arXiv Papers retrieves and imports research papers into Obsidian. It queries the arXiv API to download PDFs and save metadata directly into your vault, with a built-in OpenAlex fallback for when arXiv rate-limits your IP (common on VPNs).
demo.mp4
Papers has one key function: search for a paper, then create a new note with its metadata. The search query can either be
- arXiv URL: A direct link to the paper (e.g., https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762).
- Title: The paper title, which is used to fuzzy search arXiv and prompt the user to choose among results.
The resulting note metadata includes paper title, authors, publication year, and URL. We can download the PDF and embed it in the note as well.
The plugin isn't in the Obsidian Community catalog yet, so install it manually from source:
git clone https://github.com/Ar4l/obsidian-papers.git
cd obsidian-papers
npm install
npm run buildThat produces main.js. Copy three files into your vault's plugin folder:
cp main.js manifest.json styles.css \
/path/to/your/vault/.obsidian/plugins/arxiv-papers/Then in Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins, toggle "arXiv Papers" off and on (or reload Obsidian). Your existing data.json (settings) is untouched.
When arXiv rate-limits your IP (common on VPNs — arXiv throttles per-IP via Fastly, so a shared egress IP can put you in penalty), the plugin falls back to OpenAlex for paper metadata. Setting your email in Settings → arXiv Papers → Contact email routes you through OpenAlex's polite pool with a higher quota.
node tools/test-arxiv.mjsExercises the rate limiter, timeout, 429 retry, OpenAlex fallback, polite User-Agent, note-title generation, and title-conflict resolution against live arXiv + OpenAlex. Requires network access.
Originally written by William Liang.