A plugin to maintain a change log of recently edited files in your Obsidian vault. Updates can be triggered manually or automatically.
Vault Changelog is ideal if you want:
- A persistent, text-based record of recently edited files that survives vault moves and syncing
- Simple configuration with a single command to update your changelog
- Minimal overhead without needing to learn query syntax or manage complex workflows
- Embeddable output that can be referenced from other notes (e.g., a dashboard or index)
- Clean graph view option by disabling wiki-links to avoid cluttering your graph
- Personal knowledge base: Track your daily writing and review what you've been working on
- Team collaboration: Share a changelog of recent edits with collaborators
- Obsidian Publish: Display a nicely formatted list of recent updates on your published site
- Daily/weekly reviews: Embed the changelog in periodic notes to reflect on your work
- Project tracking: Monitor activity in specific folders (using excluded folders feature)
- Tracks recently edited notes in a centralized changelog.
- Supports both manual and automatic updates.
- Customizable file paths, timestamps, and entry limits.
- Optional wiki-links and heading configuration.
Use a dedicated change log note and embed it elsewhere if you need historical tracking.
This project was originally created by Badr Bouslikhin (2020-2024).
In January 2025, Badr transferred the repository to Mark Ayers.
On behalf of the Obsidian community, we extend our gratitude to Badr for this valuable contribution.
- Open Settings in Obsidian.
- Navigate to Community plugins.
- Select Browse.
- Search for Changelog.
- Install and enable the plugin.
- Manual Update: Use the command palette and run
Vault Changelog: Update. - Automatic Update: If enabled, the changelog updates whenever a file is modified.
With wiki-links enabled (default):
- 2024-01-28T14:30 · [[Note Title]]
- 2024-01-28T14:25 · [[Another Note]]With wiki-links disabled:
- 2024-01-28T14:30 · Note Title
- 2024-01-28T14:25 · Another NoteWith a heading configured:
# Changelog
- 2024-01-28T14:30 · [[Note Title]]
- 2024-01-28T14:25 · [[Another Note]]- Auto update: Enable automatic updates (
falseby default). - Changelog path: File location for the changelog (
Changelog.mdby default). - Datetime format: Moment.js format string (
YYYY-MM-DD[T]HHmmby default). - Max recent files: Number of tracked files (
25by default). - Use wiki-links: Format filenames as wiki-links
[[note]]instead of plain text (trueby default). - Changelog heading: Optional heading to prepend to the changelog (empty by default). Example:
# Changelog - Excluded folders: Folders to exclude from the changelog (empty by default).
While Vault Changelog provides a simple, persistent changelog, you might prefer alternatives depending on your needs:
-
List Modified: A more advanced changelog plugin that links modified files to daily, weekly, or monthly notes. Best for users who want changelog entries integrated into periodic notes rather than a single standalone file.
-
Recent Files: Adds a sidebar pane showing recently opened (not edited) files. Great for quick navigation but doesn't create a persistent text record.
-
Obsidian Git: For detailed version control and change history. Overkill if you only need a simple list of recently edited files, but essential for tracking actual content changes and collaboration.
If you already use the Dataview plugin, you can achieve similar results with a query:
```dataview
TABLE dateformat(file.mtime, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm") AS "Last Modified"
FROM ""
SORT file.mtime DESC
LIMIT 25
```Dataview pros: Dynamic queries, no plugin needed if you already use Dataview, can filter by folders/tags Dataview cons: Requires learning query syntax, queries don't work in all contexts (e.g., mobile widgets, some themes)
Vault Changelog pros: Simple one-command update, works everywhere (embeds, Obsidian Publish, mobile), persistent text output, no query syntax needed
