fix: restore compatibility with Templater 2.18.0

[chhoumann]

Summary

Fixes Capture Choices crashing with Cannot convert undefined or null to object when Templater 2.18.0 is installed.

Closes #1085
Closes #1086

Root Cause

Templater 2.18.0 (commit db9a91e) added frontmatter merging support for tp.file.include. This introduced a breaking change to the parse_template API:

Before (2.17.x):

type RunningConfig = {
    template_file?: TFile;
    target_file: TFile;
    run_mode: RunMode;
    active_file?: TFile | null;
};

After (2.18.0):

type RunningConfig = {
    template_file?: TFile;
    target_file: TFile;
    run_mode: RunMode;
    active_file?: TFile | null;
    frontmatter: Record<string, unknown>;  // NEW - required
};

QuickAdd called parse_template with:

{ target_file: targetFile, run_mode: 4 }

Templater 2.18.0's parse_template now executes:

merge_objects(frontmatter, config.frontmatter);  // config.frontmatter = undefined

And merge_objects immediately calls:

if (Object.keys(source).length === 0) return;  // Object.keys(undefined) → throws

Fix

1. Prefer create_running_config() when available (Templater 2.18.0+). This factory method returns a properly initialized config with all required fields, including any future additions.

2. Fallback to manual config with frontmatter: {} for older Templater versions that don't expose create_running_config.

const createConfig = templater.create_running_config;
const config =
    typeof createConfig === "function"
        ? createConfig.call(templater, undefined, targetFile, 4)
        : { target_file: targetFile, run_mode: 4, frontmatter: {} };

Why This Is Safe

• Empty frontmatter: {} matches Templater's internal default from create_running_config()
• merge_objects({}, source) is a no-op (returns immediately when source is empty)
• Template content flows through unchanged; no data modification occurs
• The fix actually enables Templater 2.18.0's new frontmatter merging feature for tp.file.include in QuickAdd templates

Compatibility

Templater Version	Behavior
< 2.18.0	Uses fallback config (no create_running_config)
2.18.0+	Uses create_running_config() for proper initialization
Future	create_running_config() handles new required fields automatically

Test Plan

• Capture Choice with simple format works
• Capture Choice with Templater syntax works
• Template Choice works
• tp.file.include in QuickAdd templates merges frontmatter correctly
• Works with Templater < 2.18.0 (if available for testing)

---

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features
  • Enhanced template plugin API to support frontmatter data in templates
  • Introduced improved configuration system for template processing with better forward compatibility

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Project	Deployment	Review	Updated (UTC)
quickadd	Ready	Preview	Jan 28, 2026 3:18pm

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR updates QuickAdd's Templater integration to support the new API introduced in Templater v2.18.0. The parse_template method signature is extended to accept an optional frontmatter field, and a new create_running_config hook is leveraged when available to construct the config object for template parsing.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Templater API compatibility src/utilityObsidian.ts	Extended TemplaterPluginLike.templater.parse_template to accept optional frontmatter?: Record<string, unknown>. Added new optional hook create_running_config that returns config with frontmatter. Updated templaterParseTemplate to call create_running_config if available, else fall back to manual config with frontmatter: {}.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Poem

🐰 A templater dance, now in perfect sync,
With frontmatter dreams and modal forms that don't break,
QuickAdd and Templater, hand in paw we ink,
Compatibility fixed, for goodness sake! 🌟

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 50.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the main change—restoring compatibility with Templater 2.18.0—which matches the primary objective of the PR.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The changes implement the required fix for issues #1085 and #1086 by updating parse_template to accept frontmatter and providing fallback config initialization.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes are directly related to resolving the Templater 2.18.0 compatibility issue; no out-of-scope modifications detected.
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.

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✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

---

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[devin-ai-integration]

✅ Devin Review: No Issues Found

Devin Review analyzed this PR and found no potential bugs to report.

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[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 2.10.0 🎉

The release is available on GitHub release

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