fix: add blank-line mode for insert after

Author: chhoumann

docs/docs/Choices/CaptureChoice.md

@@ -57,10 +57,15 @@ If you have a tag called `#people`, and you type `#people` in the _Capture To_ f
 ## Insert after
 
 Insert After will allow you to insert the text after some line with the specified text.
-If the matched line is followed by one or more blank lines (including whitespace-only
-lines), QuickAdd inserts after those blank lines to preserve spacing under headings.
+By default, QuickAdd preserves blank lines after ATX headings to keep heading
+spacing intact. Use **Blank lines after match** to control this behavior:
 
-Example (Insert After `# H` with content `X`):
+-   **Auto (headings only)** - Skip blank lines only when the matched line is
+    a Markdown heading.
+-   **Always skip** - Skip all consecutive blank lines after the match.
+-   **Never skip** - Insert immediately after the matched line.
+
+Example (Auto, Insert After `# H` with content `X`):
 
 ```markdown
 # H

src/formatters/captureChoiceFormatter-frontmatter.test.ts

@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ const createChoice = (overrides: Partial<ICaptureChoice> = {}): ICaptureChoice =
   prepend: false,
   appendLink: false,
   task: false,
-  insertAfter: { enabled: false, after: '', insertAtEnd: false, considerSubsections: false, createIfNotFound: false, createIfNotFoundLocation: '' },
+  insertAfter: { enabled: false, after: '', insertAtEnd: false, considerSubsections: false, createIfNotFound: false, createIfNotFoundLocation: '', blankLineAfterMatchMode: 'auto' },
   newLineCapture: { enabled: false, direction: 'below' },
   openFile: false,
   fileOpening: { location: 'tab', direction: 'vertical', mode: 'default', focus: true },
@@ -205,7 +205,10 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     return { formatter, file };
   };
 
-  const createInsertAfterChoice = (after: string): ICaptureChoice =>
+  const createInsertAfterChoice = (
+    after: string,
+    blankLineAfterMatchMode?: 'auto' | 'skip' | 'none',
+  ): ICaptureChoice =>
     createChoice({
       insertAfter: {
         enabled: true,
@@ -214,10 +217,11 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
         considerSubsections: false,
         createIfNotFound: false,
         createIfNotFoundLocation: '',
+        blankLineAfterMatchMode,
       },
     });
 
-  it('skips one blank line after the match', async () => {
+  it('auto mode skips one blank line after a heading match', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = ['# H', '', 'A'].join('\n');
@@ -232,7 +236,7 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     expect(result).toBe(['# H', '', 'X', 'A'].join('\n'));
   });
 
-  it('skips multiple blank lines after the match', async () => {
+  it('auto mode skips multiple blank lines after a heading match', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = ['# H', '', '', 'A'].join('\n');
@@ -247,7 +251,7 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     expect(result).toBe(['# H', '', '', 'X', 'A'].join('\n'));
   });
 
-  it('treats whitespace-only lines as blank', async () => {
+  it('auto mode treats whitespace-only lines as blank', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = ['# H', '   \t', 'A'].join('\n');
@@ -262,7 +266,7 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     expect(result).toBe(['# H', '   \t', 'X', 'A'].join('\n'));
   });
 
-  it('keeps behavior unchanged when no blank lines follow', async () => {
+  it('auto mode keeps behavior unchanged when no blank lines follow', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = ['# H', 'A'].join('\n');
@@ -277,7 +281,7 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     expect(result).toBe(['# H', 'X', 'A'].join('\n'));
   });
 
-  it('keeps behavior unchanged when match is at EOF', async () => {
+  it('auto mode keeps behavior unchanged when match is at EOF', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = '# H';
@@ -292,7 +296,7 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
