Focus Rail

A compact, focus-aware navigation rail for long Obsidian notes.

Focus Rail turns the current Markdown note into a slim interactive map inside the editor. It helps you understand where you are, preview nearby blocks, and jump through long notes without opening a separate outline pane.

Watch the 13-second MP4 demo

Why Focus Rail?

Long notes often have useful structure between headings: paragraphs, task lists, quotes, and code blocks. A normal outline only shows headings, while a scrollbar only shows position. Focus Rail gives you a lightweight spatial map of the whole note.

• See the current viewport range at a glance.
• Hover the rail to preview nearby content.
• Click any marker to jump directly to that block.
• Keep the interface quiet until you need it.
• Use Focus Glow for a softer animated rail, or Classic for a simpler look.

Demo

Hover preview and Focus Glow

Current viewport map

Features

• Slim vertical rail inside the active editor.
• Markers generated from headings, paragraphs, lists, tasks, quotes, and code blocks.
• Equal-spaced compact marker group, centered in the editor.
• Viewport highlighting based on the editor's visible scroll range.
• One exact hover target with a preview tooltip.
• Smooth spectrum-like marker stretching around the pointer.
• Click-to-jump navigation.
• Automatic marker grouping for very long notes.
• Left or right side placement.
• Configurable marker limit, preview length, included block types, and visual style.

Installation

Manual install

1. Download manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css from the latest GitHub release.
2. Copy them into VaultFolder/.obsidian/plugins/focus-rail/.
3. Reload Obsidian.
4. Enable Focus Rail in Settings > Community plugins.

BRAT install

While Focus Rail is in beta, you can install it with BRAT:

1. Install the BRAT plugin.
2. Add this repository: sixsixla/obsidian-focus-rail.
3. Enable Focus Rail in Community plugins.

Usage

Open a long Markdown note in Live Preview or source mode. Focus Rail appears beside the editor when the note is long enough.

Hover the rail to preview nearby blocks. Move along the rail to scan the note. Click a marker to jump to that block.

Settings

• Side: show the rail on the left or right side of the editor.
• Visual style: choose Focus Glow or Classic.
• Only show on editor hover: fade the rail until the editor is hovered.
• Minimum note lines: hide the rail for short notes.
• Maximum markers: cap DOM markers for very long notes.
• Preview length: control tooltip preview text.
• Included block types: choose which Markdown blocks generate markers.

Development

This repository is a plain JavaScript Obsidian plugin. There is no build step.

npm run check

The release assets are:

• manifest.json
• main.js
• styles.css

Release Checklist

1. Update manifest.json, package.json, versions.json, and CHANGELOG.md.
2. Commit the changes.
3. Create a Git tag that exactly matches manifest.json version, for example 0.6.0.
4. Publish a GitHub release with manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css attached.

Obsidian community plugin releases expect the release tag to match the version in manifest.json.

Support

If Focus Rail makes long notes easier to navigate, consider starring the repository. It helps more Obsidian users discover the plugin.