Obsidian Enhancing Export

When defining export templates or commands, you can use several built-in variables to reference file paths and metadata. These variables are resolved at runtime.

Output Path Variables

• ${outputDir}: The directory where the output will be saved.
• ${outputPath}: The full path to the output file.
• ${outputFileName}: The name of the output file without the extension.
• ${outputFileFullName}: The name of the output file including the extension.

Current File Variables

• ${currentDir}: The directory of the current Obsidian file.
• ${currentPath}: The full path to the current Obsidian file.
• ${currentFileName}: The name of the current file without the extension.
• ${currentFileFullName}: The name of the current file including the extension.

Other Variables

• ${attachmentFolderPath}: Path to the attachments folder.
• ${pluginDir}: The directory where the plugin is installed.
• ${luaDir}: The directory for Lua scripts.
• ${vaultDir}: The root directory of the Obsidian vault.
• ${embedDirs}: Directories used for embedding.
• ${env}: A record of environment variables.
• ${options}: A record of custom options.

When using custom export commands or Pandoc templates, you can use specific variables to dynamically reference file paths, directories, and metadata. These variables are injected into the command template before execution.

Output-related variables

• ${outputDir}: The directory where the exported file will be saved.
• ${outputPath}: The full path to the exported file.
• ${outputFileName}: The filename without the extension.
• ${outputFileFullName}: The filename including the extension.

File-related variables

• ${currentDir}: The directory containing the current Obsidian file.
• ${currentPath}: The full path to the current Obsidian file.
• ${currentFileName}: The basename of the current file.
• ${currentFileFullName}: The full name of the current file (including extension).

Environment and Metadata

• ${vaultDir}: The root directory of the Obsidian vault.
• ${attachmentFolderPath}: The path to the folder where attachments are stored.
• ${embedDirs}: A delimited list of directories containing files embedded in the current note.
• ${metadata}: The frontmatter object of the current file.
• ${options}: The options object passed to the export function.
• ${fromFormat}: The source format (e.g., markdown or markdown+wikilinks_title_after_pipe).

The UniversalExportPluginSettings interface defines the global configuration for the plugin. Key settings include:

• pandocPath: Path to the Pandoc executable (supports platform-specific values).
• defaultExportDirectoryMode: Determines how the export directory is chosen. Options: 'Auto', 'Same', or 'Custom'.
• customDefaultExportDirectory: The directory used when mode is set to 'Custom'.
• env: Environment variables used during export (supports platform-specific values).
• items: An array of ExportSetting objects defining specific export commands.
• showOverwriteConfirmation: Whether to prompt before overwriting existing files.
• showExportProgressBar: Whether to display a progress bar during export.
• openExportedFile: Whether to open the exported file immediately after completion.
• openExportedFileLocation: Whether to open the folder containing the exported file after completion.

When defining custom export commands, you can use ${variable} syntax to dynamically inject paths and metadata. This allows you to control output locations and file naming based on the current file or vault context.

Available Variables

When defining a Custom export command, you can use the following variables to dynamically inject paths and filenames. You can also reference custom variables defined in your file's YAML Front Matter using the ${metadata.keyword} syntax.

| Variable Name | Value Description |
| --- | --- |
| `${outputPath}` | The full export path (e.g., `/User/aaa/Documents/test.pdf`) |
| `${outputDir}` | The directory of the export (e.g., `/User/aaa/Documents`) |
| `${outputFileName}` | The filename without extension (e.g., `test`) |
| `${outputFileFullName}` | The full filename with extension (e.g., `test.pdf`) |
| `${currentPath}` | The full path of the current file (e.g., `/User/aaa/Documents/readme.md`) |
| `${currentDir}` | The directory of the current file (e.g., `/User/aaa/Documents`) |
| `${currentFileName}` | The current filename without extension (e.g., `readme`) |
| `${currentFileFullName}` | The current filename with extension (e.g., `readme.md`) |
| `${vaultDir}` | The current Obsidian vault directory |
| `${attachmentFolderPath}` | The Obsidian attachment directory |
| `${metadata.keyword}` | A custom variable defined in YAML Front Matter (where `keyword` is the key) |