Obsidian Dotfiles Installer

A powerful and user-friendly tool to automatically install and sync your Obsidian configuration across multiple vaults. This project provides both Bash and PowerShell scripts for cross-platform compatibility.

🚀 Features

• 🔍 System-Wide Discovery: Automatically finds .obsidian directories across your entire system
• 🛡️ Safety First: Creates automatic backups before overwriting existing configurations
• 🎯 Smart Installation: Handles single or multiple vaults intelligently
• 🎨 Beautiful Output: Colored, informative status messages
• ⚡ Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• 🔧 Flexible Options: Multiple command-line options for different use cases
• 📦 Zero Dependencies: No external dependencies required
• 🌐 Flexible Source: Works from any directory with a .obsidian folder

📋 Prerequisites

• Bash (for Linux/macOS) or PowerShell (for Windows)
• Obsidian: At least one Obsidian vault with a .obsidian directory
• Source Directory: A .obsidian directory in the current folder to serve as the source

🛠️ Installation

1. Clone or download this repository to your local machine
2. Navigate to the repository directory
3. Make the bash script executable (Linux/macOS only):

   chmod +x install_obsidian.sh
   

📖 Usage

Basic Usage

Bash (Linux/macOS/Git Bash):

# Search entire system and install
./install_obsidian.sh

# Search only current directory
./install_obsidian.sh -l

# Install to specific path
./install_obsidian.sh /path/to/vault/.obsidian

PowerShell (Windows):

# Search entire system and install
.\install_obsidian.ps1

# Search only current directory
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -Local

# Install to specific path
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -TargetPath "C:\path\to\vault\.obsidian"

Advanced Options

Both scripts support the following options:

Option	Bash	PowerShell	Description
Help	-h, --help	-Help, -h	Show help menu
Version	-v, --version	-Version, -v	Show version info
Force	-f, --force	-Force, -f	Install without confirmation
No Backup	-b, --no-backup	-NoBackup, -b	Skip creating backups
Quiet	-q, --quiet	-Quiet, -q	Suppress non-error output
Local	-l, --local	-Local, -l	Search only current directory
System	-s, --system	-System, -s	Search entire system (default)

Examples

Show help:

./install_obsidian.sh --help
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -Help

Search entire system and force install to all found directories:

./install_obsidian.sh --force
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -Force

Search only current directory:

./install_obsidian.sh --local
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -Local

Install without creating backups:

./install_obsidian.sh --no-backup
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -NoBackup

Quiet mode (suppress output):

./install_obsidian.sh --quiet
.\install_obsidian.ps1 -Quiet

🔧 How It Works

1. Source Validation: Verifies you have a .obsidian directory in the current folder
2. System Discovery: Searches for .obsidian directories across your entire system (or locally if specified)
3. Smart Filtering: Excludes system directories and limits results for performance
4. Backup Creation: Creates timestamped backups of existing configurations
5. Installation: Copies your dotfiles from the source to target directories
6. Verification: Provides status updates and success confirmations

📁 File Structure

GayKarma/
├── .obsidian/                 # Your Obsidian configuration (source)
│   ├── plugins/               # Plugin configurations
│   ├── themes/                # Theme files
│   ├── snippets/              # CSS snippets
│   └── ...                    # Other Obsidian config files
├── install_obsidian.sh        # Bash installer script
├── install_obsidian.ps1       # PowerShell installer script
├── .gitignore                 # Git ignore rules
└── README.md                  # This file

🛡️ Safety Features

• Automatic Backups: Creates backups with timestamps before overwriting
• Validation: Checks for required directories and permissions
• Error Handling: Graceful error handling with informative messages
• Smart Filtering: Excludes system directories to prevent conflicts
• Result Limiting: Prevents overwhelming output with too many results

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Source directory '.obsidian' not found in current directory"

• Ensure you have a .obsidian directory in the current folder
• The script needs this as the source for installation

"No .obsidian directories found"

• Check that your Obsidian vaults have .obsidian directories
• Try using the -Local option to search only the current directory
• Try specifying a target path manually

Permission denied errors

• Make sure the script is executable: chmod +x install_obsidian.sh
• Check file permissions on target directories
• On Windows, run PowerShell as Administrator if needed

System search is slow

• Use the -Local option to search only the current directory
• The system-wide search may take time depending on your system size

Getting Help

1. Show help menu: ./install_obsidian.sh --help
2. Check version: ./install_obsidian.sh --version
3. Review logs: Check the colored output for error messages

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.

Development

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Obsidian Team for creating an amazing note-taking app
• Open Source Community for inspiration and best practices
• GitHub for providing excellent tools and hosting

📞 Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

1. Check the troubleshooting section
2. Review the help menu: ./install_obsidian.sh --help
3. Open an issue on GitHub
4. Check existing issues for similar problems

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Made with ❤️ for the Obsidian community