gitwtfhub

wtf is obsidian-quiet-notes?

andrewchen0623/obsidian-quiet-notes — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

83CSSAudience · writerComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

TL;DR

Quiet Notes is a lightweight CSS file for Obsidian that makes long-form Chinese text feel calmer and more relaxed by adjusting spacing, headings, tables, and colors. It only changes the note body, leaving the rest of the interface untouched.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Adjusts Chinese text
      Tunes spacing and rhythm
      Light and dark colors
    Scope
      Note body only
      No full theme
      No plugin
    Use cases
      Long Chinese articles
      Daily journaling
      Short card notes
    Audience
      Chinese writers
      Obsidian users
      CSS tinkerers
    Setup
      Download CSS file
      Copy to snippets folder
      Enable in Appearance
    License
      MIT open source
      Free forever

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Write long Chinese articles in Obsidian with calmer, more relaxed body text.

REASON 2

Keep your current Obsidian theme but improve how Chinese paragraphs and headings feel.

REASON 3

Read the CSS source and tweak spacing or colors to match your personal preference.

REASON 4

Journal in Chinese with adjusted light and dark mode reading comfort.

What's in the stack?

CSSObsidian

How it stacks up

andrewchen0623/obsidian-quiet-noteswebdevsimplified/logical.so-scroll-animationzhibeigg/ai-api-relay-guide
Stars839075
LanguageCSSCSSCSS
Last pushed2023-12-08
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/51/51/5
Audiencewritervibe codergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Download one CSS file and place it in your vault's .obsidian/snippets/ folder, then enable it in Obsidian Appearance settings.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

Wtf does this do

Obsidian is a note taking app that stores your files locally. This repository, called Quiet Notes, is a small CSS file that changes how Chinese text looks and feels inside Obsidian. It is not a full theme and not a plugin. It is a single lightweight file that adjusts body text, paragraph spacing, heading rhythm, tables, highlights, and quote blocks, plus basic color settings for light and dark modes. The design principle is narrow and deliberate. The snippet only changes the reading and writing experience of the note body. It tries hard not to affect the rest of the Obsidian interface, so your sidebar, menus, and other structural elements stay as they were. The author built this for people who write long Chinese articles, journals, or short card notes inside Obsidian and want the body text to feel calmer and more relaxed. It also suits people who want a light adjustment without switching to a full theme, or people who want to read the CSS directly and modify it themselves. Installation involves downloading the file called quiet-notes.css and copying it into the .obsidian/snippets/ folder inside your vault. If that snippets folder does not exist, you create it by hand. Then you open Obsidian settings, go to Appearance, find the CSS snippets section, hit the refresh button, and enable the snippet. The README also suggests that if you use a coding agent like Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or Gemini CLI, you can paste a single sentence asking the agent to install it, and the agent will read the instructions and handle the steps. You then still need to refresh and enable it inside Obsidian. The project stays lightweight on purpose. It is not a community plugin and not yet a full community theme. The author says that if more people use it and want one click installation or broader theme support, Quiet Notes may grow into a full Obsidian Community Theme. The code is released under the MIT license and will remain free and open source.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
I use Obsidian for writing long Chinese articles. Install the Quiet Notes CSS snippet from andrewchen0623/obsidian-quiet-notes into my vault's snippets folder and tell me how to enable it.
Prompt 2
Read the quiet-notes.css file from this repo and suggest three modifications I can make to increase paragraph spacing further for my Chinese journal notes.
Prompt 3
I want to understand how this CSS snippet adjusts Chinese text in Obsidian. Walk me through the main selectors it uses and what each one changes in the reading experience.
Prompt 4
Help me create the .obsidian/snippets/ folder in my vault if it does not exist, copy quiet-notes.css there, and give me step-by-step instructions to enable it in Obsidian Appearance settings.
Prompt 5
Compare what Quiet Notes changes versus a full Obsidian theme, and tell me if I can safely use this snippet alongside my current theme without conflicts.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is obsidian-quiet-notes?

Quiet Notes is a lightweight CSS file for Obsidian that makes long-form Chinese text feel calmer and more relaxed by adjusting spacing, headings, tables, and colors. It only changes the note body, leaving the rest of the interface untouched.

What language is obsidian-quiet-notes written in?

Mainly CSS. The stack also includes CSS, Obsidian.

What license does obsidian-quiet-notes use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is obsidian-quiet-notes to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is obsidian-quiet-notes for?

Mainly writer.

View the repo → Decode another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Don't trust strangers blindly. Verify against the repo.