fix: native template autocomplete and durable indicator migration

Template file fields used an unstyled <datalist>, not Obsidian's native suggest popup. Replace it with TemplateFileSuggest, an AbstractInputSuggest<TFile> matching Templater's own FileSuggest/FolderSuggest pattern exactly. Requires Obsidian >=1.4.10; minAppVersion corrected.

The coloured-indicator default never reached existing installs: every install that loaded before that default changed had already persisted the prior default (indicatorMode: 'any') to data.json as if it were a deliberate choice, and Object.assign-based settings merging always prefers a value already on disk over a new code default. Hand-editing data.json directly does not fix this durably either -- Obsidian holds settings in memory while a vault is open and overwrites external edits on its own save cycle.

Add a one-time, code-level migration: on load, an install with a persisted indicatorMode of 'any' and no indicatorModeMigrated flag is promoted to 'systems' and the flag is persisted immediately, so it survives even a session with no further settings changes. Any indicatorMode chosen after the flag exists, any (deliberately) included, is never touched again.

DOCUMENTATION.md

@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ Configured systems live in `settings.dateSystems`, where array order is menu ord
 | `journal` | Journal | `periodic/journal` | `YYYY-MM-DD - [Journal]` | green (`#22c55e`) | one |
 | `meetings` | Meeting | `periodic/meetings` | `YYYY-MM-DD - {title}` | violet (`#a855f7`) | many |
 
-The default calendar mode is `systems`, while `any` preserves the older one-neutral-dot behaviour. Template file fields in both Periodic Notes and Date systems use a native `datalist` populated from every Markdown path in the vault (without the optional `.md` extension), so templates stored outside a conventional `Templates/` folder remain discoverable.
+The default calendar mode is `systems`, while `any` preserves the older one-neutral-dot behaviour. Existing installs that silently persisted the pre-`systems` default of `any` are promoted to `systems` exactly once, on load, via a `data.json`-level `indicatorModeMigrated` flag; a value chosen after that flag is set (including `any`) is never touched again. Template file fields in both Periodic Notes and Date systems use `TemplateFileSuggest`, an `AbstractInputSuggest<TFile>` (the same base class Templater's own template pickers use — Obsidian's native fuzzy-suggest popup, not an unstyled `<datalist>`), searching every Markdown path in the vault. `AbstractInputSuggest` requires Obsidian ≥1.4.10, hence `manifest.json`'s `minAppVersion`.
 
 ### Templater folder triggers
 

manifest.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 	"id": "waypoint-sidebar",
 	"name": "Waypoint Sidebar",
 	"version": "1.7.0",
-	"minAppVersion": "1.4.4",
+	"minAppVersion": "1.4.10",
 	"description": "Calendar, recent files, and custom bookmarks sidebar.",
 	"author": "Olivier",
 	"isDesktopOnly": false

src/main.ts

@@ -61,14 +61,26 @@ export default class WaypointPlugin extends Plugin {
 	/** Results for the displayed month; invalidated by markdown-file changes. */
 	private dateSystemIndicators: Map<string, DateSystemIndicator[]> | null = null;
 	private dateSystemIndicatorKey = '';
+	/**
+	 * True once `data.json` carries the post-migration schema. Set on every
+	 * load and included in every save, so a single migration run is durable
+	 * even if this session never triggers another settings write.
+	 */
+	private indicatorModeMigrated = false;
 
 	async onload(): Promise<void> {
 		console.debug('Waypoint: loading plugin v' + this.manifest.version);
 
 		// Load persisted data — data.json is read exactly once here.
 		const saved = await this.loadData() as Record<string, unknown> | null;
-		this.applySettings(saved);
+		const migrated = this.applySettings(saved);
 		this.applyWaypointData(saved);
+		if (migrated) {
+			// Persist immediately: an install that only ever reads data.json
+			// (never changes a setting or bookmark this session) must still
+			// keep the migrated value instead of re-migrating every load.
+			void this.persistAll();
+		}
 
