Hello, I hope this is the right place to ask this, and if it’s not, then I’ll be happy to ask somewhere else.
My problem is that, I have now tried linking a file in my scrivener project to 7 different external softwares (Obsidian, Libreoffice, Onenote, Notion, Calibre, Zotero, WPS Office) but none of them works.
I mean, it creates what looks like a link, but when I click on it, it just opens whatever project I had open in Scrivener last, and not the actual project it supposedly links to, and certainly not the note.
Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong? I have followed every guide on here I could find, including trying to copy the document as external link, with the exact same result.
I use Windows 10, and this is my version of Scrivener:
It would help to know the purpose behind those links: are you wanting to make the text of a document in Scrivener available to each or any of those apps and if so, what are you wanting to achieve by that access; or are you wanting text in documents created in those apps accessible in given document(s) in a Scrivener project and again, to what end?
Obsidian is Markdown based, Calibre is ePub (xhtml) based, Zotero is a reference manager… that’s a whole lot of disparity against the others.
So give us more information about what you’re trying to do.
I understand that the tools I’m using are different, and here’s a bit more context about what I’m trying to achieve:
I’m working on a writing project where I use Scrivener as my primary writing tool.
However, I also use Obsidian and Calibre for specific purposes:
Obsidian: I use Obsidian for brainstorming and organizing my ideas in a non-linear way. I have individual notes for things like character backstories, plot ideas, world-building, etc., which I often refer to while writing. I also like that Obsidian’s markdown format allows me to easily create backlinks between notes, and the ability to view everything together helps me stay organized.
Calibre: I use Calibre to manage my library, and to keep track of different versions, metadata, and publishing status for each story.
The purpose of creating links between these apps (specifically linking Scrivener with Obsidian and Calibre) is to centralize my workflow and avoid duplicating information across the apps, and I was hoping to use Scrivener’s x-scrivener-item:// links to create a system where I could link directly to specific documents or research within Scrivener. For example:
I want to link a specific chapter in Scrivener to a detailed note in Obsidian so that I can easily switch between writing and brainstorming without losing context.
I want to ensure that metadata (such as author name, status, tags, etc.) I’ve entered in Calibre is reflected in Scrivener when working on that chapter or project.
The main goal here is to create a streamlined workflow where Scrivener is the center for writing, but I can seamlessly integrate ideas from Obsidian and Calibre without manually duplicating everything.
I forgot to mention that I also tried Scapple, thinking that the links would work with both softwares coming from the same firm, but that didn’t work either.
I use scapple like you propose using obsidian. If you drag the scapple file into document bookmarks in scrivener clicking on the scapple bookmark opens the specific scapple project. Suspect would do the same if drag the obsidian file into scrivener bookmarks. But can’t direct the file you open to specific spots in the program.
My workaround was having a plotting scapple project, then one for major, minor, and location boards. By smaller subboards easier to drill down. Don’t use obsidian so don’t this would apply but suggestion.
I just ran some tests. For me, Scrivener is working exactly as expected. Clicking on the external link in Word first opens the parent Scriv project, then opens the linked Scriv doc as a QuickRef panel. It works regardless of what Scriv projects are open at the time or were last closed.
Which I think is good news, as we just need to work out what’s different between your setup and mine.
First of all, thanks for your thorough walkthrough, which helped a lot, because it made me realize that Libreoffice Writer & OneNote treated it like an Web-URL, so I think that’s the difference, because if I insert it as a link to a document it opens the way it’s supposed to.
So that is libreoffice and Onenote fixed, so to speak, now I just need to figure out if it’s possible to change the link-type in Calibre and Obsidian as well.
In Obsidian, this should work (and does in my testing) using the syntax:
[text to link](x-scrivener-item://C:/Users/MM/Documents/tutorial.scriv?id=8A74843A-CAEE-4C5C-A2CA-EABF2EF2FE37)
If that’s not working for you, you might check on Obsidian plug-ins you have enabled that could be changing the way it handles links.
