Obsidian/Q/If I'm using dotfiles, can I set a global hotkey for Obsidian actions like copy file path and copy link to heading?

• If I'm using dotfiles, can I set a global hotkey for Obsidian actions like copy file path and copy link to heading?

  • My Answer

    • for copy link to heading you can use Obsidian/Plugin/Easy Copy with CMD+OPT+C (my user-defined preference)
    • .obsidian/hotkeys.json lets you customize it in dotfiles.
    • this isn't sufficiently answered yet.
      • unclear:
        • how to reference a plugin command in a hotkeys.json file
        • whether global hotkeys can be registered and managed in a dotfiles repo (see Obsidian/Q/Does Obsidian have a global config location like XDG home for cross-vault defaults, and do vault-local settings override them? )

  • AI Answer

    • Short answer: Yes — two distinct things both go by "global hotkey" here, and dotfiles cover both paths.

    • 1. Managing in-app Obsidian hotkeys via dotfiles

      • Obsidian stores all assigned hotkeys in .obsidian/hotkeys.json inside the vault root. You can track this file with chezmoi, GNU Stow, or any symlink-based dotfiles manager.
      • Format is JSON: each entry maps a command ID to an array of key combos (modifiers + key).
      • Caveat: this is vault-local, not global to the OS. These hotkeys only fire when Obsidian is the focused app. If you want the same bindings on every machine, tracking .obsidian/hotkeys.json in your dotfiles repo is the right move.
      • Example structure:
        • json

          {
            "editor:copy-path": [{"modifiers": ["Mod", "Shift"], "key": "P"}]
          }

    • 2. System-wide (global) hotkeys — fire even when Obsidian is not focused

      • obsidian-global-hotkeys plugin (community plugin, mjessome/obsidian-global-hotkeys) — the most direct option. In its settings panel you enter a system-wide key combo and map it to any Obsidian command ID. The plugin config is stored in .obsidian/plugins/obsidian-global-hotkeys/data.json, which you can also track in dotfiles.
      • Hammerspoon (~/.hammerspoon/init.lua) — classic macOS dotfile. Bind a key combo to an hs.urlevent.openURL("obsidian://...") call or to an hs.application.find("Obsidian"):activate() + hs.eventtap sequence. Hammerspoon's Lua config is a first-class dotfile.
      • Karabiner-Elements (~/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json) — remap a key to an unused function key (e.g. F18), then pick that up in Hammerspoon or as an Obsidian hotkey. Config is a dotfile.
      • Raycast / Alfred — quicklinks using obsidian:// URIs; Raycast dotfiles via raycast export.

    • Recommended approach for most dotfiles users

      • 1. Track .obsidian/hotkeys.json with your dotfiles manager — covers in-app bindings across machines.
      • 2. Install obsidian-global-hotkeys and track .obsidian/plugins/obsidian-global-hotkeys/data.json — adds system-wide reach with no extra tooling.
      • 3. If you already use Hammerspoon, add init.lua rules instead — keeps everything in one Lua file.

    • Sources

      • GitHub — obsidian-global-hotkeys (mjessome)
      • Obsidian Help — Hotkeys
      • Obsidian Forum — Is there anyway to activate Obsidian system globally by some hotkey?
      • Hammerspoon — A Better, Better Hyper Key