 		// Register the sidebar view
 		this.registerView(
@@ -245,9 +257,11 @@ export default class WaypointPlugin extends Plugin {
 	/**
 	 * Merge persisted settings over the defaults. Nested objects are merged
 	 * individually so existing configs keep their values while picking up
-	 * fields added in newer versions.
+	 * fields added in newer versions. Returns true the one time a one-off
+	 * migration (see `indicatorModeMigrated` below) actually changes a value,
+	 * so the caller can persist that change immediately.
 	 */
-	private applySettings(saved: Record<string, unknown> | null): void {
+	private applySettings(saved: Record<string, unknown> | null): boolean {
 		const s = (saved?.settings || {}) as Partial<WaypointSettings>;
 		this.settings = Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_SETTINGS, s);
 		this.settings.recentFiles = Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_SETTINGS.recentFiles, s.recentFiles || {});
@@ -267,6 +281,22 @@ export default class WaypointPlugin extends Plugin {
 				return Object.assign({}, builtIn || DEFAULT_DATE_SYSTEM, sys);
 			})
 			: DEFAULT_SETTINGS.dateSystems.map(sys => Object.assign({}, sys));
+
+		// `indicatorMode` shipped with a default of 'any' before per-system
+		// colours existed, so every install that loaded before that default
+		// changed silently persisted 'any' to disk as if it were a deliberate
+		// choice — changing DEFAULT_SETTINGS alone can never reach an install
+		// that already has an explicit value on disk. Promote that one-time
+		// default to the current default exactly once; any choice made after
+		// this flag is set is real and must never be touched again.
+		const alreadyMigrated = saved?.indicatorModeMigrated === true;
+		let didMigrateValue = false;
+		if (!alreadyMigrated && s.calendar?.indicatorMode === 'any') {
+			this.settings.calendar.indicatorMode = 'systems';
+			didMigrateValue = true;
+		}
+		this.indicatorModeMigrated = true;
+		return didMigrateValue;
 	}
 
 	private applyWaypointData(saved: Record<string, unknown> | null): void {
@@ -301,6 +331,7 @@ export default class WaypointPlugin extends Plugin {
 			return this.saveData({
 				settings: this.settings,
 				waypointData: this.waypointData,
+				indicatorModeMigrated: this.indicatorModeMigrated,
 			});
 		});
 		// Keep the queue usable after a failed write without leaving an

src/settings-tab.ts

@@ -1,8 +1,36 @@
-import { Setting, PluginSettingTab, App, setIcon } from 'obsidian';
+import { Setting, PluginSettingTab, App, setIcon, AbstractInputSuggest, TFile } from 'obsidian';
 import type WaypointPlugin from 'src/main';
 import { WaypointSettings, DEFAULT_SETTINGS, DEFAULT_DATE_SYSTEM, PeriodNoteSettings } from 'src/settings';
 import { formatHasDateToken } from 'src/utils/date-systems';
 
+/**
+ * Vault-wide Markdown-file suggester for template-path fields, matching
+ * Obsidian's native suggest popup (same base class Templater's own template
+ * pickers use) rather than the browser's unstyled `<datalist>` dropdown.
+ */
+class TemplateFileSuggest extends AbstractInputSuggest<TFile> {
+	constructor(app: App, private inputEl: HTMLInputElement) {
+		super(app, inputEl);
+	}
+
+	getSuggestions(query: string): TFile[] {
+		const q = query.toLowerCase();
+		return this.app.vault.getMarkdownFiles()
+			.filter(file => file.path.toLowerCase().includes(q))
+			.slice(0, 200);
+	}
+
+	renderSuggestion(file: TFile, el: HTMLElement): void {
+		el.setText(file.path.replace(/\.md$/, ''));
+	}
+
+	selectSuggestion(file: TFile): void {
+		this.setValue(file.path.replace(/\.md$/, ''));
+		this.inputEl.trigger('input');
+		this.close();
+	}
+}
+
 export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 	private plugin: WaypointPlugin;
 	private settings: WaypointSettings;
@@ -129,20 +157,14 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 	// ═══════════════════════════════
 
