Sunset Mesa Software
Text transforms and AI edits in Obsidian, without plugins
Rewire Text works on selected text in Obsidian the same way it works everywhere: select a block in a note, press the hotkey, pick a transform, and the result replaces the selection. No plugin to install, nothing added to your vault, and the same tool keeps working when you leave Obsidian for your browser or email. For the local-first crowd, the fit is deliberate: deterministic transforms never touch the network, and the AI transforms can run against Ollama on your own machine.
Watch the core move
This is the whole interaction, captured in Obsidian: select the block, press Cmd+Shift+, (or Ctrl+Shift+, on Windows), pick a transform in the palette, and the note updates in place.
The Markdown jobs Obsidian leaves to you
Merge one note into another and every heading in the pasted section is suddenly one level too shallow. Obsidian will not fix that for you; Increase Heading Level does, for the whole selection at once.
Before
# Project kickoff Notes from the first call. ## Open questions - Budget owner?
After
## Project kickoff Notes from the first call. ### Open questions - Budget owner?
Before
**Decision:** we ship the *beta* on [the new domain](https://example.com) next week.
After
Decision: we ship the beta on the new domain next week.
Strip Markdown Formatting is the companion move for the opposite direction: taking a chunk of a note somewhere Markdown does not belong, like an email or a form. And Slugify turns a note title into a URL-ready slug when a note becomes a post.
AI edits, on your terms
Select a rambling paragraph and run Summarize, Improve Clarity, or Proofread; the result streams into the palette's preview and only replaces the note text when you accept it. All of it is bring-your-own-key (Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, Grok, OpenRouter, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint), and all of it also runs against a local model, which keeps vault text on your machine entirely. That combination (no plugin, no account, no required cloud) is hard to find inside the plugin ecosystem itself.
Transforms for this workflow
- Increase Heading Level
- Decrease Heading Level
- Strip Markdown Formatting
- Slugify
- Summarize
- Proofread
- Improve Clarity
Part of 50+ built-in transforms. See the full list
Questions
Do I need to install an Obsidian plugin?
No. Rewire Text works on the selected text through the clipboard, from outside the app. Nothing is added to your vault, no plugin updates to manage, and no conflicts with the plugins you already run.
Does my vault stay private?
The deterministic transforms never touch the network, and with a local model (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp) the AI transforms run entirely on your machine too, which suits how most Obsidian people think about their notes. With a cloud key, only the text you select is sent, directly to the provider you chose.
Where does it work inside Obsidian?
In the editor, wherever you can select and edit text. Select a block in a note, press the hotkey, run the transform, and the result replaces the selection in place.
How far do the heading transforms shift?
Increase Heading Level adds one # to every heading in the selection and caps at H6; Decrease Heading Level removes one and stops at H1. Run either on a whole pasted section to re-seat it in one pass.
Why not just use an Obsidian AI plugin?
Plugins are a fine choice, and a deep one can do vault-aware things Rewire Text does not attempt (linking notes, chatting over your vault). The trade is that a plugin lives only inside Obsidian. Rewire Text is one tool, one hotkey, and one BYOK setup that works in Obsidian and in your browser, email, and editor alike, and it adds the deterministic catalog no plugin bundles.
Try it on your own text
Download Rewire Text and use everything free for 7 days. Buy it once for $29 and it runs on any two of your devices, macOS or Windows.