Features Chat Interface
The chat interface is Claudian's primary feature, providing a dedicated panel for conversing with Claude directly within Obsidian.
There are multiple ways to open the chat panel:
- Ribbon Icon: Click the Claudian icon in the left ribbon
-
Command Palette: Press
Ctrl/Cmd + Pand search for "Open chat with Claude" - Hotkey: Assign a custom hotkey in Obsidian settings
The chat panel consists of:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Header | Title with Agent Mode toggle and clear button |
| Message Area | Scrollable conversation history |
| Input Area | Resizable text input for your messages |
| Send/Stop Button | Sends messages or stops ongoing requests |
| Token Footer | Shows token usage for current session |
When you open the chat with no message history, a welcome screen is displayed:
- Logo and title: Claudian branding
- Greeting: "How can I help you today?"
- Example prompts: Clickable examples of tasks you can ask
- Agent Mode hint: Reminder about enabling Agent Mode for vault operations
The welcome screen includes 5 example prompts ordered by complexity. Click any example to copy it directly to the input field, then send or modify as needed.
Examples include tasks like:
- Organizing notes into folders
- Generating concept maps
- Suggesting wikilinks
- Creating summary notes
- Searching for topics
The welcome screen automatically updates when you change the plugin language in Settings.
- Type your message in the input area
- Press
Enteror click Send - Claude's response will appear with real-time streaming
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Enter |
Send message |
Shift + Enter |
New line (without sending) |
The input area can be resized by dragging its top edge. This is useful for longer messages or code blocks.
Responses appear character by character as Claude generates them. This provides:
- Immediate feedback that your message was received
- Ability to read responses as they're being written
- Visual indication of ongoing processing
While Claude is generating a response, the Send button transforms into a Stop button. Click it to:
- Cancel the current request immediately
- Stop waiting for long responses
- Free up to send a new message
The Stop button appears with a distinctive red color to indicate it will cancel the operation. After stopping, you can send a new message right away.
Each Claude response includes action buttons:
Click the Copy button to copy the response text to your clipboard.
Click Create note to save the response as a new note:
- A modal appears with suggested title and tags
- Edit the title if needed
- Add or remove suggested tags
- Click Create to save
The note will be created with:
- YAML frontmatter (created date, tags, source)
- Formatted content from the response
- Related wikilinks (if detected)
The conversation history persists during your session. Messages are displayed with:
- Your messages aligned right with a distinct background
- Claude's messages aligned left with markdown formatting
- Timestamps for reference
Click the trash icon in the header or use the command "Clear chat history" to start fresh.
Note: Chat history is not persisted between Obsidian sessions. Closing Obsidian will clear the conversation.
Claude's responses support full markdown:
- Headers and text formatting
- Code blocks with syntax highlighting
- Lists and tables
- Links and images
- LaTeX math expressions (if enabled in Obsidian)
The chat header includes an Agent Mode toggle. When enabled:
- Claude can execute actions on your vault
- An indicator shows agent mode is active
- Destructive actions require confirmation
See Agent Mode for complete documentation.
- Chat maintains context within the current session
- Claude remembers previous messages in the conversation
- Context is cleared when you clear chat or restart Obsidian
For long conversations, Claudian automatically optimizes token usage:
- Automatic summarization: When conversations exceed a configurable threshold (default: 20 messages), older messages are automatically summarized
- Smart compression: Important context is preserved in a summary while recent messages remain in full detail
- Token savings: Reduces token usage by 60-84% for long conversations (30-100+ messages)
- Transparent operation: Works automatically in the background without interrupting your workflow
This allows you to have much longer conversations without hitting token limits or incurring excessive API costs.
Configure in: Settings > Claudian > Context Management
For note processing commands, Claude receives:
- Note titles from your vault (configurable limit)
- Existing tags (configurable limit)
- This helps with wikilink and tag suggestions
- Be specific: Clear questions get better answers
- Provide context: Reference notes or topics you're discussing
- Use follow-ups: Build on previous responses
- Try different prompts: If a response isn't helpful, rephrase your question
- Agent Mode - Vault management through chat
- Configuration - Customize chat behavior
