DEV Community: Abhishek Sharma

Use your Obsidian vault from Neovim, organized by project

Abhishek Sharma — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:51:00 +0000

I built notes-nvim because I wanted to use my Obsidian vault from inside Neovim without leaving my project.

Obsidian is great for storing notes — graph view, mobile sync, plugin ecosystem. But my actual work happens in Neovim, and every Alt-Tab over to grab something from my vault was a small context-switch tax. Multiply that by a day of deep work and it adds up.

notes-nvim points at any markdown directory — your existing Obsidian vault, a plain ~/notes folder, anything — and exposes it inside Neovim, organized automatically by project. When you're inside my-api, your notes live under my-api/. When you switch to dotfiles, you're looking at dotfiles/. Plain markdown, no custom format, your vault stays portable.

The core idea

Most note plugins go one of two ways:

Project-local — notes live inside the project folder. Clean in theory, but they end up in .gitignore purgatory and scatter across dozens of repos.
Global flat pile — one big notes folder. Works until you have 200 files and no way to filter by context.

notes-nvim takes a third path: all notes live in one central directory (~/notes by default), but they're automatically organized by project root. When you're inside my-api, your notes go to ~/notes/my-api/. When you switch to dotfiles, you're looking at ~/notes/dotfiles/.

~/notes/                ← can be your existing Obsidian vault
  daily/                ← one shared daily log across all projects
    2026-04-26.md
    2026-04-25.md
  my-api/
    _index.md           ← auto-created, links to every note in the project
    auth.md
    api-design.md
  dotfiles/
    _index.md
    zsh.md

You get the organization of project-local notes without the mess of scattering files across repos.

Using it with your existing Obsidian vault

If you already have an Obsidian vault, point notes-nvim straight at it:

{
  "abhsss96/notes-nvim",
  opts = {
    notes_dir = "~/Documents/ObsidianVault",
  },
}

The plugin treats it like any markdown directory. Notes you create from Neovim show up in Obsidian on next open. Notes you create in Obsidian are searchable and openable from Neovim. Your vault stays a vault — Obsidian sync, mobile, and plugins keep working.

Native Obsidian features like [[wikilinks]] and embeds aren't fully resolved inside Neovim yet — that's the next big direction (more on this below).

Features at a glance

Daily notes — :NoteToday opens today's YYYY-MM-DD.md, shared globally across all projects
Project index — _index.md is auto-created per project and backlinks every note you create
Note from visual selection — select code in visual mode, hit <leader>ns, get a new note pre-populated with the snippet, source file, and line range
Link-safe rename — :NoteRename updates every markdown link pointing to the old file
Tag search — find notes by #hashtag or YAML tags: frontmatter
Recent notes — :NoteRecent surfaces notes you visited lately via oldfiles
Multi-picker — works with snacks.nvim, telescope, fzf-lua, or the built-in vim.ui.select
File browser — opens in oil.nvim, nvim-tree, neo-tree, or netrw — whichever you have
snacks.dashboard integration — show recent notes on your startup dashboard
which-key — <leader>n group registered automatically
Health check — :checkhealth notes-nvim tells you what's wired up and what's missing

Installation

lazy.nvim (recommended):

{
  "abhsss96/notes-nvim",
  opts = {
    notes_dir = "~/notes",
  },
}

That's it for a working setup. The plugin auto-detects your fuzzy picker and file browser — no extra wiring required for most setups.

Commands and keymaps

All commands are available as both Ex commands and keymaps under <leader>n:

Command	Keymap	What it does
`:Note [name]`	`<leader>no`	Open or create a note in the current project
`:NoteToday`	`<leader>nt`	Open today's daily note
`:NoteIndex`	`<leader>ni`	Open `_index.md` for the current project
`:NoteFind`	`<leader>np`	Fuzzy-find notes in the current project
`:NoteFindAll`	`<leader>na`	Fuzzy-find notes across all projects
`:NoteRecent`	`<leader>nr`	Browse recently opened notes
`:NoteBrowse`	`<leader>nb`	Open project notes folder in your file browser
`:NoteGrep`	`<leader>ng`	Live-grep inside the current project's notes
`:NoteGrepAll`	`<leader>nG`	Live-grep across all notes
`:NoteFindByTag`	—	Pick a tag and jump to matching notes
`:NoteFromSelection`	`<leader>ns`	Create a note from a visual selection
`:NoteRename [name]`	—	Rename the current note and rewrite all links

The feature I use most: Note from selection

This is the workflow killer that made me build the plugin in the first place.

