windows-setup.md

Windows Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20+)
• Lively Wallpaper — free, open-source wallpaper engine from the Microsoft Store or GitHub

Install

git clone https://github.com/willytop8/obsidian-live-wallpaper.git
cd obsidian-live-wallpaper
npm install
copy config.example.json config.json

Edit config.json and set vaultPath to your Obsidian vault. Use forward slashes or escaped backslashes:

{
  "vaultPath": "C:/Users/You/Documents/MyVault",
  "accent": "#7c5cff",
  "refreshMs": 5000
}

Start the parser

npm start

Keep this terminal open (or run it as a background service — see below).

Set up Lively Wallpaper

1. Open Lively Wallpaper.
2. Click the + button → Open URL → paste http://127.0.0.1:3000.
3. Lively will render the local wallpaper server as your desktop wallpaper.

Recommended Lively settings

• Playback: keep running (so the animation stays alive)
• Input forwarding: off (clicks pass through to desktop)
• Pause rule: set to "Nothing" so the wallpaper stays active

Autostart the parser (optional)

Option A: Task Scheduler

1. Open Task Scheduler → Create Basic Task.
2. Trigger: At logon.
3. Action: Start a program.
   • Program: node (or the full path, e.g. C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe)
   • Arguments: parser.js
   • Start in: C:\Users\You\path\to\obsidian-live-wallpaper
4. Check "Open the Properties dialog" → under General, check Run whether user is logged on or not if you want it truly background.

Option B: pm2

npm install -g pm2
pm2 start parser.js --name vault-wallpaper
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Troubleshooting

• Blank wallpaper: check that graph.json exists in the project folder. If not, the parser isn't running or vaultPath is wrong.
• Lively shows a white page: make sure the parser is running and Lively is pointed at http://127.0.0.1:3000.
• Backslash paths not working: use forward slashes (C:/Users/...) in config.json — Node.js handles them fine on Windows.
• Nodes not updating: edit a note in Obsidian and check the parser terminal for output like graph: 42 nodes, 87 links.
• Performance: if your vault is 2000+ notes, increase refreshMs to 10000 in config.json.