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Josh Glazer edited this page Jun 12, 2026 · 1 revision

Configuration

This page covers every setting and setup option for Annotation Manager.

Initial setup

  1. Install Annotation Manager from the Obsidian community plugins browser and enable it.
  2. Open Settings → Annotation Manager.
  3. If you plan to use citations, set the Bib files folder path first (see Bibliography settings below).
  4. Choose where to define your identifier styles — in the settings UI or in a Markdown config file (see Identifier styles below).

Bibliography settings

Open Settings → Annotation Manager → Bibliography.

Setting Description
Bib files folder Vault-relative path to the folder containing .bib files (e.g. Meta/Bibs). Required before citations can be inserted. Supports typeahead — start typing to see matching folders.
Citation color Hex color applied to citation markers {=/{key}/=} including their delimiters. Leave blank to inherit the theme's link color.
Show .bib files in file browser When enabled (default), the plugin programmatically sets Obsidian's Show all file types option so .bib files appear in the file explorer. When disabled, .bib files are hidden via CSS.

Note: Enabling Show .bib files in file browser affects all non-native file types in your vault, not just .bib files. You may need to reopen the file explorer for the change to take effect.

Identifier styles

An identifier is the label inside {={identifier}text=}. You can assign a font color, background color, and font size to any identifier, and optionally link a preferred .bib file to it.

Identifiers can be flat (note) or hierarchical (math/hot). A wildcard (math/*) matches every math/child annotation that does not have its own specific style — specific identifiers always take precedence over wildcards.

Source: Settings UI

Open Settings → Annotation Manager → Config source and select Settings UI.

  • Under Add identifier, type a name (e.g. math/hot or stats) and click Add.
  • Each identifier block exposes:
    • Font size — any CSS value (14px, 1.2em, 0.9rem, large, …) or blank to inherit.
    • Bib file — optional .bib filename to associate with this identifier (see Citations).
    • Font color and Background color — click the color swatch to open the system color picker, or type a hex code (#ff6b6b). A live preview updates as you change values.
    • Remove — deletes the identifier and its style.
  • Changes apply immediately to all open editors.

Source: Config file

Open Settings → Annotation Manager → Config source and select Config file. Specify a vault-relative path for the file (default: OccConfig.md). Use the Browse… button or start typing for typeahead suggestions.

Creating and managing the config file

Button What it does
Create / update config file Generates or overwrites the file from your current in-memory styles. Use this to create the file the first time or to export changes made in the Settings UI.
Reload from file Reads the file immediately and applies its styles. Normally the plugin auto-reloads after an 8-second idle window following a save.

Config file format

The config file is a standard Obsidian note containing a Markdown table. Column order is fixed:

# Annotation Manager Config

Edit this table to define identifier styles. Save the file to apply changes.
Do not use the `#` prefix for hex colors. Font size accepts any CSS value (e.g. `1.1em`, `14px`).
Bib File: optional .bib filename to associate with this identifier (e.g. `ToRead.bib`).

| Identifier | Font Color | Background Color | Font Size | Bib File   | Example |
| ---------- | ---------- | ---------------- | --------- | ---------- | ------- |
| math/hot   | ff6b6b     | fff0f0           | 1.1em     | Math.bib   | <span style="color: #ff6b6b; background-color: #fff0f0; font-size: 1.1em">Example</span> |
| math/*     | 4ecdc4     |                  |           |            | <span style="color: #4ecdc4">Example</span> |
| stats      | ffd93d     | fffbe6           |           | ToRead.bib | <span style="color: #ffd93d; background-color: #fffbe6">Example</span> |

Column rules:

  • Identifier — flat (note) or hierarchical (math/hot or math/*).
  • Font Color / Background Color — six-character hex without the # prefix (ff6b6b, not #ff6b6b). Leave blank to inherit.
  • Font Size — any CSS length or keyword (1.1em, 14px, 0.9rem, large). Leave blank to inherit.
  • Bib File — optional .bib filename (e.g. ToRead.bib). See Citations.
  • Example — auto-generated by the plugin. Do not edit this column manually.

When the file is saved, the plugin reloads styles after an 8-second idle window and updates the Example column automatically.

Interactive color pickers (Reading Mode)

Open your config file in Obsidian's Reading Mode (Ctrl/Cmd + E to toggle). A small color swatch appears next to each hex value in the Font Color and Background Color columns:

  1. Click a swatch — the system color picker opens.
  2. Choose a color and confirm.
  3. The annotation styling updates immediately and the new hex value (and updated Example column) is written back to the markdown file automatically.

Tip: Use Reading Mode as your primary interface for adjusting colors. Switch back to Editing Mode only when you need to add or remove rows, change identifiers, or edit font sizes.

Toggle commands

The following commands are available from the command palette (prefix: Annotation Manager:):

Command What it does
Show annotations sidebar Toggle the annotations sidebar open/closed
Apply identifier to selection Wrap selected text with a chosen identifier, or insert a blank annotation at the cursor
Apply last identifier to selection Re-apply the most recently used identifier
Insert citation Open the two-step citation picker (bib file → entry key)
Toggle bracket/identifier visibility Show or hide {={id} and =} delimiters in Live Preview and Reading View
Toggle bracket/identifier formatting Enable or disable custom colors on the bracket/identifier portion
Toggle text formatting Enable or disable custom colors on annotation text
Toggle citation visibility Show or hide citation markers {=/{key}/=}

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