     expect(result).toBe('# H\nX\n');
   });
 
-  it('handles CRLF content when skipping blank lines', async () => {
+  it('auto mode handles CRLF content when skipping blank lines', async () => {
     const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
     const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H');
     const fileContent = '# H\r\n\r\nA';
@@ -306,4 +310,49 @@ describe('CaptureChoiceFormatter insert after blank lines', () => {
 
     expect(result).toBe('# H\r\n\r\nX\nA');
   });
+
+  it('auto mode does not skip blanks for non-heading matches', async () => {
+    const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
+    const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('- Item 1');
+    const fileContent = ['- Item 1', '', '- Item 2'].join('\n');
+
+    const result = await formatter.formatContentWithFile(
+      'X\n',
+      choice,
+      fileContent,
+      file,
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toBe(['- Item 1', 'X', '', '- Item 2'].join('\n'));
+  });
+
+  it('always skip mode skips blank lines after non-heading matches', async () => {
+    const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
+    const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('- Item 1', 'skip');
+    const fileContent = ['- Item 1', '', '- Item 2'].join('\n');
+
+    const result = await formatter.formatContentWithFile(
+      'X\n',
+      choice,
+      fileContent,
+      file,
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toBe(['- Item 1', '', 'X', '- Item 2'].join('\n'));
+  });
+
+  it('never skip mode inserts immediately after the match', async () => {
+    const { formatter, file } = createFormatter();
+    const choice = createInsertAfterChoice('# H', 'none');
+    const fileContent = ['# H', '', 'A'].join('\n');
+
+    const result = await formatter.formatContentWithFile(
+      'X\n',
+      choice,
+      fileContent,
+      file,
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toBe(['# H', 'X', '', 'A'].join('\n'));
+  });
 });

src/formatters/captureChoiceFormatter.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 } from "../constants";
 import { log } from "../logger/logManager";
 import type ICaptureChoice from "../types/choices/ICaptureChoice";
+import type { BlankLineAfterMatchMode } from "../types/choices/ICaptureChoice";
 import { templaterParseTemplate } from "../utilityObsidian";
 import { reportError } from "../utils/errorUtils";
 import { CompleteFormatter } from "./completeFormatter";
@@ -198,13 +199,31 @@ export class CaptureChoiceFormatter extends CompleteFormatter {
 		return partialIndex; // -1 if no match at all
 	}
 
+	private shouldSkipBlankLinesAfterMatch(
+		mode: BlankLineAfterMatchMode,
+		line: string,
+	): boolean {
+		if (mode === "skip") return true;
+		if (mode === "none") return false;
+		return this.isAtxHeading(line);
+	}
+
+	private isAtxHeading(line: string): boolean {
+		return /^\s{0,3}#{1,6}\s+\S/.test(line);
+	}
+
 	private findInsertAfterPositionWithBlankLines(
 		lines: string[],
 		matchIndex: number,
 		body: string,
+		mode: BlankLineAfterMatchMode,
 	): number {
 		if (matchIndex < 0) return matchIndex;
 
+		const matchLine = lines[matchIndex] ?? "";
+		const shouldSkip = this.shouldSkipBlankLinesAfterMatch(mode, matchLine);
+		if (!shouldSkip) return matchIndex;
+
 		// Ignore the trailing empty line that results from split("\n") when the
 		// file ends with a newline. This preserves existing EOF behavior.
 		const scanLimit = body.endsWith("\n")
@@ -257,10 +276,13 @@ export class CaptureChoiceFormatter extends CompleteFormatter {
 
 			targetPosition = endOfSectionIndex ?? fileContentLines.length - 1;
 		} else {
+			const blankLineMode =
+				this.choice.insertAfter?.blankLineAfterMatchMode ?? "auto";
 			targetPosition = this.findInsertAfterPositionWithBlankLines(
 				fileContentLines,
 				targetPosition,
 				this.fileContent,
+				blankLineMode,
 			);
 		}
 

src/gui/ChoiceBuilder/captureChoiceBuilder.ts

