Transparent Translate

What it does

• Display only

  Original, English and German are views. A mode switch or a translation never rewrites your Markdown, so search, backlinks and sync keep seeing what you wrote.

• Mixed-language notes

  Sentences are translated one by one, so a paragraph that switches language halfway comes out fully in the target language.

• Syntax stays intact

  Links, embeds, tags, math, code, footnotes and frontmatter are protected and never sent for rewriting.

• Edit in translated views

  Click a translated sentence to edit it, in Reading view or Live Preview. Every change is a normal editor change that undo reverts.

• A glossary that learns

  Fix a term once from the right-click menu and it applies to every sentence that contains it, per note, folder, tag or vault.

• File and folder names

  Optionally show translated names in the explorer, tabs and titles. Nothing is ever renamed.

• Bring your own model

  Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: a local server such as LM Studio, or a cloud provider. Each sentence is translated once and cached in your vault.

• Works on mobile

  Phones and tablets show translations made on a desktop and synced. They never call an API and need no key.

Install

Requires Obsidian 1.11.4 or later.

From Obsidian

Once the plugin is listed in the community directory: Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for "Transparent Translate", then Install and Enable.

Manually

1. Download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release.
2. Copy them to <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/transparent-translate/.
3. Reload Obsidian and enable Transparent Translate under Settings → Community plugins.

Set up

Open Settings → Transparent Translate, pick a provider (LM Studio, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Meta Model API or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint), choose a model and select Test. Then open a note and select the language button in its header.

Privacy: when you switch a note to English or German, the text of its sentences is sent to the endpoint you configure, and only there. With a local server nothing leaves your computer. The plugin has no telemetry. See Privacy and network use.