The default behaviour on Scrivener’s end will be to follow the option setting for “Open clicked document links in”, as shown in @JimRac’s screenshot, but you can modify the link to specify it opening in a different view, as described in the “Advanced External URL Options” section of 10.1.6 in Scrivener’s user manual.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work. It does open Scrivener, but only the project I had open last, not the specific one, or the file I’m trying to link to. Thank you though, because I haven’t even been able to open Scrivener from an Obsidian Link, so it’s progress, but not quite what I had hoped.
That’s likely an issue that could be reported to Obsidian and Calibre, though they may not be able to do much about it. The common thread there is that both of these tools are going to be using the Chromium web engine, at some level. Obsidian is an Electron-based program, which means it’s essentially a very complicated website running in a dedicated browser. So all of its behaviour and limitations will stem from Chromium. Calibre is native software, but it will be using the web kit to display ebooks themselves or edit them.
You can test the problem yourself with a broader scope:
Test checklist...
Copy an Obsidian link to a document.
In Scrivener, select some text and add a link, ensuring you use the no-prefix option, pasting the obsidian: link.
Click the link to test it from Scrivener. It should open the vault and switch to the note.
Now add an x-scrivener-item: link to some text.
Compile this test to .epub and open the ebook in Calibre viewer.
Both links should fail to work while in Calibre. You could also try compiling to HTML and opening that in your web browser. For me, Edge will allow the links to work.
I don’t know why the link would get some of the way there but not all the way, in the sense of it opening Scrivener and loading the project but not navigating. That’s confusing to me, but perhaps the link is not being sent fully.
Whatever the case, the key thing is that if links work in general on your system, but don’t work in some programs, the problem isn’t likely with Scrivener. By the time it gets the request, it has passed into the operating system from the original sender, and so we would not expect to see any variance in how it is handled. Whether it gets to the OS in the first place, or if its arrives damaged, is up to the program making the request.
Aha! I just realized I was on Obsidian 1.7.7. Having updated to 1.8.4, I’m now seeing the same behaviour; activating the link from Obsidian will launch Scrivener (to the new project window or projects open on quit, depending on your setting for that) but nothing more. 1.8.3 is the same. So this would be something to follow up with them—some change from 1.7.7 to 1.8.3 broke how it’s handling the link.
Meanwhile, I suppose if it’s worth it to you, you can downgrade to 1.7.7 and have this working…!
It has never been a matter of opening links to Obsidian files in Scrivener, but rather opening a link to a Scrivener file from Obsidian. The only option I’ve found thus far is creating an external link to the specific .rtf file that Scrivener creates, but outside of Scrivener. And that works, but that also means that it opens in LibreOffice Writer rather than in Scrivener.
Right, testing steps are often diagnostic rather than as a statement that this is what you should do, or a presumption that it is what you typically do.
Testing the Obsidian link from Scrivener tests that your computer is correctly configured to pass links normally, as would be testing the Scrivener link from an environment that is known to work. Thus, when it fails we can then conclude that it is a specific failure with the context the link is being used from, and not a global problem, or one indicating failure at the point of activation. That we test two different kinds of links in one context (Calibre) showing them both to fail, we can know it isn’t a Scrivener-specific problem.
It helps to determine to whom a bug should be filed.
I’m using Obsidian vs 1.6.7, and I’ve just tried your checklist, and I can’t open the Obsidian link from Scrivener. I have also tried compiling my Scrivener project and added a checkmark in “Insert links back to Scrivener in each section” and that doesn’t work either, instead it opens my browser and says it’s linking to a page that doesn’t exist. So I’m a good bit confused right now, and sorry if there is something I have misunderstood.
Hmm, what happens if you copy and paste an x-scrivener-item or obsidian link into Windows Run (❖R)? That should go through the main OS routing system directly and avoid any complications in the contexts they are being clicked from. If that doesn’t work there must be some deeper issue perhaps at the OS level, maybe a security software or setting that is blocking programs from opening other programs with links?
Pasting it in Windows Run works, and if I copy it into LibreOffice Writer and then edit it from an internet link to a document link it works as well, but that is also the only external software I have gotten it to work in.
Clicking on the external link in Word first opens the parent Scriv project, then opens the linked Scriv doc as a QuickRef panel. It works regardless of what Scriv projects are open at the time or were last closed.
