Cite Wide Obsidian Plugin

An Obsidian plugin for rigorous, vault-wide citation management. Converts numeric footnotes into unique hex-codes, logs unique hex codes and their reference information into a base, assures consistent hex codes per reference.

Features

🔢 Unique Hex Code Generation

• Converts numeric citations [1] into unique hex codes [^a1b2c3]
• Consistent algorithm ensures the same reference always generates the same hex code
• Maintains vault-wide consistency across all documents

🌐 Automatic URL Citation Extraction

• Extract properly formatted citations from URLs using Jina.ai Reader API
• Highlights a URL and automatically generates citation in the format:

  [^1b34df]: 2016, May. "[Originals, by Adam Grant | Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/2016/05/08/originals-by-adam-grant/)" schoultz. [Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/).
  

• Updates existing footnotes or creates new ones
• Works without API key, but adding one can avoid rate limits

📚 Citation Management

• Supports multiple citation formats: numeric [1], footnotes [^1], Perplexity-style 1. [https://...]
• Automatic detection and grouping of citation instances
• Intelligent reference source tracking

🎨 Smart Formatting

• Moves citations after punctuation (e.g., text[1]. → text.[1])
• Ensures proper spacing between multiple citations
• Maintains clean, readable document structure

📊 Dataview Integration

• Automatically creates citation files in a dedicated folder for Dataview queries
• Rich metadata including title, author, URL, usage count, and file tracking
• Comprehensive frontmatter for powerful Dataview queries and organization

Command: Convert to Hex Modal

Command: Clean Reference Section

Command: Move Citations after Punctuation

Command: Extract Citation from URL

Getting Started

pnpm install
pnpm add -D esbuild @types/node builtin-modules
pnpm build
pnpm dev

Make it show up in Obsidian

Create a symbolic link into the plugins directory:

Here is my example, but you will need to use your own path structure:

ln -s /Users/mpstaton/code/lossless-monorepo/cite-wide /Users/mpstaton/content-md/lossless/.obsidian/plugins/cite-wide

Configuration

Citations Folder Setup

The plugin automatically creates citation files for Dataview integration:

1. Open Obsidian Settings → Community Plugins → Cite Wide
2. Set your preferred citations folder (default: "Citations")
3. Citation files will be created automatically when you use citation commands

Jina.ai API Key Setup (Optional)

The URL citation extraction feature works without an API key, but adding one can help avoid rate limits:

1. Get a Jina.ai API key from https://jina.ai/
2. Open Obsidian Settings → Community Plugins → Cite Wide
3. Enter your API key in the settings (optional)
4. Save the settings

Note: The feature works perfectly without an API key, but you may encounter rate limits with heavy usage.

Using URL Citation Extraction

1. Highlight a URL in your document
2. Run the "Extract Citation from URL" command (Ctrl/Cmd + P)
3. The URL will be replaced with a citation reference like [^a1b2c3]
4. A properly formatted citation will be added to the Footnotes section

Example:

• URL: https://bobsbeenreading.com/2016/05/08/originals-by-adam-grant/
• Becomes: [^1b34df]: 2016, May. "[Originals, by Adam Grant | Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/2016/05/08/originals-by-adam-grant/)" schoultz. [Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/).

For existing footnotes:

• Before: [^028ee3]: @https://bobsbeenreading.com/2016/05/08/originals-by-adam-grant/
• After: [^028ee3]: 2016, May. "[Originals, by Adam Grant | Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/2016/05/08/originals-by-adam-grant/)" schoultz. [Bob's Books](https://bobsbeenreading.com/).

Dataview Integration

The plugin automatically creates citation files with rich metadata for powerful Dataview queries. Each citation file includes:

Citation File Structure

---
hexId: "a1b2c3"
title: "Article Title"
author: "Author Name"
url: "https://example.com/article"
date: "2024"
source: "example.com"
tags: []
created: "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
lastModified: "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
referenceText: "Full reference text"
usageCount: 1
filesUsedIn: ["path/to/file.md"]
---

Example Dataview Queries

Basic citation table:

TABLE title, author, date, usageCount
FROM "Citations"
SORT created DESC

Most used citations:

TABLE title, author, source, filesUsedIn
FROM "Citations"
WHERE usageCount > 1
SORT usageCount DESC

Citations by author:

TABLE title, date, usageCount, url
FROM "Citations"
WHERE author
SORT author ASC, date DESC

See examples/dataview-citations-examples.md for comprehensive Dataview query examples.