You're reading through code — maybe debugging, maybe doing a review — and you land on a function you need to reason about later. Select it in visual mode, press <leader>ns, give the note a name, and you get this:

# Authenticate function

Created: 2026-04-26

Source: `src/auth.lua` lines 42–58

local function authenticate(user)
  local token = db.find_token(user.id)
  if not token or token.expires_at < os.time() then
    return nil, "token expired"
  end
  return token
end

Source file, line range, and filetype are all captured automatically. Your future self will know exactly where this came from.

Tag search

notes-nvim understands two tag formats so you don't have to pick one:

YAML frontmatter:

---
tags: [neovim, workflow, auth]
---

Inline hashtags:

Ran into a weird edge case with token refresh. #auth #debugging

:NoteFindByTag scans both formats and gives you a picker of all tags in the current project. :NoteFindByTagAll does the same globally.

Custom templates

New notes are created from a Lua template function, so you can inject whatever frontmatter or boilerplate you want:

require("notes-nvim").setup({
  template = function(ctx)
    return string.format([[
---
title: %s
project: %s
date: %s
tags: []
---

# %s

]], ctx.title, ctx.project, ctx.date, ctx.title)
  end,
})

The ctx table has title, filepath, project, and date — enough to build most templates.

snacks.dashboard integration

If you use snacks.nvim, you can show recent notes right on your startup screen:

require("snacks").setup({
  dashboard = {
    sections = {
      { section = "header" },
      { section = "keys" },
      require("notes-nvim.dashboard").snacks_section({
        limit = 5,
        title = "Recent Notes",
      }),
      { section = "startup" },
    },
  },
})

What I want to build next — and where I'd love input

This is where you come in. notes-nvim is at v1.0 and the core workflow is solid, but there's a lot of room to grow. The biggest direction I'm focused on next:

Deeper Obsidian compatibility — [[wikilink]] resolution and navigation, alias support from frontmatter, embed (![[file]]) handling, and other vault-native features. The goal is for notes-nvim to be a first-class Obsidian companion inside Neovim, not just a markdown reader.

A few other things on the list:

Templates per project — different boilerplate for different project types (e.g., a meeting note template for work projects, a learning note for side projects)
Note linking / backlinks — jump to all notes that link to the current one
Inline preview — float a preview of a linked note on hover
Export — push a note or a project's notes to a markdown directory ready for a static site
Git integration — auto-commit notes directory on save, or show a diff of today's notes
Note archiving — move old notes to an archive without breaking links

If you use both Obsidian and Neovim, I'd especially love to hear what's missing for you. Which Obsidian features do you reach for most that you'd want inside Neovim? And for Neovim users without an Obsidian vault — what does your current note setup look like, and what's the one thing that still makes you reach for an external app?

Drop a comment below — I read all of them and a good chunk of the features above came from conversations with other Neovim users.

Switch Your Samsung M8 Monitor HDMI Inputs from the Terminal (No Remote Needed)

Abhishek Sharma — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 05:28:05 +0000

If you run two machines — a work laptop and a personal desktop — connected to a Samsung M8, you already know the pain: reach for the remote, navigate the OSD menu, switch source, repeat twenty times a day. Here's how to collapse that into a single terminal command using the SmartThings CLI.

The best part: this approach works identically on both macOS and Linux since it's Node.js-based.

How This Works

The Samsung M8 is a SmartThings-connected display. Samsung exposes a first-party CLI — @smartthings/cli — that can send commands to any registered SmartThings device, including input source switching on the M8. No hacking, no reverse engineering, no X11 tools.

