Macro: Brain dump

A Capture closes after each entry, so writing down ten ideas means running it ten times. This macro opens its Brain dump entry Capture again after each entry: type, press Enter, type the next one, and press Esc when you’re done. Every entry becomes its own line in Inbox.md.

This example needs QuickAdd 2.29.0 or later. In earlier versions, each new prompt opened with the entry you had just saved.

Setup

Imported the package above? It adds the Brain dump macro, the Brain dump entry Capture, and scripts/brainDump.js. Follow After importing in the card, then skip to What you get.

1. Create the Capture. In Settings → QuickAdd, click New choice → Capture. Click its name at the top of the settings window and rename it Brain dump entry.

2. Set Capture to to Inbox.md and turn on Create file if it doesn’t exist.

3. Set Write position to Bottom of file.

4. Turn on Capture format and enter:

   - {{VALUE}}

5. Set Use editor selection as default value to Ignore selection, so text you have selected in a note doesn’t stand in for the first entry. Click Done.

6. Download brainDump.js and save it in your vault. QuickAdd doesn’t list scripts in .obsidian or in other folders whose names start with a dot.

7. Click New choice → Macro and rename it Brain dump. In the Macro builder, type brainDump in the User scripts box, pick the script, and click Add.

8. Turn Add to command palette on and click Done.

What you get

Run QuickAdd: Brain dump from the command palette. A prompt titled Text to capture opens. Type an entry and press Enter: QuickAdd adds it to Inbox.md and opens an empty prompt for the next one. Press Esc to stop. Nothing is written for the prompt you close.

After three entries, Inbox.md ends like this:

- Try a thinner sage glaze on the rims
- Price the espresso cups for Blue Harbor
- Ask Jonas if the saucers need a foot ring

Repeat a different Capture

The macro can repeat any Capture that asks for input, such as one that adds a task to today’s daily note. In Settings → QuickAdd, hover over Brain dump and click its cog, then click the cog on the brainDump step and enter that Capture’s name in Capture choice.

If the Capture you name doesn’t ask for anything, the macro runs it once and stops with a notice, so it can’t keep writing the same line.

The script’s loop is one line:

while (await askedForInput(() => params.quickAddApi.executeChoice(choice))) {}

executeChoice runs the Capture and rejects when you cancel its prompt, which ends the loop. askedForInput reports whether a dialog opened while the Capture ran, so a Capture that asks for nothing stops the loop too. The QuickAdd API page shows how to pass variables to the Capture.