Smart Context Clipboard

You are about to send context to an AI, but you want it clean, predictable, and reusable. Smart Context Clipboard is the fast lane for that moment.

Instead of manually copying notes and trimming, you pick what to export, choose how far to follow links, and copy a clean bundle to your clipboard.

Who this helps

• You want consistent context bundles for AI chats (not ad-hoc copy/paste).
• You care about token budgets and want to see size before you paste.
• You often work across multiple related notes and want a fast export loop.
• You want a clipboard export that matches your preferred format (via templates).
• You sometimes need to include visuals (images/PDFs) alongside text (Pro).

Ways to copy context

Smart Context supports multiple clipboard entry points, depending on what you are trying to export:

• Current note: fastest when you are already in the right place.
• Selected notes: best when you want a small hand-picked bundle.
• Folder contents: best when your project already lives in one folder.
• Selected folders: select folders and right-click to copy all folders from file navigator.

If you need to build and reuse the same bundle repeatedly, consider using Smart Context Builder instead (named, reusable context sets).

Copy the current note as context

Run the command:

• Smart Context: Copy current note as context

This opens the Copy flow where you can:

• review what will be copied,
• pick a link depth,
• see total size (characters and token estimate),
• see depth stats (items per depth),
• choose how to copy (text, or text + media in Pro).

Pick a link depth

Link depth controls how much linked material gets pulled in with your starting note.

• Depth 0: just the note you started from.
  • Embedded content (example: ![[some note]]) is treated as part of Depth 0.
  • Practical shortcut: embed the exact images you want in the starting note so they come along at Depth 0.
  • Bases embeds in the starting note are treated as part of Depth 0; bases embeds inside outlinks do not expand further links.
• Depth 1: include notes directly linked from the starting note (one hop).
• Depth 2: include links of linked notes (two hops).
• Depth 3+: include more hops (useful for hub notes, but can get large quickly).

The chooser shows a size estimate for each depth option so you can choose based on your token budget before copying.

Practical guidance

Pick a depth based on the job:

• Depth 0 when you want precision (one note, one decision, one draft).
• Depth 1 when the note links to definitions, references, or supporting docs.
• Depth 2 when you are doing deeper research and want broader grounding.
• Depth 3-5 when you want a wider snapshot and you know you have the budget.

Copy multiple selected notes

When you want to export a small bundle, use multi-select:

1. In the Obsidian file explorer, select 2+ notes (or folders).
2. Right click the selection, or open the Files menu.
3. Choose Copy selected notes as context or Copy selected folders as context.

This is ideal for "just these notes" workflows:

• agenda + last meeting notes + decisions
• requirements + constraints + current draft
• bug report + repro steps + relevant logs

Copy an entire folder

If your project already lives in a folder, folder copy is the fastest way to export everything in it.

You can copy folder contents from:

• the file explorer folder context menu, or
• the Select folder to copy contents command (opens a fuzzy-search folder picker).

Folder export is best when you want a full snapshot of a project folder (for example: a project brief, meeting notes, and a working draft).

Copy as text vs copy with media (Pro)

The Copy flow can offer two export modes:

• Copy as text: best for writing, specs, notes, or code.
• Copy with media (Pro): includes a single compiled visual bundle so you can paste both:
  • the text context, and
  • the relevant visuals (images/PDF pages) as one image

This is useful when your reasoning depends on visuals: diagrams, screenshots, UI mockups, slide snapshots, PDFs, etc.

How media handling works

When you choose Copy with media, Smart Context compiles supported visuals into a single image to make pasting easier alongside the text context.

What this means in practice:

• Images embedded in your notes are included in the compiled image.
• PDFs referenced/embedded in your notes are exported as visual pages (so they can be pasted into tools that accept images).
• The compiled image is labeled with source filenames (and PDF page numbers) so visuals stay attributable.
• The output is designed for AI tools that accept pasted images.

Media inclusion rules

• Embeds in the starting note are included at Depth 0.
• Linked attachments are included when they are within the selected link depth.
• The copy confirmation file count is a quick sanity check that attachments were picked up.

Customize what gets copied

Clipboard exports use the Smart Context templates you configure in settings.

That means you can standardize things like:

• how each note is titled in the export,
• wrappers (headers/footers),
• whether to include file paths,
• whether to include a file tree header,
• formatting for block embeds vs whole notes.

If you want your clipboard output to match your preferred prompt format, adjust templates in Smart Context settings.

Workflows to try

Use these to turn clipboard exports into repeatable outcomes.

1) Depth-0 decision draft

• When: you need a quick decision, plan, or rewrite from a single note.
• Flow:
  • Copy the current note at Depth 0.
  • Ask: "Use only this context. Return a decision + 3 next actions."
  • Paste the answer back into the note under ## Decision.

2) Linked-notes brief (Depth 1)

• When: your note links to supporting docs and you want a concise brief.
• Flow:
  • Copy at Depth 1.
  • Ask: "Summarize the topic, list assumptions, then flag missing info."
  • Save the brief as a ## Brief section in the hub note.

3) Folder pulse check

• When: you want a status snapshot of a project folder.
• Flow:
  • Copy folder contents.
  • Ask: "Summarize progress, risks, and top 3 next actions. Cite note titles."
  • Paste into your weekly project pulse note.

4) Visual review (Pro)

• When: diagrams, screenshots, or PDFs are required for reasoning.
• Flow:
  • Choose Copy with media.
  • Ask: "Reference both the text and images. Call out visual gaps."
  • Log the review outcome in the source note.

Troubleshooting

"My paste is too large"

• Reduce link depth.
• Use multi-select instead of folder copy.
• Remove heavy wrappers in templates (and consider removing file tree).
• Switch to Builder if you need block-level precision.

"Token estimate does not match my AI tool"

Tokenization differs across models and vendors. Treat the estimate as directional.

"Images/PDFs did not paste"

Use Copy with media (Pro) and confirm your target tool supports pasted images. If it is text-only, use Copy as text.
If attachments are missing, embed them in the starting note for Depth 0 or increase link depth so linked media is included.
using ChatGPT? Sometimes images aren't pasted into the chat if there is already existing text. Try pasting after removing all text from the input box.