Obsidian from a game controller
The Obsidian layout is built into InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
On a Mac: Obsidian reads its default hotkeys from this layout. If you changed a hotkey in Obsidian's settings, Scan the matching row and press yours.
Yes, you can move through an Obsidian vault from a game controller on a Mac. Obsidian is a keyboard app by design, which makes it a good controller app by accident: everything is a hotkey, and hotkeys are what a controller sends. The words are dictation, and Markdown does not mind.
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Open a note. Quick switcher (Command O) on the bottom face button.
- Start a note. New note (Command N) on the right.
- Search and switch views. Search the vault (Command Shift F) on the left, toggle edit and reading view (Command E) on the top.
- Move around. The left stick is a pointer, the right stick scrolls, the right trigger clicks, and Escape is on Options.
A vault fits on four buttons. Every Obsidian command with a hotkey can live on a button.
Tune it for your vault
- Command palette. Put Command P on a bumper. With dictation it reaches every command and every plugin.
- Daily note. Give it a hotkey in Obsidian's settings, then Scan the other bumper and press it.
- Back and forward. Put Command Option Left and Right Arrow on D-pad left and right.
- Graph view. Put its hotkey on the touchpad press.
- Plugins with hotkeys. Any plugin command with a hotkey is one Scan away from a button.
If you changed a hotkey in Obsidian's settings, Scan the matching row and press yours. Set the hotkey in Obsidian, then Scan it onto a button.
The short version
- Add the palette and dictation. Together they reach everything.
- Give the daily note a hotkey. Then a button.
- Keep it in step. One Scan whenever you change a hotkey.
Logseq and Joplin have their own entries with their own keys. Hotkeys in Obsidian, buttons on the pad, words from your voice.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for Obsidian and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
Every binding, as a table
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 16) | Cursor left |
| Left stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 16) | Cursor right |
| Left stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 16) | Cursor up |
| Left stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 16) | Cursor down |
| Right stick down | Scroll down | Scroll down |
| Right stick up | Scroll up | Scroll up |
| Right trigger | Left click | Click |
| A / Cross | Command (Left), O | Quick switcher (Cmd+O) |
| B / Circle | Command (Left), N | New note (Cmd+N) |
| X / Square | Command (Left), Shift (Left), F | Search (Cmd+Shift+F) |
| Y / Triangle | Command (Left), E | Toggle edit / preview (Cmd+E) |
| Start / Options | Escape | Close / Esc |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Can I set my own hotkeys?
Yes, in Obsidian's settings. Scan the row in InputConfig and press whatever you set.
Does it work with Logseq or Joplin?
Both have their own entries with their own keys.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
Updated