What You Need

Samsung M8 monitor connected to your SmartThings account
Node.js (we'll use asdf for version management)
SmartThings CLI installed globally via npm
Your M8's SmartThings device ID

Step 1: Install Node.js via asdf

asdf works the same on macOS and Linux, which is why it's the cleanest approach here.

macOS:

brew install asdf

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install curl git
git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.14.0
echo '. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Then install Node.js:

asdf plugin add nodejs
asdf install nodejs 24.13.0
asdf global nodejs 24.13.0

Verify:

node --version   # v24.13.0

Step 2: Install the SmartThings CLI

npm install -g @smartthings/cli

Verify:

smartthings --version

Step 3: Authenticate with SmartThings

smartthings devices

This will open a browser and ask you to log in with your Samsung account. After authentication, it lists all your SmartThings devices.

Step 4: Find Your M8 Device ID

After authentication, smartthings devices outputs a table. Find your Samsung M8 and copy its device ID — it looks like a UUID:

┌────┬─────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ #  │ Label           │ Device ID                            │
├────┼─────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1 │ Samsung M8      │ xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx │
└────┴─────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────┘

Export it in your ~/.zshrc.local (keep it out of your dotfiles repo since it's device-specific):

export SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID='xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'

Step 5: The Toggle Script

Create ~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Control Samsung M8 monitor input via SmartThings CLI
# Requires: smartthings CLI + SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID env var set in ~/.zshrc.local

_smartthings_cmd() {
  local st_bin="$HOME/.asdf/installs/nodejs/24.13.0/bin/smartthings"
  if [[ -x "$st_bin" ]]; then
    "$st_bin" "$@"
  else
    command smartthings "$@"
  fi
}

_monitor_check() {
  if ! _smartthings_cmd --version &>/dev/null; then
    echo "smartthings CLI not found." >&2
    echo "Run: npm install -g @smartthings/cli" >&2
    return 1
  fi
  if [[ -z "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" ]]; then
    echo "SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID is not set." >&2
    echo "Run: smartthings devices   → find your M8 device ID" >&2
    echo "Then add to ~/.zshrc.local:  export SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID='<id>'" >&2
    return 1
  fi
}

monitor_hdmi1() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  echo "Switching to HDMI 1..."
  _smartthings_cmd devices:commands "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" \
    'main:mediaInputSource:setInputSource("HDMI1")'
}

monitor_hdmi2() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  echo "Switching to HDMI 2..."
  _smartthings_cmd devices:commands "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" \
    'main:mediaInputSource:setInputSource("HDMI2")'
}

monitor_toggle() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  local current
  current=$(_smartthings_cmd devices:status "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" 2>/dev/null \
    | jq -r '.components.main."samsungvd.mediaInputSource".inputSource.value // empty')

  if [[ -z "$current" ]]; then
    echo "Could not read current input source." >&2
    return 1
  fi

  echo "Current input: $current"
  if [[ "$current" == "HDMI1" ]]; then
    monitor_hdmi2
  else
    monitor_hdmi1
  fi
}

# Allow running directly: ./monitor_input.sh [hdmi1|hdmi2|toggle]
case "${1:-}" in
  hdmi1)  monitor_hdmi1 ;;
  hdmi2)  monitor_hdmi2 ;;
  toggle) monitor_toggle ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: $0 [hdmi1|hdmi2|toggle]"
    echo "  or source this file and call monitor_hdmi1 / monitor_hdmi2 / monitor_toggle"
    ;;
esac

A couple of things worth noting in _smartthings_cmd: it tries the asdf-managed binary path first, then falls back to whatever smartthings is on $PATH. This means the script works whether you're using asdf or a global npm install.

Step 6: Wire Up the Aliases

Create ~/dotfiles/zsh/aliases/monitor.sh:

# ── Samsung M8 Monitor Input (SmartThings) ──────────────────────────────────

if command -v smartthings &>/dev/null; then
  source "$HOME/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh" 2>/dev/null

  alias hdmi1='monitor_hdmi1'
  alias hdmi2='monitor_hdmi2'
  alias hdmi-toggle='monitor_toggle'
  alias t='monitor_toggle'
fi

Source it from your .zshrc:

source "$HOME/dotfiles/zsh/aliases/monitor.sh"

The command -v smartthings guard means the aliases are silently skipped on any machine that doesn't have the CLI installed — no errors, no noise.

