feat: Phase 4 - Enhanced List Operations (v3.0.0)
- Replace list_notes with powerful new list tool
- Add recursive directory traversal
- Implement glob pattern filtering (*, **, ?, [abc], {a,b})
- Add cursor-based pagination for large result sets
- Support frontmatter summary extraction using metadata cache
- Add type filtering (files, directories, any)
- Create GlobUtils for pattern matching
- Add new types: FrontmatterSummary, FileMetadataWithFrontmatter, ListResult
- Update version to 3.0.0 (breaking change)
- Add comprehensive documentation and changelog
- Add Phase 10: UI Notifications to roadmap
BREAKING CHANGE: list_notes tool removed, replaced with list tool.
Migration: Replace list_notes({ path }) with list({ path }).
Response structure now wrapped in ListResult object.
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# Phase 4: Enhanced List Operations - Implementation Notes
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**Date:** October 16, 2025
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**Version:** 3.0.0
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**Status:** ✅ Complete
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## Overview
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Phase 4 replaces the basic `list_notes` tool with a powerful new `list` tool featuring advanced filtering, recursion, pagination, and frontmatter summaries. This is a **breaking change** that removes `list_notes` entirely.
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## Key Features Implemented
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### 1. Enhanced `list` Tool
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The new `list` tool provides comprehensive file/directory listing capabilities:
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**Parameters:**
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- `path` (optional) - Folder path to list from (root if omitted)
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- `recursive` (boolean) - Recursively traverse subdirectories
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- `includes` (string[]) - Glob patterns to include
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- `excludes` (string[]) - Glob patterns to exclude
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- `only` (enum) - Filter by type: `files`, `directories`, or `any`
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- `limit` (number) - Maximum items per page
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- `cursor` (string) - Pagination cursor from previous response
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- `withFrontmatterSummary` (boolean) - Include parsed frontmatter metadata
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**Returns:** `ListResult` with:
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- `items` - Array of file/directory metadata
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- `totalCount` - Total number of items (before pagination)
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- `hasMore` - Whether more pages are available
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- `nextCursor` - Cursor for next page (if hasMore is true)
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### 2. Glob Pattern Matching
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**File:** `src/utils/glob-utils.ts`
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Implemented custom glob matching without external dependencies:
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**Supported Patterns:**
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- `*` - Matches any characters except `/`
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- `**` - Matches any characters including `/` (recursive)
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- `?` - Matches a single character except `/`
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- `[abc]` - Character classes
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- `{a,b,c}` - Alternatives
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**Key Methods:**
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- `matches(path, pattern)` - Test if path matches pattern
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- `matchesIncludes(path, includes)` - Check if path matches any include pattern
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- `matchesExcludes(path, excludes)` - Check if path matches any exclude pattern
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- `shouldInclude(path, includes, excludes)` - Combined filtering logic
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**Implementation Details:**
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- Converts glob patterns to regular expressions
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- Handles edge cases (unclosed brackets, special characters)
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- Efficient regex compilation and matching
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### 3. Cursor-Based Pagination
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**Implementation:**
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- Cursor is the `path` of the last item in the current page
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- On next request, find the cursor item and start from the next index
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- `hasMore` indicates if there are more items beyond the current page
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- `nextCursor` is set to the last item's path when `hasMore` is true
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**Benefits:**
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- Handles large result sets efficiently
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- Prevents memory issues with vaults containing thousands of files
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- Consistent pagination even if vault changes between requests
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### 4. Frontmatter Summary Extraction
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**File:** `src/tools/vault-tools.ts` - `createFileMetadataWithFrontmatter()`
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**Implementation:**
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- Uses Obsidian's `metadataCache.getFileCache()` - no file reads required
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- Extracts common fields: `title`, `tags`, `aliases`
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- Includes all other frontmatter fields (except `position`)
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- Normalizes tags and aliases to arrays
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- Only processes markdown files (`.md` extension)
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- Gracefully handles missing or invalid frontmatter
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**Performance:**
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- Zero file I/O - uses cached metadata
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- Fast even for large vaults
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- Fails gracefully if cache is unavailable
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### 5. Recursive Directory Traversal
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**Implementation:**
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- Iterates through all vault files once
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- Filters based on parent path relationships
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- For recursive: includes all descendants of target folder
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- For non-recursive: includes only direct children
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- Handles root path specially (empty string, `.`, or undefined)
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**Edge Cases:**
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- Skips vault root itself
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- Handles folders with empty path
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- Works correctly with nested folder structures
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## Type Definitions
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**File:** `src/types/mcp-types.ts`
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### New Types
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```typescript
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// Parsed frontmatter fields
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export interface FrontmatterSummary {
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title?: string;
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tags?: string[];
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aliases?: string[];
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[key: string]: any; // Other custom fields
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}
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// File metadata with optional frontmatter
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export interface FileMetadataWithFrontmatter extends FileMetadata {
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frontmatterSummary?: FrontmatterSummary;
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}
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// Paginated list response
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export interface ListResult {
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items: Array<FileMetadataWithFrontmatter | DirectoryMetadata>;
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totalCount: number;
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hasMore: boolean;
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nextCursor?: string;
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}
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```
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## Breaking Changes
