Random Page

[jsmorabito]

Traversing the graph randomly can be a fun way to discover old insights and make new connections. In Roam I used two different random page javascript functions made by people in the community (didn't use them together. one broke from an update to roam and was not maintained and the other was the spiritual successor). Sharing below as they could be helpful references. Quickest way to get this functionality would be a hotkey then maybe somewhere down the line an actual button.

Example 1:

setTimeout(randombutton, 400); //wait half a second just in case

function randombutton() { //creates a new left sidebar log button below Daily Notes
  if (!document.getElementById('randomDiv')) {
    var divRandom = document.createElement('div');
    divRandom.classList.add('log-button');
    divRandom.innerHTML = "I'M FEELING LUCKY";
    divRandom.id = 'randomDiv';
    var spanRandom = document.createElement('span');
    spanRandom.classList.add('bp3-icon', 'bp3-icon-random', 'icon');
    divRandom.prepend(spanRandom);
    var sidebarcontent = document.querySelector("#app > div.roam-body > div.roam-app > div.roam-sidebar-container.noselect > div"),
        sidebartoprow = sidebarcontent.childNodes[1];
    if (sidebarcontent && sidebartoprow) {
      sidebartoprow.parentNode.insertBefore(divRandom, sidebartoprow.nextSibling);    
    }
    divRandom.onclick = togglerandom; //run the function onclick
  }
}

function togglerandom() { //creates the URL for random page or block and opens it
  random = window.roamAlphaAPI.q(`[:find [(rand 1 ?blocks)] :where [?e :block/uid ?blocks]]`); //this will return both pages and blocks
//random = window.roamAlphaAPI.q('[:find [(rand 1 ?page-uid)] :where [?e :node/title] [?e :block/uid ?page-uid] ]')[0]; // Thanks to @GitMurf for this one; this will return ONLY pages, NOT blocks - comment out previous line and/or replace with this line if you want it that way
//random = window.roamAlphaAPI.q('[:find [(rand 1 ?block-uid)] :where [?e :block/page] [?e :block/uid ?block-uid] ]')[0]; // Thanks to @GitMurf for this one; this will return ONLY blocks, NOT pages - comment out previous line and/or replace with this line if you want it that way  
  dbname = window.location.href.split('/')[5];
  let roamuri = "https://roamresearch.com/#/app/";
  let roamurirandom = roamuri+ dbname + "/page/" + random[0];
  window.open(roamurirandom,"_self");
}

Example 2:

function randomPagePlugin() {
  function isMac() {
    return window.navigator.platform.startsWith('Mac');
  }
  
  // settings
  const title = 'Go to random page';
  const icon = 'bp3-button bp3-minimal bp3-icon-random pointer bp3-small';
  const shortcut = isMac() ? {ctrlKey: true, key: "r"} : {altKey: true, key: "r"};

  function addButton() {
    // cleanup old versions of the button
    var randomButton = document.querySelector('#random-button');
    if (randomButton != null) {
      randomButton.parentNode.removeChild(randomButton);
    }
    // create button
    var template = document.createElement('template');
    template.innerHTML = '<span id="random-button" title="' + title + '" class="' + icon + '"></span>';
    template.content.firstChild.onclick = goToRandomPage;
    randomButton = template.content.firstChild;

    // insert button into topbar
    const topbar = document.querySelector('.roam-topbar .flex-h-box');
    const dots = document.querySelector('.roam-topbar div[style="margin-left: 4px;"]');
    topbar.insertBefore(randomButton, dots);
  }

  function addKeyboardShortcut() {
    document.onkeyup = function(e) {
      if (shortcut.ctrlKey && !e.ctrlKey) return;
      if (shortcut.shiftKey && !e.shiftKey) return;
      if (shortcut.altKey && !e.altKey) return;
      if (shortcut.key === e.key) goToRandomPage(e);
    }
  }

  function goToRandomPage(e) {
    if (isAllPages()) {
      clickRandomPageLink(e.shiftKey);
    } else if (e.shiftKey) {
      goToAllPagesThen(function() {
        clickRandomPageLink(e.shiftKey);
        history.back();
      });
    } else {
      const allPages = roamAlphaAPI.q('[ :find (pull ?e [:block/uid]) :where [?e :node/title]]');
      const page = getRandomElement(allPages);
      const uid = page[0].uid;
      const db = location.hash.split('/')[2];
      location.assign('/#/app/' + db + '/page/' + uid);
    }
  }

  function isAllPages() {
    return location.hash.endsWith('/search');
  }

  function goToAllPagesThen(f) {
    document.querySelector('.bp3-icon-list').parentNode.parentNode.click();
    setTimeout(f, 0);
  }

  function clickRandomPageLink(shift) {
    // https://forum.roamresearch.com/t/what-would-be-your-top-3-tips-for-beginners/255/9
    var allPages = document.querySelectorAll('div.rm-pages-title-col a');
    var pageLink = getRandomElement(allPages);
    getEventHandlers(pageLink).onClick({ shiftKey: shift });
  }

  function getRandomElement(array) {
    return array[Math.floor(Math.random() * array.length)];
  }

  function getEventHandlers(element) {
    for (var prop in element) {
      if (prop.includes('reactEventHandlers')) {
        return element[prop];
      }
    }
  }

  addButton();
  addKeyboardShortcut();
}
randomPagePlugin();

[yifanyin]

Love this! Obsidian has this built-in and boy it's fun to see my messy random notes resurfacing.

[shanberg]

I recommend adding this as an Athena command, so you can cmd-k -> "rand" -> return. I'm not sure where else command this should live, except as a menubar item.