the idea itself. In situations like these, fostering a dialogue rooted in mutual respect and intellectual curiosity is crucial, regardless of one’s personal valuation of an idea.
I would like to highlight that there was some confusion in the discussion surrounding this topic. Many participants were referencing editing the Chrome browser plugin, which I believe is unrelated to the feature being proposed. Given this apparent obscurity, I felt it appropriate to create a new thread with an opening in the developer’s requested format to clearly articulate the feature request. My goal was simply to present the feature request in a way that minimized further potential misunderstandings.
Hello @Pentatonic!
I get a “Page Not Found” when I open the link to what you characterized as ‘a more detailed and polished’ request.
Will you please either correct the link or delete the post that references it?
Their post was merged into this thread.