Editor

Overview

The Editor class provides a common interface for interacting with the Obsidian editor, abstracting away the differences between CodeMirror 5 and CodeMirror 6. This interface allows plugins to manipulate text, selections, and editor state in a version-independent way.

Available since version 0.11.11

Properties

The Editor class exposes all methods through its instance and doesn’t have public properties that need to be accessed directly.

Methods

getDoc()

Returns the document instance (the Editor itself).

returns

Editor

Returns this editor instance

const doc = editor.getDoc();

refresh()

Refreshes the editor display.

editor.refresh();

getValue()

Gets the entire content of the editor.

returns

string

The complete text content of the editor

const content = editor.getValue();
console.log(content);

setValue()

Sets the entire content of the editor.

content

string

required

The new content to set in the editor

editor.setValue('# New Document\n\nThis is new content.');

getLine()

Gets the text at a specific line (0-indexed).

line

number

required

The line number (0-indexed)

returns

string

The text content of the specified line

const firstLine = editor.getLine(0);
const secondLine = editor.getLine(1);

setLine()

Sets the text at a specific line.

number

required

The line number (0-indexed)

text

string

required

The new text for the line

editor.setLine(0, '# Updated Heading');

lineCount()

Gets the total number of lines in the document.

returns

number

The number of lines in the document

const totalLines = editor.lineCount();
console.log(`Document has ${totalLines} lines`);

lastLine()

Gets the index of the last line in the document.

returns

number

The index of the last line (0-indexed)

const lastLineIndex = editor.lastLine();
const lastLineText = editor.getLine(lastLineIndex);

getSelection()

Gets the currently selected text.

returns

string

The selected text

const selectedText = editor.getSelection();
console.log('Selected:', selectedText);

somethingSelected()

Checks if there is any text currently selected.

returns

boolean

True if text is selected, false otherwise

if (editor.somethingSelected()) {
  console.log('Text is selected');
}

getRange()

Gets the text between two positions.

from

EditorPosition

required

The starting position

EditorPosition

required

The ending position

returns

string

The text between the two positions

const text = editor.getRange(
  { line: 0, ch: 0 },
  { line: 2, ch: 10 }
);

replaceSelection()

Replaces the currently selected text.

replacement

string

required

The text to replace the selection with

origin

string

Optional origin identifier for the change

editor.replaceSelection('**bold text**');

replaceRange()

Replaces text in a specific range.

replacement

string

required

The replacement text

from

EditorPosition

required

The starting position

EditorPosition

The ending position (optional)

origin

string

Optional origin identifier for the change

editor.replaceRange(
  'new text',
  { line: 0, ch: 0 },
  { line: 0, ch: 8 }
);

getCursor()

Gets the current cursor position.

side

'from' | 'to' | 'head' | 'anchor'

Which side of the selection to get (optional)

returns

EditorPosition

The cursor position

const cursor = editor.getCursor();
console.log(`Line: ${cursor.line}, Column: ${cursor.ch}`);

listSelections()

Gets all current selections.

returns

EditorSelection[]

Array of all current selections

const selections = editor.listSelections();
selections.forEach(sel => {
  console.log('Selection:', sel.anchor, sel.head);
});

setCursor()

Sets the cursor position.

pos

EditorPosition | number

required

The position to set the cursor to, or a line number

number

The column number (if pos is a line number)

// Set cursor to line 5, column 10
editor.setCursor({ line: 5, ch: 10 });

// Alternative syntax
editor.setCursor(5, 10);

setSelection()

Sets a selection between two positions.

anchor

EditorPosition

required

The anchor position (start of selection)

head

EditorPosition

The head position (end of selection, optional)

editor.setSelection(
  { line: 0, ch: 0 },
  { line: 2, ch: 5 }
);

setSelections()

Sets multiple selections at once.

ranges

EditorSelectionOrCaret[]

required

Array of selection ranges

main

number

Index of the main selection (optional)

Available since version 0.12.11

editor.setSelections([
  { anchor: { line: 0, ch: 0 }, head: { line: 0, ch: 5 } },
  { anchor: { line: 2, ch: 0 }, head: { line: 2, ch: 8 } }
]);

focus()

Gives focus to the editor.

editor.focus();

blur()

Removes focus from the editor.

editor.blur();

hasFocus()

Checks if the editor currently has focus.

returns

boolean

True if the editor has focus

if (editor.hasFocus()) {
  console.log('Editor is focused');
}

getScrollInfo()

Gets the current scroll position.

returns

{ top: number, left: number }

Object containing scroll position

const scroll = editor.getScrollInfo();
console.log(`Scroll: ${scroll.top}, ${scroll.left}`);

scrollTo()

Scrolls the editor to a specific position.

number | null

Horizontal scroll position (null to keep current)

number | null

Vertical scroll position (null to keep current)

// Scroll to top
editor.scrollTo(null, 0);

// Scroll to specific position
editor.scrollTo(0, 100);

scrollIntoView()

Scrolls the editor to make a specific range visible.

range

EditorRange

required

The range to scroll into view

center

boolean

Whether to center the range in the viewport (optional)

Available since version 0.13.0

editor.scrollIntoView({
  from: { line: 10, ch: 0 },
  to: { line: 10, ch: 10 }
}, true);

undo()

Undoes the last change.

editor.undo();

redo()

Redoes the last undone change.

editor.redo();

exec()

Executes a built-in editor command.

command

EditorCommandName

required

The command to execute

Available since version 0.12.2

Available commands:

goUp, goDown, goLeft, goRight
goStart, goEnd
goWordLeft, goWordRight
indentMore, indentLess
newlineAndIndent
swapLineUp, swapLineDown
deleteLine
toggleFold, foldAll, unfoldAll

editor.exec('indentMore');
editor.exec('toggleFold');

transaction()

Executes a transaction containing multiple changes.

