Claude Sidebar

Run Claude Code (and other agent CLIs) in your Obsidian sidebar.

Built by Derek Larson - Pairs with Delegate commands →

Features

• Auto-launches your agent - Your default CLI starts automatically
• Multiple tabs - Run multiple agents side by side
• Embedded - Full terminal with an agent in your Obsidian sidebar
• Folder & file context menu - Right-click any folder to open your agent in that directory, or a file to send it the path
• YOLO mode - Launch your agent with YOLO mode via right-click menus
• Projects outside the vault - Open agent in project… opens an agent in any folder on your machine. Browse… adds one, and it stays in the list afterwards; ⌘1–⌘9 pick which CLI to open it with
• Multi-backend - Switch between Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, OpenCode, Antigravity CLI, Kimi Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor Agent, and Pi in settings, or via Switch CLI provider… in the command palette

Requirements

• macOS, Linux, or Windows
• Python 3
• An agent CLI — Claude Code (default), or any other supported backend

Installation

From Community Plugins (recommended)

Visit the plugin listing at community.obsidian.md/plugins/claude-sidebar and click Add to Obsidian. Then in Obsidian, click Install → Enable.

Windows: See Windows Setup below.

Manual Installation (Mac/Linux)

In your vault folder, run:

mkdir -p .obsidian/plugins/claude-sidebar && cd .obsidian/plugins/claude-sidebar && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/main.js && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/manifest.json && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/styles.css

Then in Obsidian: Settings → Community Plugins → Refresh → Enable "Claude Sidebar".

Manual Updating

In your vault folder, run:

cd .obsidian/plugins/claude-sidebar && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/main.js && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/manifest.json && \
  curl -LO https://github.com/derek-larson14/obsidian-claude-sidebar/releases/latest/download/styles.css

Then restart Obsidian or disable/re-enable the plugin.

Windows Setup

After installing the plugin (via Community Plugins or manually), add Windows-specific dependencies:

1. Install Python 3 from python.org
2. Install pywinpty into the Python the plugin will use:

py -m pip install pywinpty

Use py -m pip (not just pip) to avoid installing into a different Python interpreter than the one the plugin selects. If you see "pywinpty not installed" in the sidebar after installing, the error message will print the exact interpreter path — install pywinpty into that one.

3. Pick whether to run your agent inside WSL or natively in cmd.exe. Configure in Settings → Claude Sidebar → Shell (Windows only — Linux/macOS always run bash):

Option	Spawns	Path translation
cmd.exe (default)	cmd.exe	none
wsl.exe (WSL)	wsl.exe	Windows paths → Linux paths via wslpath

Use wsl.exe when your agent CLI, Node, or git toolchain lives in a WSL distro. Vault paths sent to the agent (file path command, selection context, drag-drop, image paste, wikilink references) are converted to Linux form before reaching the CLI. Translation respects a custom /etc/wsl.conf [automount] root, so paths still resolve if your C:\ mounts at /c/ instead of /mnt/c/.

Usage

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/de98439a-8a1f-4a8a-9d02-44027d756462

• Click the bot icon in the left ribbon to open a tab
• Right-click the bot icon for YOLO mode, folder targeting, or resuming a conversation
• Right-click any folder for "Open here" or "Open here (YOLO)" - both name your current CLI
• Use Command Palette (Cmd+P) for all commands:
  • Open terminal / New agent tab / Close agent tab
  • New agent tab (other CLI)… - One-off tab on another CLI, default unchanged
  • Open agent in project… - Start an agent in a project outside the vault
  • Switch default CLI provider… - Change which CLI every new tab uses
  • Toggle Focus: Editor ↔ Agent - Quick switch between editor and agent
  • Run agent from this folder - Start the agent in the active file's directory
  • Resume last conversation - Pick up where you left off (--continue)
  • Send file path to agent / Send selection to agent
• Press Shift+Enter for multi-line input
• Set your own hotkeys in Settings → Hotkeys

Platform Support

Platform	Status
macOS	✅ Supported
Linux	✅ Supported
Windows	✅ Supported

Want to use it on iOS or Android? See Claude Anywhere.

How It Works

• xterm.js for terminal emulation
• Python's built-in pty module for pseudo-terminal support (macOS/Linux)
• pywinpty for Windows PTY support

Development

Testing in Obsidian

Symlink the repo into a scratch vault so edits load with no copy step. Reload after each change with Settings → Community plugins → toggle Claude Sidebar off/on:

ln -s "$PWD" /path/to/test-vault/.obsidian/plugins/claude-sidebar

To install a tested build into a real vault:

./install.sh /path/to/vault

PTY scripts

The PTY scripts (terminal_pty.py for Unix, terminal_win.py for Windows) are embedded as base64 in main.js for Obsidian plugin directory compatibility. To rebuild after modifying:

./build.sh

Contributing

Hit a bug or want to develop a new feature? Point your coding agent at CLAUDE.md in this repo. It will walk you through diagnosis, filing a report, or opening a PR.

License

MIT