An option, do not close an existing tab the user is in when a duplicate tab is opened and the user goes to the original tab

[TonyAtlas]

I am in the note I need. I also have a daly note open.

I press the keyboard shortcut that opens the daly note and I am taken to the already opened daly note as I need. But it closes the note I need.

I found the “Always open in new tab” option, but it doesn't work for me. I am generally satisfied with the logic of working with tabs in Obsidian itself, except for working with duplicate tabs.

Is it possible to keep the logic of Obsidian and at the same time add a transfer to the original tab without closing the tab I am in now?

I've long wanted the ability to suppress duplicate tabs. I found another plugin for this, but it conflicts with another plugin, so it had to be abandoned.

Your plugin is able to combine a comprehensive approach to working with tabs and the function of closing duplicate tabs. For me it would become a 2 in 1.

[oxdc]

Hi @TonyAtlas ! Thank you for reporting the issue. May I ask which Tab Navigation Strategy are you using? Cause if you choose the "IDE" mode, the newly opened note is ephemeral by default (italic title). When you navigate to another note, the ephemeral tab will be automatically closed. This designed is implemented in many code editors and IDEs to reduce the number of unused tabs. If you wish to keep the tab, all you need to do is double click the tab to make it non-ephemeral (normal title). Please see the demo video below.

ephemeral_tabs_demo.mp4

There are other ways to make a tab non-ephemeral:

• When you open a new note, double click it.
• Open a new note from the Quick Switcher.
• Drag the tab to reorder it.
• Pin the tab.
• Execute the command "Set all tabs non-ephemeral".
• Close other tabs.

change_tab_status.mp4

[TonyAtlas]

Thanks for the detailed answer and the video for clarity.

I'm trying to reproduce the following tab behavior:

• I have tab x open (daily note)
• I have tab y
• While in tab y I press a hotkey that opens today's note (i.e. the same tab x)
• I am taken to the already opened tab x without closing tab y.

Since the tab is ephemeral by default, the last point doesn't work.
No matter what note I am in, when I open a duplicate tab, it closes that note and takes me to the tab where the duplicate note is open.

I'm used to a scenario where tabs don't close themselves when I switch to another tab, so I just forget to double-click to keep the tab open. For me this is an extra unnecessary action.

What I need is that this tab would not be closed if it is not a duplicate tab, and I would just be transferred to the duplicate tab.

In other cases I would like to keep the behavior of tabs as Obsidian has now.

And of course I would like it to work without the need to pin tabs.

[oxdc]

I'm used to a scenario where tabs don't close themselves when I switch to another tab

Hi @TonyAtlas ! You can customize your own tab navigation strategy to achieve this! No need to double click the tab to make it non-ephemeral! Please follow these steps:

• Update Vertical Tabs to the latest version.
• Restart Obsidian.
• Go to the settings of Vertical Tabs.
• In the "Tab Navigation" section, choose a "Custom" strategy.
• In the next line you'll see "Copy from existing strategy". Choose "IDE" from the dropdown menu.
• Now, you should see an option called "Auto close ephemeral tabs" a few lines below. Toggle it off.

This should work as you expected. If not, please submit a bug report or simply comment below.

[oxdc]

Hi @TonyAtlas ! I just thought I forgot something.

I realize that you only need to deduplicate the tabs? Am I correct? Anyway, in your use case, you don't need the ephemeral tabs at all. If this is true, please select the "Notebook" mode.

Let me explain the design of ephemeral tabs and why do they behave like this by default. The scenario is:

• You don't want your tabs being replaced when opening new notes (the default behavior of Obsidian doesn't suit your needs). You need all the notes you are working on.
• But sometimes you need to quickly skimming through dozens of notes to find something. You don't need these notes when you are done. So, the tabs are ephemeral by default. They will be automatically closed if you navigate away.
• If you find the thing you want, you double click the tab to let Vertical Tabs know you are working on it. It won't be closed because you intentionally told Vertical Tabs that "you need it".

If the above description doesn't sounds like what you need, then you are using the wrong navigation strategy. Try not changing your habits to adopt to some unfamiliar strategy. The design of Vertical Tabs is to minimize your mental effort. If you need further help, feel free to comment below.

[oxdc]

I’ll convert this to a Q&A discussion, as it seems more likely to be a usage issue. If you encounter any unexpected behavior, please leave a comment there, and I’ll investigate to determine if it’s a bug. Thank you!

[TonyAtlas]

upd.

While using the plugin, I realized that the tab stops being ephemeral as soon as I changed something in it.

I want to use the plugin more and see if it is optimal for me. So maybe this scenario will work for me and I just need to get used to it.

I'm also not used to the fact that when I'm not in an ephemeral tab and open another tab, in Obsidian I usually just open another tab on top (and if I need a tab in a new window, I open it by pressing Ctrl), but now I'm always taken to another tab. I chose the IDE anvigation strategy.

Anyway I'll just try to work around this for now. But if there are variants how it can be removed, I will be glad if you will suggest a solution.

[oxdc]

the tab stops being ephemeral as soon as I changed something in it.

Yes! This is the designed behavior. The same is implemented in code editors like VSCode.

I'm also not used to the fact that when I'm not in an ephemeral tab and open another tab, in Obsidian I usually just open another tab on top (and if I need a tab in a new window, I open it by pressing Ctrl), but now I'm always taken to another tab. I chose the IDE anvigation strategy.

I'm not sure if I understand correctly. My interpretation is, sometimes, you need to deduplicate the tabs, but sometimes you prefer to open a duplicated tab, for example, by pressing CTRL and clicking the file.

Example 1: by default, deduplicating the tabs

• You have tab X open.
• You are in tab Y.
• When you click file X, you are navigated to the already-opened tab X.

Example 2: allow duplicated tabs when pressing CTRL.

• You have tab X open.
• You are in tab Y.
• When you click file X while holding the CTRL key, a new tab X' is opened.

To achieve example 1, make sure you have enabled tab deduplication, such as the IDE mode. To achieve something close to example 2, you can open the note X in a new window. You can see more options if you customize your own tab navigation strategy.