I use CMD+K (on Mac) to create a markdown link from a selected word.
What if I already have the link and I want to add the custom text?
Is there a shortcut or a plugin that allows me to do that?
Right now I’m using Keyboard Maestro using a few keystrokes:
I was just wondering if there’s a native way of doing this so I don’t rely on Keyboard Maestro?
Various Complements is your friend.
I’m not sure how that will solve my issue…?
Can you clarify?
Well, the title of the thread and your description of the problem do not match. But I understood.
Fistly, what is required by what is in title is easily done with V. C. plugin.
As for aliases:
See here:
Add a hotkey in the settings:
Seems like there is a new feature too where you type in the string in the markdown file and trigger with hotkey set in the dropdown but it seems this will only work well if the first few chars of the existing link and the prospective alias will match.
See:
And then if you want to save that alias for the frontmatter of the linked file in question (so that next time you can simply type the alias in your note and the link will pop up automatically to be inserted in the file along with the alias), you can use Link with Alias plugin.
Various Complements needs a bit of setup as there are many settings but it is an indispensable tool.
I also use with custom dictionaries and I often (well, not often enough) add my own phrases to another dictionary to ride by verbal hobby horses.
I honestly think you misunderstood my issue…
Let me clarify.
Let’s say I have this:
Now, on my clipboard I have a URL https://google.com.
I cal select the words My Link, press CMD+K and it will convert it to:
Now I just need to paste the URL:
Done!
But what if I have the URL already and I want to add a custom word or group of words?
So I start with this:
And I want to select the URL, press a shortcut, and it will show me this:
So I can either paste whatever I have on the clipboard or I can just type something and I will achieve the same:
The Various Complements doesn’t seem to address this?
If it does, then it’s probably buried in the documentation, and before I start digging deeper to then realize it doesn’t do what I need, it’s better to ask if you now understand my goal and if VC indeed does something like that? If so, can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks
So you want an external link with a title, not an internal link with an alias.
Well, this was addressed by Gareth Stretton:
See:
https://archive.ph/1lMX4
You’ll need Templater plugin installed.
Unfortunately, that also focuses on the word being selected, not the URL
You can use templater plugin. It is not designed for this, but it can be tweaked. Follow these steps:
Create a folder for templater templates (if you don’t have one already) and put there a file called for example paste-link.md
Write the following content in that file (important, no newline at the end)
<%*
let s = await tp.file.selection();
let c = await tp.system.clipboard();
let result = c; // Default fallback
let match;
if (s && c.startsWith("http")) {
result = `[${s}](${c})`;
} else if (c && s.startsWith("http")) {
result = `[${c}](${s})`;
} else {
match = c.match(/\[\[(.*?)\|.*?\]\]/) || c.match(/!?\[\[(.*?)\]\]/);
if (match && s) {
result = `[[${match[1]}|${s}]]`;
}
match = c.match(/\[.*?\]\((.*?)\)/);
if (match && s) {
result = `[${s}](${match[1]})`;
}
}
tR = result;
%>
Create a shortcut for the “Templater: Insert paste-link” command (you have to use templater settings to add this command to the palette). For example, you can use Ctrl+V (Meta-V on Mac) to replace the regular paste with this new paste-link, or if you prefer to be more conservative use Alt+Ctrl+V for example.
The following will happen:
https://forum.obsidian.md and in your note you select the word “Obsidian”. After the key stroke, the note will have [Obsidian](https://forum.obsidian.md)https://forum.obsidian.md. Then, after the keystroke you’ll have [Forum](https://forum.obsidian.md)I think the second case is similar to the one you were asking for, but involving the clipboard (which imho provides better ergonomics).
As a bonus, if the content of the clipboard matches the wikilink syntax ([[something]]), then the selected text in the note will be replaced by [[something|selected text]]. Even if the clipboard contained other alias, as for example [[something|other alias]], the result will be [[something|selected text]], i.e. the alias in the clipboard is replaced by the selected text, and the result pasted in the note.
Note if there is no text selected in the note, the result will be a regular paste.
