Settings
All settings live under Settings → Fileclass.
Watch: Install and set up Fileclass #001 · 1:51 · on YouTubeCore
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Class files folder | Folder holding your fileClass notes. Any note here defines a fileClass (its name = the filename). |
| fileClass alias | Frontmatter key that binds a note to its fileClass(es). Default fileClass. |
| Global fileClass | A baseline carried by every note, on top of whatever classes it names itself; the note’s own class wins any key both declare. Not applied to the class folder, whose notes declare classes rather than use them. Leave empty to disable. |
| Bases folder | Where generated <fileClass>.base files are written. |
| fileClass icon | Default icon for a fileClass without an explicit icon (each fileClass can override it, with a live preview + Lucide picker in its options). |
| Default date format | moment.js format a Date field is written in when it declares no format of its own (e.g. DD/MM/YYYY). Blank stores the ISO form YYYY-MM-DD. |
| Default datetime format | Same, for DateTime fields. Blank stores YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm. |
| Default time format | Same, for Time fields. Blank stores HH:mm. |
Each of the three shows a live sample — now → 30/07/2026 — and warns about
letters moment doesn’t know, so a format is judged on what it writes.
Behavior
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Validation columns | Adds valid ✓/✗ and errors columns to the editable fileclass-table view, flagging notes that violate their schema. On by default. |
| Canvas fields engine | Auto-fills Canvas/CanvasGroup/CanvasGroupLink fields from .canvas files. This is the one surface that writes frontmatter automatically. |
| Context menu entries | Adds Fileclass actions to the file and editor right-click menus, and Create a class on the class-files folder. |
| Insert fields when adding a class | Binding a fileClass to a note adds its missing fields to the frontmatter straight away, instead of leaving you to run Insert missing fields. On by default. |
| Reorder frontmatter when inserting fields | After Insert missing fields, puts the note’s properties back in the order its class declares them. Off by default: it rewrites the whole frontmatter block, so it touches lines you did not ask to edit and shows up in a git diff. The command Reorder frontmatter to match the class does it on demand whatever this says. |
| Keys your classes don’t declare | Where a reorder puts properties no class knows about — tags, aliases, cssclasses, the fileClass key, anything hand-written. First (the default, where those already sit), Last, or Where they are — the last one moves only the keys your class declares, into the slots they already occupied. |
| Property editor buttons | Shows a per-field edit button (its type icon) in Obsidian’s native Properties editor, for typed input — and, on the fileClass row, a wrench opening that class’s schema. |
| Movable modals (experimental) | Drag a modal by its title, offset each modal opening over another, and dim the app once instead of once per modal. A stack stays last-in-first-out for the mouse as it already is for the keyboard: the topmost modal is the one that answers, the ones below are dimmed and inert, and they can still be dragged by their title. Off by default: it works by neutralising Obsidian’s own full-window modal backdrops, a surface every plugin shares. Desktop only, and while modals are stacked an outside click closes nothing (Escape still closes the top one). |
| Open the fields when creating a note | After create a note with a class, open its fields modal so the values can be filled straight away. The fields themselves are always inserted. On by default. |
| Schema log | Appends to <class folder>/fileclass.log whatever leaves a fileClass pointing at something that moved — a renamed values note, base, canvas, or a claimed folder — with a timestamp and what each reference loses. See when something moves. Fileclass never edits a definition itself. On by default; the notices stay either way. |
| Schema log size | Entries the live log keeps before rolling over to <class folder>/.logs/archive_NNNN.log. 500 by default; 0 lets the file grow. |
| Archives kept | How many rolled-over log files to keep. 5 by default; 0 discards the overflow instead. |
| Property section actions | Adds + Add a class beside Obsidian’s + Add property, plus + Insert N missing fields when the note is missing any and ⇅ Reorder properties when they are out of their class’s order. On by default. |
Indicators
A clickable icon next to a note’s name that opens its fields (or, on a fileClass note, its schema editor). Each surface has its own toggle:
| Setting | Surface |
|---|---|
| Tab header, File explorer, Bookmarks | next to the file name |
| Backlinks pane, Bases first column | next to each link |
| Internal links | after each link, in reading view and Live Preview |
Indicators are best-effort DOM decorations: if a surface changes in a future Obsidian version the icon simply stops appearing there — the modal, menus, and commands keep working.