Example of running a script on note content change.

[bergercookie]

Hello and thanks for this great tool!

I would like to run a script, when the contents of the note that I'm editing change.
I think for this I would have to create a relation between the script that I want to be executed and the note I'm editing.

To do that I'm creating a JS Frontend note, named "Test JS", with these contents:

api.showMessage("Hello")

And, in another plain text note I'm defining this relation: ~runOnNoteContentChange=Test JS. If I click on the Test JS part of the relation definition I'm redirected to the Test JS script note so I presume that the relation is setup correctly.

However, when I edit my plaintext note, no Hello message is displayed.
Why is that? What am I doing wrong?

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @bergercookie! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the Trilium team.

The reason your script isn't running is that the ~runOnNoteContentChange relation only triggers backend scripts, not JS Frontend notes. To run a script when a note's content changes, you need to link a JS Backend note via this relation, not a frontend one (docs).

If you want dynamic frontend behavior (like showing a message when a note is activated or its content changes), you can create a JS Frontend note that extends NoteContextAwareWidget and label it with #widget. This lets your widget react every time a note is loaded or switched. For examples and details, check out the widget basics guide and discussion.

In summary:

• ~runOnNoteContentChange only works with backend scripts.
• For frontend scripting, use a widget (NoteContextAwareWidget + #widget) to react to note changes.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[bergercookie]

@dosu , I've changed the type of my script note to JS Backend, and i've also changed its content to

api.log("hello")

If I manually run it the console comes up and I see this message.
When I edit the note I had added the relation to, I don't see it being executed.

• Am I doing something wrong?
• Is there another function I can use for verifying that the triggering works, that's more suitable than Api.log ?

[dosubot[bot]]

You're not doing anything obviously wrong—your setup should work if the relation points to a JS Backend script and the note's content is actually being changed. However, the output of api.log is only visible in the UI log panel when you run the script manually; it won't show up for event-triggered scripts like those run via ~runOnNoteContentChange unless you check the backend logs (docs).

For a more visible way to verify the trigger, use a side effect like creating a new note with api.createTextNote or modifying an attribute. For example:

api.createTextNote(api.currentNote.noteId, "Triggered!", "runOnNoteContentChange fired");

This will create a child note every time the event fires, making it obvious if the script is being triggered (API reference).

If you still don't see the script running, double-check that the relation is set up on the note whose content you are editing, and that the script note is of type "JS Backend" (event docs). Sometimes only actual content changes (not metadata or attributes) will trigger the event.

Let me know if you want troubleshooting steps for the relation setup or event detection!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[bergercookie]

Thanks, this does work.
Just to note though that api.currentNote.noteId refers to the script note, not the one I'm editing.