I have zero experience with Templater, but after a lot of back and forth with ChatGPT I got this:
<%*
let selection = tp.file.selection();
let isURL = selection && /^https?:\/\/\S+$/.test(selection);
if (isURL) {
tR = `[${await tp.file.cursor()}](${selection})`;
} else {
let word = selection || await tp.system.prompt("Word?");
tR = `[${word}](${await tp.file.cursor()})`;
}
tR;
%>
Issues:
In both cases it shows this momentarily
When it’s a selected word, not a URL, the cursor is placed after the closing parenthesis, like this:
<%*
// Enhanced Obsidian Link Creator
// Handles both URLs and Obsidian block references
async function isValidUrl(urlString) {
try {
new URL(urlString);
return true;
} catch {
return false;
}
}
async function isObsidianReference(text) {
// Match Obsidian internal links including both headings (#) and block references (#^)
return /^\!?\[\[.+?(?:#[^\]]+?)?\]\]$/.test(text);
}
async function sanitizeTitle(title) {
// Remove markdown syntax characters and trim
return title
.replace(/[[\]()]/g, '')
.trim();
}
async function createMarkdownLink() {
try {
// Get title from selection or prompt
let title = tp.file.selection();
if (!title) {
title = await tp.system.prompt("Enter label for the link:");
if (!title) {
// User cancelled the prompt
return tp.file.selection();
}
}
// Sanitize the title
title = await sanitizeTitle(title);
// Get content from clipboard
let clipboardContent = await tp.system.clipboard();
// Check if it's an Obsidian reference
if (await isObsidianReference(clipboardContent)) {
// Extract the internal link content (remove outer brackets if present)
let innerContent = clipboardContent.replace(/^\!?\[\[(.*)\]\]$/, '$1');
// Create Obsidian-style link with alias
return `[[${innerContent}|${title}]]`;
} else if (await isValidUrl(clipboardContent)) {
// Handle regular URLs as before
let trailingCharacter = tp.file.selection() ? '' : ' ';
return `[${title}](${clipboardContent})${trailingCharacter}`;
} else {
// If clipboard doesn't contain valid URL, prompt user
let url = await tp.system.prompt("Invalid or no URL in clipboard. Please enter URL:");
if (!url || !await isValidUrl(url)) {
new Notice("Invalid URL provided");
return tp.file.selection();
}
let trailingCharacter = tp.file.selection() ? '' : ' ';
return `[${title}](${url})${trailingCharacter}`;
}
} catch (error) {
new Notice(`Error creating link: ${error.message}`);
return tp.file.selection();
}
}
// Execute the main function and assign result to tR
tR += await createMarkdownLink();
%>
Try this. Handles blockID internal links as well if you have that on the clipboard.
At least it is supposed to do it. This is from my archived templates. I don’t use Templater anymore.
Your script “kinda” works, but I don’t want to depend on the clipboard.
I just want it to create the “syntax”, if that’s what’s called and place the cursor where it’s supposed to go.
If it’s a word being selected:
[WORD]($CursorHere)
If it’s a URL being selected:
[$CursorHere](URL)
Read my previous reply. It has more info. I don’t want to depend on the clipboard. even if there’s a URL there, I don’t want it to paste it, because if it’s an old URL and I want to use a different one, I want to type it. If it’s the one on the clipboard, I can just hit CMD+V
The same for the word.
Please try it with zero string selected.
This forces me to add both title and link. It can be useful sometimes, but that’s not the case most of the time.
I want to select a URL and get:
[$CursorHere](URL)
and if possible, with the same shortcut, if a word is selected:
[WORD]($CursorHere)
I understand your request, but perhaps you did not understood how my snippet works.
Suppose you have this url in your note,
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/open-pop-up-with-option-to-create-markdown-link/103445/11
and you want to convert it into a link with the text “Create markdown link”:
The process is,
First write the text “Create markdown link” somewhere in your note, select it, and cut it (Ctrl+X). This moves that string to the clipboard.
Then select the URL in the note and press the hotkey. This will produce:
[Create markdown link](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/open-pop-up-with-option-to-create-markdown-link/103445/11)
Where the textual part was taken from the clipboard, and the URL part was taken from the selection in the note.
It also works the other way around (if you have a URL in the clipboard, and some text selected in the note).
<%*
// Simple Link Wrapper
// If URL is selected: [$CursorHere](URL)
// If word is selected: [WORD]($CursorHere)
function isValidUrl(urlString) {
try {
new URL(urlString);
return true;
} catch {
return false;
}
}
let selection = tp.file.selection();
if (selection) {
if (isValidUrl(selection)) {
// Selected text is a URL - create [CURSOR](URL)
tR += `[${tp.file.cursor(1)}](${selection})`;
} else {
// Selected text is a word/phrase - create [WORD](CURSOR)
tR += `[${selection}](${tp.file.cursor(2)})`;
}
} else {
// Nothing selected - create empty link template
tR += `[${tp.file.cursor(1)}]()`;
}
%>
try this
I understood, but again, I don’t want to depend on the clipboard. I don’t want what’s on the clipboard to be pasted. Having to type the word, select, cut, run the script, is just too many unnecessary steps.
The same for the URL.
I just want to select a word, run the script, type the URL where the cursor is.
The same for a selected URL.
I don’t want to depend on the clipboard. I want empty brackets
I don’t know if this is relevant:
About Obsidian
Version 1.8.10 (Installer 1.4.16)
I can’t go above this because of my operating system.
try again, I changed it
Alright. I was about to say it couldn’t be done with Templater, but then this trick occurred to me:
<%*
let selection = tp.file.selection();
let isURL = selection && /^https?:\/\/\S+$/.test(selection);
if (isURL) {
tR = `[<% tp.file.cursor() %&$>](${selection})`;
} else {
let word = selection || await tp.system.prompt("Word?");
tR = `[${word}](<% tp.file.cursor() %&$>)`;
}
tR = tR.replace("%&$", "%");
%>
Note: the short flash is unavoidable.