Hi everyone,
Here’s a bigger update for this thread: Read Only View 1.1.2 is out.
I’ve changed a lot in the plugin recently. I focused on the settings UI, rule management, and read-only behaviour.
The goal was to make the plugin easy to use after installation. Advanced options will still be available if needed.
New Settings UI
The settings screen is now organised around the main workflow:
- Plugin status and active rule count
- Global Enabled toggle
- Read-only mode selection
- Path rules
- Path tester
- Advanced matching/debug options
Less common settings are now in Advanced. This includes glob matching and case sensitivity.
There is also a warning when All Markdown files mode is active, since it affects the entire vault.
Two Read-Only Modes
There are now two explicit modes.
All Markdown Files
This mode keeps every Markdown note in Reading view.
If a file or folder should remain editable, add an Exclude rule and enter its path in the Value field.
For example:
workspace/
Everything else stays protected.
Only Matched Paths
This mode is closer to the original behaviour of the plugin.
Add an Include rule for the folder or note you want to protect.
For example:
Notes/Summaries/
If part of that folder should remain editable, add an `Exclude` rule for it:
Notes/Summaries/Drafts/
Exclude rules always take priority.
Switching modes keeps your rules safe. You can try different setups. If you want, you can switch back later.
Reworked Path Rules
Include and Exclude rules now share the same editor.
Each rule has:
- An enable/disable checkbox
- Include/Exclude type
- One Value field
- Delete action
You can temporarily disable rules without deleting them. This makes it easier to try out different settings.
The Value field can now accept several input types:
- Vault paths
- Obsidian URLs
- Absolute system paths on desktop
A normal vault path still works:
Projects/
You can also paste an Obsidian URL:
obsidian://open?vault=MyVault&file=Projects%2FREADME
Or, on desktop, an absolute system path:
/Users/name/Documents/MyVault/Projects/
The plugin resolves these into paths inside the current vault.
Absolute system paths are not stored. Only the portable vault-relative path is kept. This way, the rule still works on mobile and tablet.
Improved Path Tester
The Path tester has also been reworked.
You can paste a vault path, Obsidian URL, or system path and see:
- What kind of input was detected
- Which vault path it resolves to
- Matching Include rules
- Matching Exclude rules
- Whether the global mode affects the result
- The final Read-only or Editable status
This should make it much easier to understand why a note is or isn’t protected.
Mobile and Tablet Improvements
The settings UI now switches to a compact stacked layout on smaller screens.
I often use Obsidian on my mobile and tablet. I want rule editing, resolved paths, and error messages to be easy to use on those devices too.
Rules made from system paths on desktop still use their saved vault paths on mobile.
Read-Only Behaviour
I’ve also continued improving the actual read-only enforcement.
Protection now uses two layers:
- Blocking editor input in CodeMirror-backed Markdown editors
- Automatically returning protected notes to Reading view
This aims to improve behaviour in Page Preview and Hover Preview. Changing the normal workspace view isn’t always enough.
We welcome your feedback and bug reports. This is especially true for edge cases linked to Obsidian’s internal view behaviour.
The basic idea of the plugin remains the same:
Read Only View is meant to help prevent accidental edits.
It does not change file-system permissions and is not intended to be a security boundary.
The plugin makes no network requests, and all rule matching stays local.
Links
If you try the plugin, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
What do you think of the new settings workflow?
I’m especially interested in feedback from mobile and tablet users, or those with complex Include/Exclude setups.