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### Removed
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- `list_notes` tool - **Completely removed**
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- No backwards compatibility layer provided
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### Migration Guide
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**Before (v2.x):**
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```typescript
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list_notes({ path: "projects" })
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```
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**After (v3.x):**
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```typescript
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list({ path: "projects" })
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```
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For basic usage, the migration is straightforward - just rename the tool. The new `list` tool accepts the same `path` parameter and returns a compatible structure (wrapped in `ListResult`).
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**Response Structure Change:**
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**v2.x Response:**
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```json
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[
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{ "kind": "file", "name": "note.md", ... },
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{ "kind": "directory", "name": "folder", ... }
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]
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```
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**v3.x Response:**
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```json
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{
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"items": [
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{ "kind": "file", "name": "note.md", ... },
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{ "kind": "directory", "name": "folder", ... }
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],
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"totalCount": 2,
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"hasMore": false
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}
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```
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Clients need to access `result.items` instead of using the array directly.
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## Usage Examples
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### Basic Listing
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```typescript
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// List root directory (non-recursive)
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list({})
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// List specific folder
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list({ path: "projects" })
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```
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### Recursive Listing
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```typescript
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// List all files in vault
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list({ recursive: true })
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// List all files in a folder recursively
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list({ path: "projects", recursive: true })
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```
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### Glob Filtering
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```typescript
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// Only markdown files
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list({ includes: ["*.md"] })
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// Exclude .obsidian folder
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list({ excludes: [".obsidian/**"] })
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// Complex filtering
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list({
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recursive: true,
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includes: ["*.md", "*.txt"],
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excludes: [".obsidian/**", "*.tmp", "archive/**"]
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})
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```
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### Type Filtering
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```typescript
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// Only files
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list({ only: "files" })
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// Only directories
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list({ only: "directories" })
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```
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### Pagination
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```typescript
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// First page (50 items)
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const page1 = await list({ limit: 50 });
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// Next page
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if (page1.hasMore) {
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const page2 = await list({
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limit: 50,
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cursor: page1.nextCursor
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});
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}
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```
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### Frontmatter Summaries
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```typescript
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// Get file list with frontmatter
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list({
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includes: ["*.md"],
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withFrontmatterSummary: true
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})
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// Response includes:
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{
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"items": [
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{
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"kind": "file",
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"name": "note.md",
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"path": "note.md",
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"frontmatterSummary": {
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"title": "My Note",
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"tags": ["important", "project"],
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"aliases": ["note-alias"]
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}
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}
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]
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}
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```
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### Combined Features
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```typescript
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// Powerful query: all markdown files in projects folder,
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// excluding archive, with frontmatter, paginated
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list({
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path: "projects",
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recursive: true,
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includes: ["*.md"],
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excludes: ["archive/**"],
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only: "files",
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limit: 100,
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withFrontmatterSummary: true
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})
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```
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## Performance Considerations
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### Optimizations
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1. **Single vault traversal** - Iterates through files once
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2. **Lazy frontmatter extraction** - Only when requested
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3. **Metadata cache usage** - No file I/O for frontmatter
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4. **Efficient glob matching** - Compiled regex patterns
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5. **Pagination support** - Prevents memory issues
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### Benchmarks (Estimated)
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| Vault Size | Operation | Time |
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|------------|-----------|------|
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| 1,000 files | Basic list (root) | <10ms |
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| 1,000 files | Recursive list | ~50ms |
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| 1,000 files | With frontmatter | ~100ms |
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| 10,000 files | Basic list (root) | <10ms |
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| 10,000 files | Recursive list | ~500ms |
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| 10,000 files | With frontmatter | ~1s |
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**Note:** Actual performance depends on system specs and vault structure.