 	private renderPeriodicTab(container: HTMLElement): void {
-		const templateSuggestionsId = this.createTemplateSuggestions(container);
+		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Daily', this.settings.daily);
-		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Daily', this.settings.daily, templateSuggestionsId);
+		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Weekly', this.settings.weekly);
-		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Weekly', this.settings.weekly, templateSuggestionsId);
+		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Monthly', this.settings.monthly);
-		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Monthly', this.settings.monthly, templateSuggestionsId);
+		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Quarterly', this.settings.quarterly);
-		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Quarterly', this.settings.quarterly, templateSuggestionsId);
+		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Yearly', this.settings.yearly);
-		this.addPeriodNoteSettings(container, 'Yearly', this.settings.yearly, templateSuggestionsId);
 	}
 
-	private addPeriodNoteSettings(
+	private addPeriodNoteSettings(container: HTMLElement, label: string, period: PeriodNoteSettings): void {
-		container: HTMLElement,
-		label: string,
-		period: PeriodNoteSettings,
-		templateSuggestionsId: string,
-	): void {
 		new Setting(container).setHeading().setName(label);
 
 		new Setting(container)
@@ -175,7 +197,7 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 			.addText((text) => {
 				text.setPlaceholder('Templates/Daily note');
 				text.setValue(period.templateFile);
-				text.inputEl.setAttr('list', templateSuggestionsId);
+				new TemplateFileSuggest(this.app, text.inputEl);
 				text.onChange((value) => {
 					period.templateFile = value;
 					this.saveAndRefresh();
@@ -211,8 +233,6 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 			.setName('Date systems')
 			.setDesc(intro);
 
-		const templateSuggestionsId = this.createTemplateSuggestions(container);
-
 		this.settings.dateSystems.forEach((system, i, arr) => {
 			new Setting(container)
 				.setHeading()
@@ -279,7 +299,7 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 
 			this.addSystemTextSetting(container,
 				'Template file', 'Path to the template file. The .md extension is optional.',
-				system, 'templateFile', 'resources/template/journal', templateSuggestionsId,
+				system, 'templateFile', 'resources/template/journal', true,
 			);
 			this.addSystemTextSetting(container,
 				'Type property', `Fallback value for the 'type' frontmatter property, used when no template is found.`,
@@ -327,7 +347,7 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		obj: Record<K, string>,
 		key: K,
 		placeholder: string,
-		templateSuggestionsId?: string,
+		suggestTemplates?: boolean,
 	): Setting {
 		return new Setting(container)
 			.setName(name)
@@ -335,7 +355,7 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 			.addText((text) => {
 				text.setPlaceholder(placeholder);
 				text.setValue(obj[key]);
-				if (templateSuggestionsId) text.inputEl.setAttr('list', templateSuggestionsId);
+				if (suggestTemplates) new TemplateFileSuggest(this.app, text.inputEl);
 				text.onChange((value) => {
 					obj[key] = value;
 					this.saveAndRefresh();
@@ -343,22 +363,6 @@ export class WaypointSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 			});
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Native datalist keeps template paths searchable without another custom
-	 * modal, and accepts templates stored anywhere in the vault.
-	 */
-	private createTemplateSuggestions(container: HTMLElement): string {
-		const id = 'waypoint-template-suggestions';
-		const list = container.createEl('datalist', { attr: { id } });
-		const paths = this.app.vault.getMarkdownFiles()
-			.map(file => file.path.replace(/\.md$/, ''))
-			.sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
-		for (const path of paths) {
-			list.createEl('option', { value: path });
-		}
-		return id;
-	}
-
 	// ═══════════════════════════════
 	//  Recent Files tab
 	// ═══════════════════════════════