advanced-canvas

Advanced Canvas Skill

This skill enables Claude Code to work with the Advanced Canvas plugin — a comprehensive enhancement suite for Obsidian's built-in canvas.

Overview

Advanced Canvas extends Obsidian Canvas with presentations, custom node shapes, edge styling, portals (canvas-in-canvas), collapsible groups, focus mode, auto-resize, better export, and many more features. It stores custom metadata directly in .canvas JSON files.

Commands

Command ID	Name	Description
start-presentation	Start presentation	Begin slide presentation mode
end-presentation	End presentation	Exit presentation mode
continue-presentation	Continue presentation	Resume a paused presentation
new-slide	New slide	Create a new presentation slide
create-new-slide	Create new slide	Alternate slide creation command
set-start-node	Set start node	Mark a node as the first slide
create-text-node	Create text node	Add a text node to canvas
create-file-node	Create file node	Add a file-linked node
create-group-around-selection	Create group around selection	Wrap selected nodes in a group
create-group	Create group	Create an empty group
toggle-collapse-group	Toggle collapse group	Collapse/expand a group
toggle-portal	Toggle portal	Enable/disable portal view on a node
toggle-focus-mode	Toggle focus mode	Show only the focused node and neighbors
toggle-readonly	Toggle readonly	Toggle canvas read-only mode
encapsulate-selection	Encapsulate selection	Move selection into a sub-canvas
swap-nodes	Swap nodes	Swap positions of two selected nodes
flip-selection-horizontally	Flip horizontal	Mirror selection horizontally
flip-selection-vertically	Flip vertical	Mirror selection vertically
pull-backlinks-to-canvas	Pull backlinks	Add nodes for all backlinks
pull-outgoing-links-to-canvas	Pull outgoing links	Add nodes for all outgoing links
export-all-as-image	Export all as image	Export entire canvas as image
export-selected-as-image	Export selected as image	Export selection as image
select-all-edges	Select all edges	Select every edge on canvas
select-connected-edges	Select connected edges	Select edges touching selected nodes
select-incoming-edges	Select incoming edges	Select edges pointing to selected nodes
select-outgoing-edges	Select outgoing edges	Select edges leaving selected nodes
flip-edge	Flip edge	Reverse edge direction
zoom-to-fit	Zoom to fit	Zoom to show all content
zoom-to-selection	Zoom to selection	Zoom to selected nodes
next-node	Next node	Navigate to next node
previous-node	Previous node	Navigate to previous node
copy-wikilink-to-node	Copy wikilink to node	Copy a [[wikilink]] targeting the node
auto-resize-height	Auto resize height	Resize node to fit content

Node Shapes

Beyond the default rectangle, Advanced Canvas adds:

Shape	Icon	Description
Pill	shape-pill	Rounded capsule shape
Parallelogram	shape-parallelogram	Skewed rectangle
Document	shape-document	Document with wavy bottom
Database	shape-database	Cylinder shape
Predefined Process	shape-predefined-process	Double-bordered rectangle

Edge Styling

Line Styles

• Solid — continuous line
• Dashed — dashed line
• Dotted — dotted line

Arrow Types

• Triangle (filled)
• Triangle outline
• Thin triangle (open)
• Halved triangle
• Diamond (filled)
• Diamond outline
• Circle (filled)
• Circle outline

Pathfinding Methods

• Bezier — smooth curved paths
• Square — right-angle paths (with optional rounding)
• Pathfinder — obstacle-aware routing (with optional diagonal movement)

Presentation Mode

Turns canvas into a slide deck:

1. Create slides by adding group nodes (or use New slide command)
2. Set the first slide with Set start node
3. Number slides using node connections (edge order)
4. Start with Start presentation command
5. Navigate with arrow keys or Page Up/Down

Presentation Settings

Setting	Default	Description
defaultSlideDimensions	(list)	Default size for new slides
wrapInSlidePadding	20	Padding around slide content
resetViewportOnPresentationEnd	true	Return to original view after
useArrowKeysToChangeSlides	true	Arrow key navigation
usePgUpPgDownKeysToChangeSlides	true	Page key navigation
zoomToSlideWithoutPadding	true	Fill screen with slide
fullscreenPresentationEnabled	true	Use browser fullscreen
slideTransitionAnimationDuration	0.5	Transition time in seconds
slideTransitionAnimationIntensity	1.25	Transition animation strength

Portals

Portals render the content of another .canvas file inline within a node. Toggle with the Toggle portal command. Edges into disabled portals can optionally still be shown.

Collapsible Groups

Groups can be collapsed to hide their contents and expanded again. The collapsedGroupPreviewOnDrag setting shows a preview when dragging collapsed groups.

Key Settings

Node Behavior

Setting	Default	Description
nodeTypeOnDoubleClick	text	What double-click creates
alignNewNodesToGrid	true	Snap new nodes to grid
minNodeSize	60	Minimum node dimension
maxNodeWidth	-1	Max width (-1 = unlimited)
autoResizeNodeEnabledByDefault	true	Auto-resize on by default

Edge Behavior

Setting	Default	Description
inheritEdgeColorFromNode	false	Edge inherits source node color
defaultEdgeLineDirection	unidirectional	Default arrow direction
edgeStyleUpdateWhileDragging	false	Live update edge style
edgeStyleSquarePathRounded	true	Round corners on square paths
allowFloatingEdgeCreation	false	Allow edges with no target

Features Toggle

Setting	Default	Description
nodeStylingFeatureEnabled	true	Custom node styles
edgesStylingFeatureEnabled	true	Custom edge styles
collapsibleGroupsFeatureEnabled	true	Collapsible groups
presentationFeatureEnabled	true	Presentation mode
portalsFeatureEnabled	true	Portal nodes
betterExportFeatureEnabled	true	Enhanced image export
autoResizeNodeFeatureEnabled	true	Auto-resize nodes
floatingEdgeFeatureEnabled	true	Floating edges
flipEdgeFeatureEnabled	true	Edge flipping
focusModeFeatureEnabled	false	Focus mode (off by default)

Canvas JSON Extensions

Advanced Canvas stores custom properties in .canvas JSON nodes. Custom style attributes for nodes and edges are persisted as additional keys in the node/edge objects within the canvas file.

References

• Plugin manifest: advanced-canvas v6.0.0
• Author: Developer-Mike
• Funding: https://ko-fi.com/X8X27IA08