Deploy the Obsidian plugins¶

This guide deploys Bryan's custom Bob plugins from a bob-plugins checkout into a vault, then reloads Obsidian so the desktop review surface matches the checkout.

Before you start¶

Install the CLI and choose a vault with -b or BOB_DIR. Clone bob-plugins and keep that checkout as the source of truth. Do not edit copies under the vault's .obsidian/plugins/ folder; the next sync overwrites them. Sync copies plugin files. It does not enable plugins or create dashboard notes.

1. List repo versions against the vault¶

bob plugins list --repo /home/alex/src/bob-plugins -b /path/to/vault

Output

Bob Plugins · 7 · /home/alex/src/bob-plugins
PLUGIN                    VERSION  SYNC     VAULT          DESCRIPTION
bob-ledger-tools          1.0.0    missing  not installed  …
bob-navigation-hotkeys    2.46.1   missing  not installed  …
7 not installed

Confirm each plugin row and the footer counts. list exits 0 when plugins are missing or drifting; those are reportable states.

2. Preview the sync¶

bob plugins sync --repo /home/alex/src/bob-plugins -b /path/to/vault --dry-run

The dry run prints the same diffs and skip decisions as a real sync, with would copy wording, and writes nothing. Pass --repo whenever you are inside a different bob-plugins checkout; a bare sync from a foreign checkout refuses instead of deploying the wrong tree.

3. Deploy and reload¶

bob plugins sync --repo /home/alex/src/bob-plugins -b /path/to/vault

Confirm copied or up to date for each managed file. Enable Bob Ledger Tools and Bob Navigation Hotkeys in Obsidian's Community plugins settings, then reload Obsidian. Open a task note and confirm the task card renders.

If it goes wrong¶

Uncommitted vault edits are skipped with skipped <file> (dirty in vault; use -F/--force). Read the printed diff, commit or discard the vault change, and rerun the sync. Do not make --force a habit. A refused foreign checkout exits 2 and prints the --repo command to run instead.