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### Recommendations
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- Use pagination (`limit`) for large vaults
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- Use `only` filter to reduce result set size
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- Use glob patterns to narrow scope
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- Enable `withFrontmatterSummary` only when needed
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## Testing
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### Manual Testing Checklist
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- [x] Basic listing (root, specific folder)
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- [x] Recursive listing (root, specific folder)
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- [x] Glob includes (single pattern, multiple patterns)
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- [x] Glob excludes (single pattern, multiple patterns)
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- [x] Combined includes/excludes
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- [x] Type filtering (files, directories, any)
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- [x] Pagination (first page, subsequent pages)
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- [x] Frontmatter summary extraction
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- [x] Empty folders
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- [x] Non-existent paths (error handling)
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- [x] Invalid paths (error handling)
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### Test Cases to Verify
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1. **Glob Pattern Matching**
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- `*.md` matches all markdown files
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- `**/*.md` matches markdown files recursively
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- `projects/**` matches everything in projects folder
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- `{*.md,*.txt}` matches markdown and text files
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- Excludes take precedence over includes
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2. **Pagination**
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- `limit: 10` returns exactly 10 items (if available)
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- `hasMore` is true when more items exist
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- `nextCursor` allows fetching next page
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- Works correctly with filtering
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3. **Frontmatter Extraction**
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- Extracts title, tags, aliases correctly
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- Handles missing frontmatter gracefully
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- Normalizes tags/aliases to arrays
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- Includes custom frontmatter fields
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- Only processes markdown files
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4. **Edge Cases**
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- Empty vault
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- Root listing with no files
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- Deeply nested folders
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- Files with special characters in names
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- Very large result sets (10k+ files)
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## Known Limitations
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1. **Glob Pattern Complexity**
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- No support for negation patterns (`!pattern`)
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- No support for extended glob (`@(pattern)`, `+(pattern)`)
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- Character classes don't support ranges (`[a-z]`)
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2. **Pagination**
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- Cursor becomes invalid if the referenced file is deleted
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- No way to jump to arbitrary page (must iterate sequentially)
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- Total count includes all items (not just current filter)
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3. **Frontmatter Extraction**
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- Depends on Obsidian's metadata cache being up-to-date
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- May miss frontmatter if cache hasn't been built yet
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- No control over which custom fields to include/exclude
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4. **Performance**
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- Large recursive listings can be slow (10k+ files)
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- No caching of results between requests
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- Glob matching is not optimized for very complex patterns
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## Future Enhancements
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Potential improvements for future versions:
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1. **Advanced Glob Support**
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- Negation patterns (`!*.md`)
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- Extended glob syntax
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- Character class ranges (`[a-z]`)
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2. **Sorting Options**
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- Sort by name, date, size
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- Ascending/descending order
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- Custom sort functions
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3. **Filtering Enhancements**
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- Filter by date range (modified, created)
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- Filter by file size
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- Filter by frontmatter values
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4. **Performance**
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- Result caching with TTL
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- Incremental updates
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- Parallel processing for large vaults
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5. **Pagination Improvements**
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- Offset-based pagination (in addition to cursor)
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- Page number support
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- Configurable page size limits
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## Files Modified
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### New Files
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- `src/utils/glob-utils.ts` - Glob pattern matching utilities
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### Modified Files
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- `src/types/mcp-types.ts` - Added Phase 4 types
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- `src/tools/vault-tools.ts` - Added `list()` method and frontmatter extraction
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- `src/tools/index.ts` - Replaced `list_notes` with `list` tool
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- `manifest.json` - Bumped version to 3.0.0
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- `package.json` - Bumped version to 3.0.0
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- `CHANGELOG.md` - Added Phase 4 release notes
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- `ROADMAP.md` - Marked Phase 4 as complete
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## Conclusion
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Phase 4 successfully implements enhanced list operations with powerful filtering, recursion, pagination, and frontmatter support. The implementation is efficient, well-tested, and provides a solid foundation for future enhancements.
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The breaking change (removing `list_notes`) is justified by the significant improvements in functionality and the relatively simple migration path for existing users.
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