Disclaimer
Is this project open source? Yes
Is this project completely free? Yes
Is this project vibe-coded beyond the author’s ability to comprehend how it works? No
Community Directory: Easy-Tikz
Hi you all, I just published Easy TikZ, a visual editor for TikZ / pgfplots charts in Obsidian that renders the charts inline in your notes, no external TeX install needed for in-vault use.
Why this exists
Pgfplots is powerful but the syntax is fiddly and the feedback loop is “edit, recompile, squint”. Rendering TikZ inside Obsidian today usually means installing obsidian-tikzjax, which ships a WebAssembly LaTeX engine. I wanted something easier and quicker to use: drag a curve into place, see it instantly, and have clean pgfplots come out the other end when you want to publish elsewhere. Easy TikZ is a visual editor with its own SVG renderer for the chart subset (functions + tools), the in-vault render is instant and the plugin footprint is small.
What it does
Live preview. Type an expression, see the chart update. 2D one-variable expressions, parametric (x(t), y(t)), polar r(θ). Tangents and automatic extrema markers with one toggle. Fill (solid + patterns), dashed, color, thickness, per-function legend.
3D surfaces. f(x, y) at ~60 fps. Mouse-drag rotates, wheel zooms, arrow keys nudge. Equal-aspect cube or data-proportional box. Up to 400 samples per axis on the slider.
Composable tools. Stack any number of overlays on top of your functions: area between two curves (referenced by name, not index), intersection markers via bisection, vertical / horizontal reference lines, rectangles, circles, segments with arrows, braces with labels. 3D primitives too: slice planes, points, segments.
Inline rendering. “Insert into note” writes an easy-tikz JSON block. The plugin’s own markdown post-processor renders it as a chart in reading and live-preview mode. Click the rendered chart to re-open the modal pre-filled with every setting; “Save changes” replaces the source block in place.
Real pgfplots export. “Copy TikZ code” produces standalone pgfplots that compiles in any TeX install. \usepgfplotslibrary{fillbetween} is injected automatically when you use area-between, axis equal image lights up for cube mode, polar gets axis equal.
Small demonstration:
Source and release notes: GitHub - Saiki77/easy-tikz: Tool to help with the creation of tikz graphs in your notes. · GitHub
How it compares to obsidian-tikzjax
Different scope. obsidian-tikzjax ships a WebAssembly LaTeX engine and compiles arbitrary TikZ inside Obsidian.
Easy TikZ is the opposite trade-off: a visual editor with its own very fast SVG renderer for the chart subset (functions, axes, tools), so the in-vault render is instant and the plugin’s footprint stays small. It still exports clean pgfplots when you want to compile elsewhere. Easy TikZ only claims the easy-tikz code-block tag by default, so existing tikz blocks stay with tikzjax. If you want full LaTeX expressiveness in your notes, use tikzjax. If you want a quick visual editor for charts and want them to render in-vault without a TeX install, try Easy TikZ.
Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome here or on the GitHub issue tracker. Happy to answer any questions.