EditorTransaction

required

The transaction to execute

origin

string

Optional origin identifier

Available since version 0.13.0

editor.transaction({
  changes: [
    { text: 'new text', from: { line: 0, ch: 0 } }
  ]
});

wordAt()

Gets the word at a specific position.

pos

EditorPosition

required

The position to check

returns

EditorRange | null

The range of the word, or null if no word found

const cursor = editor.getCursor();
const wordRange = editor.wordAt(cursor);
if (wordRange) {
  const word = editor.getRange(wordRange.from, wordRange.to);
  console.log('Current word:', word);
}

posToOffset()

Converts an EditorPosition to a character offset.

pos

EditorPosition

required

The position to convert

returns

number

The character offset

const offset = editor.posToOffset({ line: 2, ch: 5 });
console.log('Offset:', offset);

offsetToPos()

Converts a character offset to an EditorPosition.

offset

number

required

The character offset to convert

returns

EditorPosition

The corresponding position

const pos = editor.offsetToPos(100);
console.log(`Line: ${pos.line}, Column: ${pos.ch}`);

processLines()

Processes lines in the document, reading and optionally modifying them.

read

(line: number, lineText: string) => T | null

required

Function to read/analyze each line

write

(line: number, lineText: string, value: T | null) => EditorChange | void

required

Function to optionally modify lines based on read results

ignoreEmpty

boolean

Whether to skip empty lines (optional)

Available since version 0.13.26

// Example: Add line numbers to non-empty lines
editor.processLines(
  (line, text) => text.length > 0 ? line : null,
  (line, text, lineNum) => {
    if (lineNum !== null) {
      return {
        text: `${lineNum + 1}. ${text}`,
        from: { line, ch: 0 },
        to: { line, ch: text.length }
      };
    }
  },
  true
);

EditorPosition

Represents a position in the editor.

interface EditorPosition {
  line: number;  // 0-indexed line number
  ch: number;    // 0-indexed character position
}

EditorRange

Represents a range in the editor.

interface EditorRange {
  from: EditorPosition;
  to: EditorPosition;
}

EditorSelection

Represents a selection in the editor.

interface EditorSelection {
  anchor: EditorPosition;
  head: EditorPosition;
}

Examples

Getting the Active Editor

const activeView = this.app.workspace.getActiveViewOfType(MarkdownView);
if (activeView) {
  const editor = activeView.editor;
  // Use editor methods here
}

Inserting Text at Cursor

const cursor = editor.getCursor();
editor.replaceRange('Inserted text', cursor);

Wrapping Selected Text

if (editor.somethingSelected()) {
  const selection = editor.getSelection();
  editor.replaceSelection(`**${selection}**`);
}

Working with Multiple Lines

const lineCount = editor.lineCount();
for (let i = 0; i < lineCount; i++) {
  const lineText = editor.getLine(i);
  if (lineText.startsWith('TODO:')) {
    console.log(`Found TODO on line ${i}: ${lineText}`);
  }
}

Core

Vault & Files

Workspace

Metadata

UI Components

Form Components

Canvas

Events & Utilities

​Overview

​Properties

​Methods

​getDoc()

​refresh()

​getValue()

​setValue()

​getLine()

​setLine()

​lineCount()

​lastLine()

​getSelection()

​somethingSelected()

​getRange()

​replaceSelection()

​replaceRange()

​getCursor()

​listSelections()

​setCursor()

​setSelection()

​setSelections()

​focus()

​blur()

​hasFocus()

​getScrollInfo()

​scrollTo()

​scrollIntoView()

​undo()

​redo()

​exec()

​transaction()

​wordAt()

​posToOffset()

​offsetToPos()

​processLines()

​Related Types

​EditorPosition

​EditorRange

​EditorSelection

​Examples

​Getting the Active Editor

​Inserting Text at Cursor

​Wrapping Selected Text

​Working with Multiple Lines

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Overview

Properties

Methods

getDoc()

refresh()

getValue()

setValue()

getLine()

setLine()

lineCount()

lastLine()

getSelection()

somethingSelected()

getRange()

replaceSelection()

replaceRange()

getCursor()

listSelections()

setCursor()

setSelection()

setSelections()

focus()

blur()

hasFocus()

getScrollInfo()

scrollTo()

scrollIntoView()

undo()

redo()

exec()

transaction()

wordAt()

posToOffset()

offsetToPos()

processLines()

Related Types

EditorPosition

EditorRange

EditorSelection

Examples

Getting the Active Editor

Inserting Text at Cursor

Wrapping Selected Text

Working with Multiple Lines