Usage

Once the plugin is installed and enabled, there is nothing to click. It runs automatically in the background.

What it does

Whenever a Markdown file in your vault is modified — by you editing it in Obsidian, by a sync tool writing to disk, or by any other process — the plugin reads the file’s ctime and mtime and writes them into the front matter as two properties:

• created — set once, on the first update after the plugin sees the file. It is never overwritten afterwards.
• updated — refreshed whenever the file’s mtime moves ahead of the current value by more than one minute.

The property names default to created and updated but are configurable — see Configuration.

Values use the format yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm, for example:

---
created: 2024-10-27T14:12
updated: 2024-10-28T09:33
---

What triggers an update

The plugin listens to Obsidian’s vault modify event. Any write to a .md file inside your vault triggers the handler. The handler skips the file when any of the following is true:

• The file is not a Markdown file (extension != .md).
• The file is named Canvas.md.
• The file body is empty.
• The Excalidraw plugin is installed and reports the file as an Excalidraw drawing.
• The file path starts with any folder listed in the plugin’s Folders to exclude setting.

Excluding folders

Open Settings → Community plugins → Update Time. Under Folders to exclude:

1. Start typing a folder path; the autocomplete lists matching vault folders.
2. Press the + button to add it.
3. Added folders appear below, each with a Remove button.

A file is excluded as soon as its path starts with any listed prefix. For example, adding Templates excludes Templates/Daily.md and Templates/nested/Meeting.md.

Changes take effect immediately — no reload required.

Backfilling existing notes

When you first install the plugin, notes you already had in your vault don’t have the created / updated properties yet — those properties only get added on the next modification. To populate them all in one go:

1. Open the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd + P).
2. Run Update Time: Backfill created / updated properties in all notes.
3. Confirm in the modal.

The command iterates every Markdown file in your vault. For each file it:

• Skips files that match the same rules as the live handler (Canvas, Excalidraw, empty notes, excluded folders, non-Markdown).
• Adds created from the file’s ctime only if the property is missing.
• Adds updated from the file’s mtime only if the property is missing or unparsable.
• Never overwrites a valid existing value.

A notice at the top of the screen reports the start and the end of the run, with the number of files updated, skipped, and errored.

Back up your vault before running it. The plugin writes to many files in one pass.

Manual front matter

You can always edit created and updated manually. The plugin will not overwrite your created value. It will only overwrite updated when the file’s mtime is more than one minute ahead of the value you wrote — that is, after you actually modify the file again.

If you have renamed the properties in the settings tab, the same rules apply to your custom names.