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verify-in-obsidian

Testing & Quality
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Verify an Obsidian plugin change/fix actually works by driving the REAL Obsidian app in a dev vault via the `obsidian` CLI (eval / dev:console / dev:errors / dev:screenshot / command / plugin:reload) and asserting on persisted state — instead of trusting unit tests with mocks (jsdom can't load real Obsidian). Use when asked to verify/QA a fix, confirm a feature works end-to-end, check that something persists, reproduce a user-reported bug in the real app, or validate before merging — especially stateful UI (settings, modals, drag-reorder, lists). FIRST read the repo's AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md for the vault name, plugin id, dev commands, and any QA matrix.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/chhoumann/PodNotes/blob/HEAD/.agents/skills/verify-in-obsidian/SKILL.md

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Verify Obsidian plugin changes in the real app

Vitest/jsdom can't load real Obsidian, so unit tests run against mocks/stubs — they pass while the real flow is broken. For anything stateful (settings, modals, drag-reorder, persistence), "the unit test passes" is necessary but not sufficient. Verify the real app and assert on what actually persisted.

Step 0 — read the repo's own guide first

AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md hold the project specifics: vault name, plugin id, dev-vault path, build/test commands, and the QA matrix. Use those, not guesses. Many Obsidian repos already mandate CLI-verifiable development — follow it.

The obsidian CLI (the house tool for this)

Anything you can do in Obsidian you can do from the CLI, including dev tools.

  • vault=<name> is a PREFIX argument, always first: obsidian vault=dev <command> …. The suffix form (obsidian <command> vault=dev) can resolve to the wrong vault — don't use it.
  • Useful commands: plugin:reload id=<plugin>, command id=<commandId>, eval code=…, dev:debug on|off, dev:console, dev:errors, dev:screenshot, dev:dom, dev:css, dev:cdp, dev:mobile, devtools, tabs, workspace (the repo's guide lists the full set).
  • dev:console / dev:errors are only reliable while debugger capture is attached (obsidian vault=dev dev:debug on).
  • For non-trivial eval code, pass it via a heredoc/file to code=… to avoid shell-quoting corruption.

The loop (evidence-first)

  1. Rebuild the bundle (watch: bun run dev; one-off per the repo's build script). Note the plugin main.js is often symlinked into the dev vault, so a rebuild updates it in place.
  2. Reload the plugin — obsidian vault=dev plugin:reload id=<plugin>. A rebuilt main.js does NOT auto-reload in a running Obsidian. This is the #1 false-negative: never conclude a fix "doesn't work" without confirming the running app loaded the fresh build.
  3. Reproduce / seed deterministic state (edit data.json or use the plugin's data API), then reload so it takes effect.
  4. Trigger the behavior — obsidian vault=dev command id=<…>, or drive the UI via eval (see gotchas). Test BOTH hotkey and direct-command paths when relevant.
  5. Gather evidence — dev:debug on → dev:console clear/dev:errors clear → act → dev:console limit=200, dev:errors, dev:screenshot, and tabs/workspace ids for layout.
  6. Assert on persisted state — read the on-disk data.json (source of truth), not just the UI. Confirm it's plain JSON with no framework artifacts (e.g. Svelte $state Proxy leakage).
  7. Add/adjust a regression test around a CLI-native seam so it's caught without manual steps. Structure code so Obsidian deps are injected behind interfaces; unit tests then swap in adapters / the obsidian stub for the pure logic.
  8. Clean up — remove seeded data + temp files; dev:debug off.

Evidence-first triage (for bug reports)

  • Don't assume the reported bug still exists — it may have been fixed by unrelated changes. Confirm current behavior in the dev vault before touching code.
  • Reproduce under real user conditions, not synthetic ones: the actual plugin settings, workspace/tab layout, and platform — and test BOTH the hotkey and direct-command (command id=…) paths.
  • Capture evidence before AND after the action (dev:console, dev:errors, dev:screenshot, tabs, workspace). For pane/tab layout, workspace … ids is the authoritative evidence; tabs is a quick summary.
  • If you can't reproduce after solid evidence-gathering, report the exact setup you tested and ask for a fresh issue with versions, config, and repro artifacts — don't guess-fix.

Driving UI via eval — gotchas (apply to raw eval and obsidian-e2e alike)

  • eval may return before a long async body finishes. Don't chain await sleep(...) inside one big eval and trust the return. Instead: fast evals (one DOM action + immediate return), and sequence timing outside (shell/Node sleep between calls).
  • Return JSON-serializable values (a string), never a live DOM node/object.
  • Selectors: reuse components' aria-labels — they're stable and intent-named.
  • Stacked modals: query all matches, act on the last (topmost). Count .modal-container.
  • State pollutes across runs: close leftovers first (click all .modal-close-button, close settings).
  • Read results reliably: from a final UI-stable eval, or have the eval write to a vault file and read it from disk.

Committed regression tests (obsidian-e2e, if available)

For flows worth guarding, port the check into the repo's e2e suite: createObsidianClient({ vault }), a plugin handle, acquireVaultRunLock/publishMarker in beforeAll, and restoreData() + lock release in afterAll. The handle exposes reload, data().patch(...), exec(commandId, args), and dev.eval(...). These are local-only (CI has no Obsidian) — keep a CI-runnable unit/component test as the primary guard and use the e2e test as the integration safety net.

The two lessons worth internalizing

  1. Stale loaded code is the most common false negative — reload the plugin before concluding anything about a fix.
  2. Verify the persisted state, not the UI — and add the regression test against a CLI-native seam, because mock-based unit tests will happily pass on a broken real flow.