Obsidian & Stream Deck ⌨️
This page is in progress, I published it before I could get my thoughts together.
Stream Deck & Obsidian… Why?
So, if you are like me, you are always trying to find a way to up your game with your note-taking or adding automation to your workday, then you may have looked at the Elgato Stream Deck1 and thought yourself, “Wow, those Reddit folks sure do a lot with it.” The main issue I always find with Reddit and other forums is you are only shown, “Hey, this is what I made,” but there are only a few that will actually tell you how they went about doing it. Most of the time, you see folks going around saying they made it but then telling you to just go get the device and try. That can be a barrier to entry that makes your gears grind. Sometimes these ideas cost money, and that’s usually money you don’t have to throw away.
With all that being said, I want to figure out the next steps. So let’s dive in. Chances are this will be an ongoing series of posts as I figure out how to make the most of my Stream Deck and Obsidian. Check out the Stream Deck and Obsidian tags to see more posts on this topic. I will have links to other posts in this series at the bottom of this post.
What is the Stream Deck?
Stream Deck is just a programable keyboard with a screen behind each button. This allows you to choose what the button says and does, eliminating the need to print out little labels or memorize what button you set.
Do you need to use Steam Deck specifically?
No, you can use any programmable keyboard or leverage an application like AutoHotkey
Variations of Stream Deck
Stream Deck comes in a few flavors at the time of writing. The latest is the Stream Deck Neo, Which has been released as part of the new lower-cost Elgato product line that allows you to have 8 Customizable keys. This would be the smallest and easiest way to get started with the unit. This would be the one to start with compared to the smaller Stream Deck mini. (If your wallet drives the choice and you end up with the Mini, I can’t fault anyone for that. I started with it but ran into the 6 keys being too limiting.) Just be mindful that both the mini and the neo have cables being fixed to the unit, and if the cable goes wacky, you can’t swap it out.
The next step up would be the Stream Deck MK.2, which does have a removable cable and has 15 keys for you to leverage.
Footnotes
Disclaimer: I am not paid for any product recommendations in my blog posts. If that were to ever change, it would be clearly called out and transparent. ↩︎