Embed Outline
One outline for a note built from embeds, with each chapter's headings under its embed.
Heading Link Sync updates heading links when you retype a heading
Retype a heading and every link to it in your other notes follows, with no rename dialog.
MIT · no telemetry · core features free
- version
- 1.0.0
- downloads
- 2
- review
- Passed
- health
- Excellent
- license
- MIT
- platforms
- Desktop, Mobile
- obsidian
- 1.13.4 or later
Tested on desktop with Obsidian 1.13.4 and 1.14.4.
Directory facts fetched from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.
About Heading Link Sync
You link to headings across notes and you edit headings by typing over them.
Change a heading from Milestones to Roadmap and move the cursor off the line. Every link to Project Plan#Milestones in your other notes now points to Project Plan#Roadmap. You open no menu and see no dialog.
Obsidian already has "Rename this heading" in the editor menu, but it opens a dialog first. When you type over a heading instead, the links to it break without a warning. Heading Link Sync closes that gap.
Play demoFree features
Rename a heading by typing
Edit the heading as normal text. The plugin waits until you move the cursor off the heading line, or until you stop typing for 1.5 seconds. Then it updates the links and shows one notice with an Undo button.
Every wikilink form follows
Links with an alias, embeds, links inside the same note, nested heading paths and wikilinks in properties all follow. Links in tables keep their escaped pipe. Links in fenced code, inline code and math blocks never change.
Ask first
Set "When a heading changes" to "Ask first" if you want to confirm each update. The dialog names the old and new heading and the number of links and notes. Skip leaves every note as it is.
Excluded folders
List folders in the settings, one per line, and notes in them are never changed. Heading edits in those folders don't update other notes. Use it for templates and archives.
The free version updates wikilinks and embeds only, and the notice says how many Markdown links it did not change.
Pro features
Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in all 15 plugins.
Markdown links Pro
Pro also updates Markdown links that point to a heading. It writes spaces as %20, as the app does when it makes a Markdown link. Links in angle brackets keep raw spaces, and fully encoded links stay fully encoded.
Block IDs Pro
Edit a block ID at the end of a paragraph or under a table, and Pro updates every link and embed to it. Block IDs match in any letter case, as in the app.
Preview every change Pro
With Pro, "Ask first" shows each change with the note, the line, the old link and the new link. Clear a check box to keep one link as it is, then select "Apply selected".
Broken heading link report Pro
The command "Find broken heading and block links" lists every link whose note exists but whose heading or block ID doesn't. For each one it suggests the closest heading or block ID in that note. Fix one link, or fix all that have a suggestion.
Set up Heading Link Sync
needs
- Obsidian 1.13.4 or later
steps
Turn on the plugin.
Open a note that other notes link to, and type over the text of one of its headings.
Move the cursor to another line, or stop typing for a moment.
Read the notice, and select Undo if you didn't want the change.
Why this exists
Forum topic 25412 asks for links to headings and blocks to update inline, with no extra dialog window. It has 80 posts, 351 likes and 136 votes.
How it compares
- Rename this heading (core command)
- The core command opens a dialog, and you must remember to use it before you edit. Heading Link Sync works on the edit you already made, and it does nothing when the links already point to the new text.
Questions about Heading Link Sync
How do I rename a heading in Obsidian without breaking links?
Obsidian has the "Rename this heading" command, but it opens a dialog and you must remember to use it before you edit. Heading Link Sync works on the edit you already made. Both can live side by side.
Can I undo a link update?
Yes. Undo puts back the exact text of every changed link, even if you edited other parts of those notes since. The command "Undo the last link update" does the same.
What happens if I stop typing in the middle of a word?
The links follow the half-typed text, then follow again when you finish. Raise the pause in the settings if that happens often. The pause can be 500 to 5000 milliseconds.
What happens when a note has two headings with the same text?
A plain link goes to the first one, and Heading Link Sync follows the same rule. If a rename would send an old link to a different heading, the plugin adds the parent heading to the link. If no such path exists, it leaves the link alone and says so.
Does it react to heading changes that come from sync or git?
No. The plugin acts only on edits that you make in the editor, not on changes from sync tools or git. A change of letter case alone isn't a rename, because every link still works.
Network use
Heading Link Sync makes no network requests until you select "Sign in with GitHub" in the settings. After sign in, it asks GitHub whether your account sponsors theluckystrike, at most once every 7 days or when you select Refresh. It sends no note content, file names or other vault data, and it has no telemetry.
Heading Link Sync 1.0.0, MIT license
MIT · no telemetry · core features free
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