Generate and Diff

Generate and Diff is an Obsidian plugin designed for a specific purpose: to generate notes of your file tree across multiple devices and compare them to identify differences.

I developed this plugin to assist Obsidian users who rely on syncing services in pinpointing files that failed to transfer successfully between devices. This is an opinionated plugin, meaning you cannot change any of the settings or customize it.

Please note that this plugin is designed for troubleshooting purposes only and does not resolve syncing issues.

Using this plugin

The Obsidian Core Plugin Command Palette is required to be enabled to use this plugin.

Generating the Notes

Perform the following steps for each device you wish to generate a note for:

1. Open the command palette and search for Generate.
2. Choose Generate and Diff: Generate File List.
3. The plugin will create a note with your current device's file tree in the top-level folder generate-and-diff. It will create the folder if it doesn't exist.

Running the Comparison

After generating the files for comparison from each device, follow these steps on one device:

1. Open the command palette and search for Compare.
2. Choose Generate and Diff: Compare Files.
3. The plugin will create a note with the differences between each device's file tree in generate-and-diff/results. It will create the folder if it doesn't exist.

Deleting the Directory

To ensure a fresh start for the next comparison, delete the generate-and-diff directory when you have completed your comparison.

Installing the plugin

This plugin needs one more revision before I will add it to the community store. Until then, it can be installed with BRAT.

Install using BRAT

1. Install BRAT from the Obsidian community store.
2. Enable BRAT.
3. Go to BRAT settings
4. Under Beta Plugin Settings select Add Beta plugin.
5. Paste in the link to this repository. https://github.com/sigrunixia/generate-and-diff-in-Obsidian
6. BRAT will say the plugin has been registered.
7. Go to Community Plugins and confirm Generate and Diff is toggled on.

A thanks to

Ebullient, who provided me a space to learn in peace, and a constant source of encouragement.

Javalent, for being willing to answer questions, no matter how mundane.

Github Copilot, for being so good that I had to turn it off so I can actually learn something.