ZettelFlow¶
ZettelFlow turns an Obsidian Canvas into a guided note-creation wizard. Draw your workflow as a graph, configure each step with actions, and the plugin walks you through it every time you want to create a note — filling in frontmatter, body content, dates, and more automatically.
Quick start¶
Fastest path — let ZettelFlow set things up for you:
- Install from the Obsidian community plugin browser.
- Click the ZettelFlow ribbon icon (or run Open ZettelFlow from the command palette).
- Click Start with my own idea and choose a note or capture one real idea.
- State your question, inspect selected material, write your response or uncertainty, and Save progress.
Purpose-led Cultivate needs no Canvas setup or installation. The existing Systems Gallery remains optional for ready-to-run workflows, including the introductory tour.
Manual path — build your own flow from scratch:
- Create a
.canvasfile anywhere in your vault. - In Settings → ZettelFlow, point New notes canvas at that file.
- Add a note file to the canvas, right-click → Create managed step, enable Root.
- Click the ribbon icon to run the wizard.
Prefer a visual walkthrough? See Getting started.
Jump straight to what you need:
- Actions reference — form actions + knowledge actions
- Conditional edges — branch flows at runtime
- Dynamic variables —
{{title}},{{frontmatter.*}},{{canvas.name}} - .zftemplate — export and share complete flows
- Vault hooks — automate note creation on folder/property events
How it works¶
Canvas file ZettelFlow wizard Note in your vault
(your workflow) ──► (step-by-step UI) ──► (frontmatter + body merged)
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Canvas | A native Obsidian .canvas file. Each node is a step; arrows define execution order. |
| Step | A note file configured with a root toggle, target folder, optional flag, body template, and one or more actions. |
| Action | An interactive element in the wizard (prompt, calendar, selector, tags, script…) that contributes a property or content to the built note. |
| Root | The node(s) the wizard presents first as entry points. |
| Conditional edge | An arrow labelled if: <expression> that the wizard skips if the condition is false. |
Feature overview¶
| Feature | Docs |
|---|---|
| Immersive Knowledge Galaxy 3D graph | Showcase → · 3D graph → |
| Cinematic guided tour | Showcase → |
| Share your universe (graph export) | Showcase → |
| Before/after idea card | Showcase → · Evolution timeline → |
| Agency review & index | Showcase → · Cognitive agency → |
| Guided first-run with example flow | Getting started → |
| Systems Gallery (one-click) | Systems gallery → |
| Built-in actions (form + knowledge) | Actions → |
| Canvas-native workflow engine | Architecture overview → |
Conditional edges (if: expr) | Conditional edges → |
| Dynamic template variables | Actions & note builder → |
| Live preview in step builder | Actions & note builder → |
| Vault hooks (folder / property) | Vault hooks → |
| Community templates browser | Community gallery → |
.zftemplate export/import | .zftemplate schema → |
| Notes history sidebar | Architecture overview → |
| Active flow status widget | Architecture overview → |