@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ export class CaptureChoiceBuilder extends ChoiceBuilder {
 		const descText =
 			"Insert capture after specified line. Accepts format syntax. " +
 			"Tip: use a heading (starts with #) to target a section. " +
-			"If the matched line is followed by blank lines, QuickAdd inserts after them to preserve spacing.";
+			"Blank line handling is configurable below.";
 
 		new Setting(this.contentEl)
 			.setName("Insert after")
@@ -466,9 +466,43 @@ export class CaptureChoiceBuilder extends ChoiceBuilder {
 			.addToggle((toggle) =>
 				toggle
 					.setValue(this.choice.insertAfter?.insertAtEnd)
-					.onChange((value) => (this.choice.insertAfter.insertAtEnd = value)),
+					.onChange((value) => {
+						this.choice.insertAfter.insertAtEnd = value;
+						this.reload();
+					}),
 			);
 
+		if (!this.choice.insertAfter?.blankLineAfterMatchMode) {
+			this.choice.insertAfter.blankLineAfterMatchMode = "auto";
+		}
+
+		const blankLineModeDesc =
+			"Controls whether Insert After skips existing blank lines after the matched line.";
+		const insertAtEndEnabled = !!this.choice.insertAfter?.insertAtEnd;
+		const blankLineModeSetting: Setting = new Setting(this.contentEl);
+		blankLineModeSetting
+			.setName("Blank lines after match")
+			.setDesc(
+				insertAtEndEnabled
+					? "Not used when inserting at end of section."
+					: blankLineModeDesc,
+			)
+			.addDropdown((dropdown) => {
+				dropdown
+					.addOption("auto", "Auto (headings only)")
+					.addOption("skip", "Always skip")
+					.addOption("none", "Never skip")
+					.setValue(this.choice.insertAfter.blankLineAfterMatchMode)
+					.onChange((value) => {
+						this.choice.insertAfter.blankLineAfterMatchMode = value as
+							| "auto"
+							| "skip"
+							| "none";
+					});
+				dropdown.setDisabled(insertAtEndEnabled);
+			});
+		blankLineModeSetting.setDisabled(insertAtEndEnabled);
+
 		new Setting(this.contentEl)
 			.setName("Consider subsections")
 			.setDesc(

src/types/choices/CaptureChoice.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Choice } from "./Choice";
 import type ICaptureChoice from "./ICaptureChoice";
+import type { BlankLineAfterMatchMode } from "./ICaptureChoice";
 import type { OpenLocation, FileViewMode2 } from "../fileOpening";
 import type { AppendLinkOptions } from "../linkPlacement";
 
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ export class CaptureChoice extends Choice implements ICaptureChoice {
 		considerSubsections: boolean;
 		createIfNotFound: boolean;
 		createIfNotFoundLocation: string;
+		blankLineAfterMatchMode?: BlankLineAfterMatchMode;
 	};
 	newLineCapture: {
 		enabled: boolean;
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ export class CaptureChoice extends Choice implements ICaptureChoice {
 			considerSubsections: false,
 			createIfNotFound: false,
 			createIfNotFoundLocation: "top",
+			blankLineAfterMatchMode: "auto",
 		};
 		this.newLineCapture = {
 			enabled: false,
@@ -88,6 +91,9 @@ export class CaptureChoice extends Choice implements ICaptureChoice {
 		if (loaded.templater.afterCapture !== "wholeFile") {
 			loaded.templater.afterCapture = "none";
 		}
+		if (loaded.insertAfter && !loaded.insertAfter.blankLineAfterMatchMode) {
+			loaded.insertAfter.blankLineAfterMatchMode = "auto";
+		}
 		return loaded;
 	}
 }

src/types/choices/ICaptureChoice.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import type IChoice from "./IChoice";
 import type { AppendLinkOptions } from "../linkPlacement";
 import type { OpenLocation, FileViewMode2 } from "../fileOpening";
 
+export type BlankLineAfterMatchMode = "auto" | "skip" | "none";
+
 export default interface ICaptureChoice extends IChoice {
 	captureTo: string;
 	captureToActiveFile: boolean;
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ export default interface ICaptureChoice extends IChoice {
 		considerSubsections: boolean;
 		createIfNotFound: boolean;
 		createIfNotFoundLocation: string;
+		blankLineAfterMatchMode?: BlankLineAfterMatchMode;
 	};
 	newLineCapture: {
 		enabled: boolean;