From 91bd678535af91a870785aed77794af61ddbc5a5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2025 05:18:07 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] perf(obsidian): optimize folder tree for large vaults

The previous implementation read ALL file contents to get frontmatter
when browsing notes, which caused massive slowdown for large vaults
(13k+ files = 13k+ HTTP requests).

Changes:
- Add listAllNotePaths() function that only gets file paths (fast)
- Build folder tree from paths only, no content reading
- Lazy load file content only when user clicks on a file
- Change message from "Loading all notes" to "Loading file list"
- Add logging to show file count being displayed

Performance improvement:
- Before: O(n) HTTP requests where n = number of files
- After: O(1) - just the recursive directory scan
- File content loaded on-demand (1 request per clicked file)

This makes the folder tree instant even for vaults with 10k+ files.
---
 modules/io/obsidian-bridge.js       | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++--
 modules/ui/obsidian-notes-editor.js | 12 +++++++++---
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/modules/io/obsidian-bridge.js b/modules/io/obsidian-bridge.js
index d81b5598..2a7278fe 100644
--- a/modules/io/obsidian-bridge.js
+++ b/modules/io/obsidian-bridge.js
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ Add your lore here...
     return results;
   }
 
-  // List all notes with basic info
+  // List all notes with basic info (reads frontmatter - slow for large vaults)
   async function listAllNotes() {
     const allFiles = await getVaultFiles();
     const notes = [];
@@ -495,6 +495,25 @@ Add your lore here...
     return notes;
   }
 
+  // List just file paths (fast - no content reading)
+  async function listAllNotePaths() {
+    const allFiles = await getVaultFiles();
+
+    INFO && console.log(`listAllNotePaths: Found ${allFiles.length} files`);
+
+    // Convert to note objects with just path and name
+    const notes = allFiles.map(filePath => ({
+      path: filePath,
+      name: filePath.split("/").pop().replace(".md", ""),
+      folder: filePath.includes("/") ? filePath.substring(0, filePath.lastIndexOf("/")) : ""
+    }));
+
+    // Sort by path
+    notes.sort((a, b) => a.path.localeCompare(b.path));
+
+    return notes;
+  }
+
   return {
     init,
     config,
@@ -509,7 +528,8 @@ Add your lore here...
     findNoteByFmgId,
     generateNoteTemplate,
     searchNotes,
-    listAllNotes
+    listAllNotes,
+    listAllNotePaths
   };
 })();
 
diff --git a/modules/ui/obsidian-notes-editor.js b/modules/ui/obsidian-notes-editor.js
index 126b179d..0c52e96b 100644
--- a/modules/ui/obsidian-notes-editor.js
+++ b/modules/ui/obsidian-notes-editor.js
@@ -300,16 +300,19 @@ async function promptCreateNewNote(elementId, elementType, coordinates) {
     };
 
     const showBrowse = async () => {
-      resultsDiv.innerHTML = "<p>Loading all notes...</p>";
+      resultsDiv.innerHTML = "<p>Loading file list...</p>";
 
       try {
-        const allNotes = await ObsidianBridge.listAllNotes();
+        // Use fast path-only listing (doesn't read file contents)
+        const allNotes = await ObsidianBridge.listAllNotePaths();
 
         if (allNotes.length === 0) {
           resultsDiv.innerHTML = "<p style='color: #999;'>No notes in vault</p>";
           return;
         }
 
+        INFO && console.log(`Displaying ${allNotes.length} notes in folder tree`);
+
         // Build folder tree
         const tree = buildFolderTree(allNotes);
         resultsDiv.innerHTML = renderFolderTree(tree, allNotes);
@@ -321,12 +324,15 @@ async function promptCreateNewNote(elementId, elementType, coordinates) {
             $("#alert").dialog("close");
             try {
               const note = allNotes[index];
+              // Read the file content only when clicked
               const content = await ObsidianBridge.getNote(note.path);
+              const {frontmatter} = ObsidianBridge.parseFrontmatter(content);
+
               resolve({
                 path: note.path,
                 name: note.name,
                 content,
-                frontmatter: note.frontmatter
+                frontmatter
               });
             } catch (error) {
               reject(error);