prompt for file capture after the prompt for value

[tiovialde]

I am a newbie user of Quickadd, it's a very powerful tool and simple to use, but...

I want to have one all-purpose command for quickly adding one line ideas to various notes as it comes to mind, and I don't want to do this into the daily notes because I don't really use linked mentions that much (I know I can just link the file on the same line but I don't want to do it this way)

SO I tried to not specify the file where I want to capture, thinking that I could open the popup menu to add the value and after adding the value the plugin would ask me where I want to add this, but instead it first asks me where I want to add my capture and only then it asks about what I want to add, but it's counter-productive because by thinking about where I need to add the information in my short-term memory, I forget what I wanted to add into the note in the first place.

Can anyone suggest a way to do it in this flipped order? Or is this beyond what the plugin is meant for?

Any help is appreciated.

[chhoumann]

Sorry for the slow reply here.

Short version: the capture target (the file picker) always resolves before the content is formatted, and there's no setting to flip that order in a plain Capture. But you can get exactly the flow you want - ask WHAT first, then WHERE - by wrapping your capture in a two-step Macro. Step one is a tiny user script that prompts for the idea and stashes it in a variable; step two is your Capture, which reads that variable back so it never prompts for it again.

Here's the whole thing:

1. Make a user script file in your vault, e.g. scripts/prompt-idea.js:

module.exports = async (params) => {
	params.variables.idea = await params.quickAddApi.inputPrompt("What's the idea?");
};

2. Create a Macro choice (call it "Add idea") and add two commands to it, in this order:

   • User Script -> select prompt-idea.js
   • Capture -> your capture choice, configured as below

3. In that Capture step:

   • Capture To: leave it empty so QuickAdd shows the file picker
   • Capture format: - {{VALUE:idea}} (anything you like - the important part is {{VALUE:idea}}, which has to match the variable name the script set)

Run the macro and it asks "What's the idea?" first, then opens the file picker - and because the script already filled idea, the capture doesn't ask for it a second time. I tested this end to end: it prompts for the idea once, then lets you pick the note, and drops the line into whatever file you choose.

Two things to watch:

• The names must match: params.variables.idea in the script and {{VALUE:idea}} in the capture format.
• A pre-filled variable stays answered for the rest of the macro, so if you ever want the same idea in a filename or heading too, just reuse {{VALUE:idea}} there.

Macro docs: https://quickadd.obsidian.guide/docs/Choices/MacroChoice