Initial release: Canvas MindMap plugin for Obsidian

Author: mobench

.github/workflows/release.yml

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+name: Release Obsidian plugin
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "*"
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Use Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: "18.x"
+
+      - name: Build plugin
+        run: |
+          npm install
+          npm run build
+
+      - name: Create release
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          tag="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          gh release create "$tag" \
+            --title="$tag" \
+            --draft \
+            main.js manifest.json styles.css

.gitignore

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+node_modules/
+main.js
+*.js.map
+data.json

LICENSE

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+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 bench
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

README.md

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+# Canvas MindMap
+
+Turn Obsidian Canvas into a powerful mind mapping tool with keyboard-driven node operations, auto-layout, branch coloring, and collapse/expand.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Keyboard-driven editing** — Add child/sibling nodes, delete nodes, and navigate the tree entirely from the keyboard
+- **Auto-layout** — Automatically arranges nodes in a clean tree layout after every operation
+- **Branch coloring** — Assigns distinct colors to each top-level branch for visual clarity
+- **Collapse/expand** — Collapse subtrees to focus on specific branches, expand them when needed
+- **Balanced layout** — Distribute children on both sides of a root node for a centered mind map
+- **Flip branches** — Move a branch to the opposite side of its parent
+- **Spatial navigation** — Navigate between nodes using directional commands (right, left, up, down)
+- **Auto-resize** — Nodes automatically resize to fit their content as you type
+- **Resize to fit** — Batch-resize selected subtree or all nodes to fit their content
+- **FreeMind import** — Import `.mm` files from FreeMind into Obsidian Canvas
+- **Table of contents** — A sidebar view showing the tree structure for quick navigation
+- **Non-Latin keyboard support** — Physical key fallback for Arabic, Cyrillic, and other keyboard layouts
+
+## Commands
+
+All commands are available from the command palette (`Ctrl/Cmd+P`). You can assign your own hotkeys in Settings > Hotkeys.
+
+| Command | Description |
+|---------|-------------|
+| Edit selected node | Start editing the selected node |
+| Add child node | Create a new child node (selected text moves to child) |
+| Add sibling node | Create a sibling node below the current one |
+| Delete node and focus parent | Remove the current node and select its parent |
+| Flip branch to other side | Move a branch to the opposite side of its parent |
+| Toggle balanced layout | Distribute children evenly on both sides, or collapse to one side |
+| Navigate right/left/up/down | Move selection spatially through the tree |
+| Resize & re-layout selected subtree | Resize nodes in the subtree to fit content and re-layout |
+| Resize all nodes to fit content | Resize every node in the canvas to fit its content |
+| Apply branch colors | Manually trigger branch color assignment |
+| Toggle mindmap mode | Enable or disable mindmap mode for the current canvas |
+| Toggle table of contents | Open or close the TOC sidebar |
+| Import FreeMind file | Import a `.mm` mind map file into the current canvas |
+
+## Settings
+
+| Setting | Description | Default |
+|---------|-------------|---------|
+| Default mindmap mode | Whether canvases open in mindmap mode by default | On |
+| Auto-layout | Automatically arrange nodes after adding/deleting | On |
+| Auto-color branches | Assign distinct colors to top-level branches | On |
+| Horizontal gap | Space between parent and child nodes (px) | 80 |
+| Vertical gap | Space between sibling nodes (px) | 20 |
+| Default node width | Width of newly created nodes (px) | 300 |
+| Default node height | Height of newly created nodes (px) | 60 |
+| Max node height | Maximum height before a node scrolls (px) | 300 |
+| Navigation zoom padding | Extra space around the target node when zooming after navigation (px) | 200 |
+
+## Installation
+
+### From community plugins (coming soon)
+
+1. Open Settings > Community plugins
+2. Search for "Canvas MindMap"
+3. Click Install, then Enable
+
+### Manual installation
+
+1. Download `main.js`, `manifest.json`, and `styles.css` from the [latest release](https://github.com/mobench/canvas-mindmap/releases/latest)
+2. Create a folder `canvas-mindmap` in your vault's `.obsidian/plugins/` directory
+3. Copy the downloaded files into that folder
+4. Enable the plugin in Settings > Community plugins
+
+## Disclosures
+
+- This plugin does **not** make any network requests
+- This plugin does **not** collect telemetry or analytics
+- This plugin does **not** access files outside your vault
+- This plugin has **no** paid features or premium tiers
+- This plugin is desktop only (Canvas is a desktop feature)

esbuild.config.mjs

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+import esbuild from "esbuild";
+import process from "process";
+import builtins from "builtin-modules";
+
+const banner = `/*
+THIS IS A GENERATED/BUNDLED FILE BY ESBUILD
+if you want to view the source, please visit the github repository of this plugin
+*/
+`;
+
+const prod = process.argv[2] === "production";
+
+const context = await esbuild.context({
+	banner: { js: banner },
+	entryPoints: ["src/main.ts"],
+	bundle: true,
+	external: [
+		"obsidian",
+		"electron",
+		"@codemirror/autocomplete",
+		"@codemirror/collab",
+		"@codemirror/commands",
+		"@codemirror/language",
+		"@codemirror/lint",
+		"@codemirror/search",
+		"@codemirror/state",
+		"@codemirror/view",
+		"@lezer/common",
+		"@lezer/highlight",
+		"@lezer/lr",
+		...builtins,
+	],
+	format: "cjs",
+	target: "es2018",
+	logLevel: "info",
+	sourcemap: prod ? false : "inline",
+	treeShaking: true,
+	outfile: "main.js",
+});
+
+if (prod) {
+	await context.rebuild();
+	process.exit(0);
+} else {
+	await context.watch();
+}

manifest.json

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+{
+	"id": "canvas-mindmap",
+	"name": "Canvas MindMap",
+	"version": "0.1.0",
+	"minAppVersion": "1.5.0",
+	"description": "Turn Obsidian Canvas into a powerful mind mapping tool with keyboard shortcuts, auto-layout, branch coloring, and collapse/expand.",
+	"author": "mobench",
+	"isDesktopOnly": true
+}