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
=== "New to ZettelFlow?"
**Fastest path — let ZettelFlow set things up for you:**
1. Install from the Obsidian community plugin browser.
2. Click the ZettelFlow ribbon icon (or run *Open ZettelFlow* from the command palette).
3. On the welcome screen, click **Create example flow** — ZettelFlow creates a sample canvas and step template, sets it as your flow canvas, and opens it.
4. Run the ribbon icon again to try your first wizard.
**Manual path — build your own flow from scratch:**
1. Create a `.canvas` file anywhere in your vault.
2. In **Settings → ZettelFlow**, point *New notes canvas* at that file.
3. Add a note file to the canvas, right-click → *Create managed step*, enable **Root**.
4. Click the ribbon icon to run the wizard.
Prefer a visual walkthrough? See [Getting started](development/getting-started.md).
=== "Already using ZettelFlow?"
Jump straight to what you need:
- [Actions reference](actions/Prompt.md) — all 11 built-in actions
- [Conditional edges](architecture/conditional-edges.md) — branch flows at runtime
- [Dynamic variables](architecture/actions-and-note-builder.md) — `{{title}}`, `{{frontmatter.*}}`, `{{canvas.name}}`
- [.zftemplate](architecture/zftemplate-schema.md) — export and share complete flows
- [Vault hooks](vault-hooks/OnCreate.md) — 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 |
|---|---|
| Guided first-run with example flow | Getting started → |
| Systems Gallery (one-click) | Systems gallery → |
| 11 built-in actions | 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 & backend → |
.zftemplate export/import |
.zftemplate schema → |
| Notes history sidebar | Architecture overview → |
| Active flow status widget | Architecture overview → |