Usage

hdmi1         # switch to HDMI 1 (machine A)
hdmi2         # switch to HDMI 2 (machine B)
hdmi-toggle   # toggle between whichever is active
t             # same as hdmi-toggle, just shorter

Run it directly without sourcing:

~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh toggle
~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh hdmi1

Workflow in Practice

My setup: work MacBook on HDMI 1, personal Linux desktop on HDMI 2. A single t in the terminal and the monitor switches — no remote, no OSD, no context switch. Since it goes through SmartThings rather than DDC/CI, it works over the network too, so you don't even need to be in the same session as the machine you're switching away from.

Troubleshooting

smartthings CLI not found — Make sure the npm global bin is on your $PATH. Check with npm bin -g and add it to your shell profile if missing.

SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID is not set — Add the export to ~/.zshrc.local (not your dotfiles repo) and re-source your shell.

Could not read current input source — Run smartthings devices:status $SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID manually to inspect the raw JSON. The capability key may differ slightly on older M8 firmware; look for mediaInputSource in the output.

Commands time out — The M8 needs to be on and connected to your Wi-Fi network. Wake it from standby first, or disable deep sleep in the monitor's power settings.

That's it. SmartThings CLI, one script, four aliases, zero remote-reaching.

Full script and aliases live in my dotfiles: github.com/abhsss96/dotfiles — see scripts/monitor_input.sh and zsh/aliases/monitor.sh.

Switch Your Samsung M8 Monitor Inputs from the Terminal (No Remote Needed)

Abhishek Sharma — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 05:22:37 +0000

The best part: this approach works identically on both macOS and Linux since it's Node.js-based.

How This Works

What You Need

Samsung M8 monitor connected to your SmartThings account
Node.js (we'll use asdf for version management)
SmartThings CLI installed globally via npm
Your M8's SmartThings device ID

Step 1: Install Node.js via asdf

asdf works the same on macOS and Linux, which is why it's the cleanest approach here.

macOS:

brew install asdf

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install curl git
git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.14.0
echo '. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Then install Node.js:

asdf plugin add nodejs
asdf install nodejs 24.13.0
asdf global nodejs 24.13.0

Verify:

node --version   # v24.13.0

Step 2: Install the SmartThings CLI

npm install -g @smartthings/cli

Verify:

smartthings --version

Step 3: Authenticate with SmartThings

smartthings devices

This will open a browser and ask you to log in with your Samsung account. After authentication, it lists all your SmartThings devices.

Step 4: Find Your M8 Device ID

After authentication, smartthings devices outputs a table. Find your Samsung M8 and copy its device ID — it looks like a UUID:

┌────┬─────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ #  │ Label           │ Device ID                            │
├────┼─────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1 │ Samsung M8      │ xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx │
└────┴─────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────┘

Export it in your ~/.zshrc.local (keep it out of your dotfiles repo since it's device-specific):

export SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID='xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'

Step 5: The Toggle Script

Create ~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Control Samsung M8 monitor input via SmartThings CLI
# Requires: smartthings CLI + SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID env var set in ~/.zshrc.local

_smartthings_cmd() {
  local st_bin="$HOME/.asdf/installs/nodejs/24.13.0/bin/smartthings"
  if [[ -x "$st_bin" ]]; then
    "$st_bin" "$@"
  else
    command smartthings "$@"
  fi
}

_monitor_check() {
  if ! _smartthings_cmd --version &>/dev/null; then
    echo "smartthings CLI not found." >&2
    echo "Run: npm install -g @smartthings/cli" >&2
    return 1
  fi
  if [[ -z "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" ]]; then
    echo "SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID is not set." >&2
    echo "Run: smartthings devices   → find your M8 device ID" >&2
    echo "Then add to ~/.zshrc.local:  export SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID='<id>'" >&2
    return 1
  fi
}

monitor_hdmi1() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  echo "Switching to HDMI 1..."
  _smartthings_cmd devices:commands "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" \
    'main:mediaInputSource:setInputSource("HDMI1")'
}

