Main Daemon
What the main daemon is, why it exists, and what features require it
The main daemon is a companion module that adds features Media Extended can't provide on its own. It loads into Obsidian's desktop environment, so there's no separate app to launch or keep running.
Why it exists
Some features need deeper access to Obsidian's environment than a community plugin normally gets. The daemon provides that access: it injects playback controls into web pages, manages stored credentials, and talks to video hosting sites for subtitle downloads and quality settings.
The setup wizard handles installation.
What the daemon adds
Without it, Media Extended is a local media player with timestamps, transcripts, and media notes. With the daemon, you also get:
- Web viewer. Browse YouTube, Bilibili, Coursera, Vimeo, and Baidu Pan inside Obsidian and take timestamps while watching. See Web Viewer for details.
- YouTube quality lock. Pin playback to a specific resolution so YouTube doesn't downgrade mid-video.
- Subtitle download. Pull captions from YouTube, Bilibili, and Coursera into the transcript panel.
- Audio track selection. Switch between audio tracks on YouTube videos, including auto-dubbed tracks.
- Screenshot capture. Grab still frames from web viewer videos and insert them into your notes.
- Password-protected media. Store credentials for HTTP-authenticated sources (WebDAV, Nextcloud, a personal NAS) so you don't re-enter them each time.
Credential storage is for self-hosted servers that use HTTP authentication. It doesn't handle login for streaming platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. Use the web viewer's built-in login flow for those.
Platform requirements
The main daemon requires the Obsidian desktop app with installer version 1.11.4 or later. If your installer is older, download the latest from obsidian.md and reinstall. Learn more about installer updates.
The daemon is not available on mobile. It's shared across all vaults on your machine: install once, and every vault with Media Extended picks it up.
Setting up and checking status
The setup wizard walks you through downloading and installing the daemon. See Set Up the Main Daemon for the steps.
After setup, check the daemon's status in Settings > Community plugins > Media Extended under Main daemon:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Connected | Running and ready. The installed version appears in parentheses. |
| Not installed | Run the setup wizard to install. |
| Upgrade needed | A newer version is available. Open the setup wizard to upgrade. |
If automatic download fails, grab the module file from the GitHub release page and install it manually through the wizard's file picker.