Using:
import { App, Notice, TFile } from 'obsidian';
// ===============================================
// Note Creation Guard with Character Sanitization
// ===============================================
export async function invoke(app: App): Promise<void> {
let isActive = true;
// Forbidden characters and their replacements (from obsidian-anychar)
const replacementMap: Record<string, string> = {
"/": "⧸", // Unicode: \uFF0F
"\\": "⧵", // Unicode: \u29F5
":": "։", // Unicode: \u0589
"|": "❘", // Unicode: \u2758
"#": "＃", // Unicode: \uFF03
"[": "〚", // Unicode: \u301A
"]": "〛", // Unicode: \u301B
"^": "ˆ", // Unicode: \u02C6
// ".": "․", // Unicode: \u2024
"?": "？", // Unicode fullwidth question mark
"\"": "“", // Unicode fullwidth quotation mark
};
// Sanitize filename by replacing forbidden characters
const sanitizeFilename = (filename: string): string => {
let result = filename;
for (const [badChar, goodChar] of Object.entries(replacementMap)) {
if (result.includes(badChar)) {
result = result.split(badChar).join(goodChar);
}
}
return result;
};
// Store original create method
const originalCreate = app.vault.create.bind(app.vault);
// Override the create method
app.vault.create = async function(path: string, data: string, options?: any): Promise<TFile> {
if (!isActive) {
return originalCreate(path, data, options);
}
// Extract filename from path
const pathParts = path.split('/');
const fileName = pathParts.pop() || '';
// Only process .md files - ignore all other file types (CSS, JS, images, etc.)
if (!fileName.endsWith('.md')) {
return originalCreate(path, data, options);
}
// Skip processing if this appears to be a system/background operation:
// 1. Files in .obsidian folder or other system folders
// 2. Files with system-related names
if (path.startsWith('.obsidian/') ||
path.startsWith('.windows/') ||
path.startsWith('.linux/') ||
path.startsWith('.mobile/') ||
path.startsWith('.obsidian-mobile/') ||
path.includes('/.obsidian/') ||
fileName.startsWith('.') ||
path.includes('/snippets/') ||
path.includes('/themes/')) {
return originalCreate(path, data, options);
}
const fileNameWithoutExt = fileName.replace(/\.md$/, '');
// Sanitize the filename
const sanitizedName = sanitizeFilename(fileNameWithoutExt);
// Check if sanitization changed the filename
if (sanitizedName !== fileNameWithoutExt) {
const sanitizedPath = [...pathParts, sanitizedName + '.md'].join('/');
// Find which characters were replaced
const replacedChars = Object.keys(replacementMap)
.filter(char => fileNameWithoutExt.includes(char))
.map(char => `'${char}' → '${replacementMap[char]}'`)
.join(', ');
new Notice(
`ℹ️ Sanitized filename:\n"${fileName}" → "${sanitizedName}.md"\n` +
`Replaced: ${replacedChars}`,
5000
);
// Use the sanitized path for creation
return originalCreate(sanitizedPath, data, options);
}
// Problem 1: Check for malformed bracket filenames (after sanitization)
// This catches edge cases where brackets might still cause issues
if (sanitizedName.startsWith('[') && !sanitizedName.endsWith(']')) {
new Notice(
`❌ Blocked creation of malformed file: "${fileName}"\n` +
`Likely from clicking a broken wikilink with extra bracket.`,
5000
);
throw new Error(`Blocked creation of malformed filename: ${fileName}`);
}
// Problem 2: Check for exact duplicate filenames in other folders
const existingFiles = app.vault.getMarkdownFiles();
const duplicateFiles = existingFiles.filter(file => {
// Exact match: same basename, different path
return file.basename === sanitizedName && file.path !== path;
});
if (duplicateFiles.length > 0) {
const foldersList = duplicateFiles.map(file => {
const folder = file.parent?.name || 'root';
return folder;
}).join(', ');
new Notice(
`❌ Blocked creation of "${sanitizedName}.md"\n` +
`File with exact same name already exists in: ${foldersList}\n` +
`Choose a different filename to avoid link disambiguation.`,
7000
);
throw new Error(`Duplicate filename blocked: ${sanitizedName}.md (exists in: ${foldersList})`);
}
// If all checks pass, create the file with sanitized name
const finalPath = [...pathParts, sanitizedName + '.md'].join('/');
return originalCreate(finalPath, data, options);
};
// Monitor file creation events for additional safety
const handleFileCreate = (file: TFile) => {
if (!isActive) return;
const fileName = file.basename;
// Double-check for bracket issues in case something bypassed our override
if (fileName.startsWith('[') && !fileName.endsWith(']')) {
setTimeout(async () => {
try {
await app.vault.delete(file);
new Notice(`🗑️ Removed malformed file: "${fileName}"`);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Failed to remove malformed file:', error);
}
}, 100);
}
};
// Listen for file creation events
app.vault.on('create', handleFileCreate);
// Cleanup function
const cleanup = () => {
isActive = false;
// Restore original create method
app.vault.create = originalCreate;
app.vault.off('create', handleFileCreate);
};
// Store cleanup function for potential future use
(window as any).noteGuardCleanup = cleanup;
new Notice('🛡️ Note Creation Guard is active (with character sanitization)');
}
Notice I also disallow creation of existing basenames for fear of Obsidian messing up my wikilinks adding path to wikilinks.
If this is not what you want, have this removed by an AI bot.
You need to add this to a startup folder so the plugin can load it as part of Obsidian main app.
Then in a main.ts in the same folder you saved Note-Creation-Guard.ts, you add:
import { invoke as notecreationGuard } from './Note-Creation-Guard.ts';
export async function invoke(app: App): Promise<void> {
await notecreationGuard(app);
}
This way it just gets loaded, does it job and no need to register it as an full-blown plugin and you can freely change or add to rules you want.
On mobile, again, more involved if you have an older device.