monitor_hdmi2() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  echo "Switching to HDMI 2..."
  _smartthings_cmd devices:commands "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" \
    'main:mediaInputSource:setInputSource("HDMI2")'
}

monitor_toggle() {
  _monitor_check || return 1
  local current
  current=$(_smartthings_cmd devices:status "$SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID" 2>/dev/null \
    | jq -r '.components.main."samsungvd.mediaInputSource".inputSource.value // empty')

  if [[ -z "$current" ]]; then
    echo "Could not read current input source." >&2
    return 1
  fi

  echo "Current input: $current"
  if [[ "$current" == "HDMI1" ]]; then
    monitor_hdmi2
  else
    monitor_hdmi1
  fi
}

# Allow running directly: ./monitor_input.sh [hdmi1|hdmi2|toggle]
case "${1:-}" in
  hdmi1)  monitor_hdmi1 ;;
  hdmi2)  monitor_hdmi2 ;;
  toggle) monitor_toggle ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: $0 [hdmi1|hdmi2|toggle]"
    echo "  or source this file and call monitor_hdmi1 / monitor_hdmi2 / monitor_toggle"
    ;;
esac

Step 6: Wire Up the Aliases

Create ~/dotfiles/zsh/aliases/monitor.sh:

# ── Samsung M8 Monitor Input (SmartThings) ──────────────────────────────────

if command -v smartthings &>/dev/null; then
  source "$HOME/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh" 2>/dev/null

  alias hdmi1='monitor_hdmi1'
  alias hdmi2='monitor_hdmi2'
  alias hdmi-toggle='monitor_toggle'
  alias t='monitor_toggle'
fi

Source it from your .zshrc:

source "$HOME/dotfiles/zsh/aliases/monitor.sh"

The command -v smartthings guard means the aliases are silently skipped on any machine that doesn't have the CLI installed — no errors, no noise.

Usage

hdmi1         # switch to HDMI 1 (machine A)
hdmi2         # switch to HDMI 2 (machine B)
hdmi-toggle   # toggle between whichever is active
t             # same as hdmi-toggle, just shorter

Run it directly without sourcing:

~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh toggle
~/dotfiles/scripts/monitor_input.sh hdmi1

Workflow in Practice

Troubleshooting

smartthings CLI not found — Make sure the npm global bin is on your $PATH. Check with npm bin -g and add it to your shell profile if missing.

SMARTTHINGS_MONITOR_ID is not set — Add the export to ~/.zshrc.local (not your dotfiles repo) and re-source your shell.

Commands time out — The M8 needs to be on and connected to your Wi-Fi network. Wake it from standby first, or disable deep sleep in the monitor's power settings.

That's it. SmartThings CLI, one script, four aliases, zero remote-reaching.

Full script and aliases live in my dotfiles: github.com/abhsss96/dotfiles — see scripts/monitor_input.sh and zsh/aliases/monitor.sh.

DEV Community: Abhishek Sharma

Use your Obsidian vault from Neovim, organized by project

The core idea

Using it with your existing Obsidian vault

Features at a glance

Installation

Commands and keymaps

The feature I use most: Note from selection

Tag search

Custom templates

snacks.dashboard integration

What I want to build next — and where I'd love input

Links

Switch Your Samsung M8 Monitor HDMI Inputs from the Terminal (No Remote Needed)

How This Works

What You Need

Step 1: Install Node.js via asdf

Step 2: Install the SmartThings CLI

Step 3: Authenticate with SmartThings

Step 4: Find Your M8 Device ID

Step 5: The Toggle Script

Step 6: Wire Up the Aliases

Usage

Workflow in Practice

Troubleshooting

Switch Your Samsung M8 Monitor Inputs from the Terminal (No Remote Needed)

How This Works

What You Need

Step 1: Install Node.js via asdf

Step 2: Install the SmartThings CLI

Step 3: Authenticate with SmartThings

Step 4: Find Your M8 Device ID

Step 5: The Toggle Script

Step 6: Wire Up the Aliases

Usage

Workflow in Practice

Troubleshooting