My first Chrome extension
M

Magpie

Hoard the web in your Obsidian vault.

Get Magpie → View on GitHub

The story

This is my first Chrome extension. It exists for one reason: I was drowning.

Drowning in tabs. Knee-deep in a project, every browser window screaming "save me for later." Every "send to Obsidian" tool I tried wanted to scrape the entire page, fetch metadata, attach screenshots, suggest tags, summarize the article. Two minutes per save. Three popups deep.

I just wanted the URL and the title in my Obsidian vault. Append. Move on. Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.

Magpies are notorious for hoarding shiny things — beads, bottle caps, the occasional wedding ring — and tucking them away in their nests for later. If you collect URLs the way a magpie collects spoons, this is for you.

What it does

Click the Magpie icon (or hit Alt+Shift+S). A small popup appears with the page's title and URL. Type a note if you want — or just press Enter. The link lands in your Obsidian vault as a clean markdown bullet:

- [Page Title](https://example.com)
  > your optional note

That's it. No tags. No screenshots. No scraping. No noise.

Features

🪶

One click, one note

URL + title appended to a single note in your Obsidian vault. Configure once, save forever.

Rapid Add Mode

Toggle on for instant silent saves with no popup. The classic magpie smash-and-grab. ✓ badge confirms.

⌨️

Keyboard shortcuts

Save, force-quick-save, force-show-popup. All customizable in Chrome's shortcut settings.

🔌

No plugins required

Works on any vanilla Obsidian install. Uses the built-in obsidian:// URL scheme.

📁

Auto-creates notes

Point at any path. Note doesn't exist? Obsidian creates the file (and missing folders) on first save.

🔒

Privacy-respecting

Reads the active tab only when you click. No background snooping. No network calls. Privacy policy

Setup · 30 seconds

  1. Install Magpie from the Chrome Web Store
  2. Pin Magpie to your toolbar (puzzle-piece icon → pin)
  3. Settings opens automatically — enter your Obsidian vault name and the path to your collection note (e.g. Inbox/Web Clips.md)
  4. Done. Click. Save. Repeat.

Keyboard shortcuts

Alt+Shift+S
Save (matches Rapid Add setting)
Alt+Shift+Q
Force quick save (always instant, even when Rapid Add is off)
Unbound
Force show popup (assignable in Chrome's shortcut settings)

Get Magpie

Currently submitted to the Chrome Web Store. Once approved, the install button will go live.

Made by one human ☕

Magpie is free, open-source, and a labor of love. If it saves you time:

☕ Buy me a coffee