feat: add dynamic descriptions to settings reflecting current state

Eight settings now show live contextual info (file counts, entry usage,
folder existence) that updates as values change.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/settings.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { App, Notice, PluginSettingTab, Setting } from 'obsidian';
+import { App, Notice, PluginSettingTab, Setting, TFile, TFolder } from 'obsidian';
 import ClaudeContextPlugin from './main';
 import { ContextSource, getSourceIcon, SourceRegistry } from './sources';
 import { SourceModal } from './source-modal';
@@ -238,19 +238,54 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private setDynamicDesc(setting: Setting, base: string, dynamic: string): void {
+		setting.descEl.empty();
+		setting.descEl.appendText(base);
+		if (dynamic) {
+			setting.descEl.createSpan({ text: ` (${dynamic})`, cls: 'cc-dynamic-desc' });
+		}
+	}
+
+	private describeContextFolder(setting: Setting, path: string): void {
+		const folder = this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(path);
+		let count = 0;
+		if (folder instanceof TFolder) {
+			for (const child of folder.children) {
+				if (child instanceof TFile && child.extension === 'md') count++;
+			}
+		}
+		this.setDynamicDesc(setting, 'Folder containing your context files',
+			count > 0 ? `${count} .md file${count !== 1 ? 's' : ''}` : '');
+	}
+
+	private describeOutputFolder(setting: Setting, path: string): void {
+		const exists = this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(path) instanceof TFolder;
+		this.setDynamicDesc(setting, 'Folder for secondary target files',
+			exists ? 'folder exists' : '');
+	}
+
+	private countHistoryEntries(): number {
+		const folder = this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(this.plugin.settings.history.storageFolder);
+		if (folder instanceof TFolder) {
+			return folder.children.filter(c => c instanceof TFile).length;
+		}
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	// === TAB: General ===
 
 	private renderGeneralTab(el: HTMLElement) {
-		new Setting(el)
+		const contextFolderSetting = new Setting(el)
 			.setName('Context folder')
-			.setDesc('Folder containing your context files')
 			.addText(text => text
 				.setPlaceholder('_claude')
 				.setValue(this.plugin.settings.contextFolder)
 				.onChange(async (value) => {
 					this.plugin.settings.contextFolder = value;
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
+					this.describeContextFolder(contextFolderSetting, value);
 				}));
+		this.describeContextFolder(contextFolderSetting, this.plugin.settings.contextFolder);
 
 		new Setting(el)
 			.setName('Separator')
@@ -293,9 +328,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 				}));
 
-		new Setting(el)
+		const excludedSetting = new Setting(el)
 			.setName('Excluded files')
-			.setDesc('Comma-separated filenames to exclude (e.g. "examples.md, drafts.md")')
 			.addText(text => text
 				.setPlaceholder('file1.md, file2.md')
 				.setValue(this.plugin.settings.excludedFiles.join(', '))
@@ -305,7 +339,13 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 						.map(s => s.trim())
 						.filter(s => s.length > 0);
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
+					const n = this.plugin.settings.excludedFiles.length;
+					this.setDynamicDesc(excludedSetting, 'Comma-separated filenames to exclude',
+						n > 0 ? `${n} excluded` : '');
 				}));
+		const excludedCount = this.plugin.settings.excludedFiles.length;
+		this.setDynamicDesc(excludedSetting, 'Comma-separated filenames to exclude',
+			excludedCount > 0 ? `${excludedCount} excluded` : '');
 	}
 
 	// === TAB: Sources ===
@@ -341,15 +381,17 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		// Section: Options
 		const optionsSection = new CollapsibleSection(el, 'sources-options', 'Options', this.plugin);
 
-		new Setting(optionsSection.contentEl)
+		const sourceLabelsSetting = new Setting(optionsSection.contentEl)
 			.setName('Show source labels')
-			.setDesc('Add position and name labels to source output')
 			.addToggle(toggle => toggle
 				.setValue(this.plugin.settings.showSourceLabels)
 				.onChange(async (value) => {
 					this.plugin.settings.showSourceLabels = value;
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 				}));
+		const enabledSources = this.plugin.settings.sources.filter(s => s.enabled).length;
+		this.setDynamicDesc(sourceLabelsSetting, 'Add position and name labels to source output',
+			`${enabledSources} source${enabledSources !== 1 ? 's' : ''} enabled`);
 	}
 
 	// === TAB: Templates ===
@@ -408,9 +450,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		// Section: Defaults
 		const defaultsSection = new CollapsibleSection(el, 'templates-defaults', 'Defaults', this.plugin);
 
-		new Setting(defaultsSection.contentEl)
+		const defaultTemplateSetting = new Setting(defaultsSection.contentEl)
 			.setName('Default template')
-			.setDesc('Template to use by default when copying context')
 			.addDropdown(dropdown => {
 				dropdown.addOption('', 'None (plain context)');
 				for (const template of this.plugin.settings.promptTemplates) {
@@ -422,6 +463,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 				});
 			});
+		this.setDynamicDesc(defaultTemplateSetting, 'Template to use by default when copying context',
+			`${this.plugin.settings.promptTemplates.length} available`);
 	}
 
 	// === TAB: Output ===
@@ -463,9 +506,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		const settingsSection = new CollapsibleSection(el, 'output-settings', 'Output settings', this.plugin);
 		const oc = settingsSection.contentEl;
 
-		new Setting(oc)
+		const primaryTargetSetting = new Setting(oc)
 			.setName('Primary target')
-			.setDesc('This target\'s output is copied to clipboard')
 			.addDropdown(dropdown => {
 				dropdown.addOption('', 'First enabled target');
 				for (const target of this.plugin.settings.targets) {
@@ -477,17 +519,22 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 				});
 			});
+		const enabledTargets = this.plugin.settings.targets.filter(t => t.enabled).length;
+		const totalTargets = this.plugin.settings.targets.length;
+		this.setDynamicDesc(primaryTargetSetting, 'This target\'s output is copied to clipboard',
+			totalTargets > 0 ? `${enabledTargets} of ${totalTargets} enabled` : '');
 
-		new Setting(oc)
+		const outputFolderSetting = new Setting(oc)
 			.setName('Output folder')
-			.setDesc('Folder for secondary target files')
 			.addText(text => text
 				.setPlaceholder('_claude/outputs')
 				.setValue(this.plugin.settings.targetOutputFolder)
 				.onChange(async (value) => {
 					this.plugin.settings.targetOutputFolder = value || '_claude/outputs';
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
+					this.describeOutputFolder(outputFolderSetting, this.plugin.settings.targetOutputFolder);
 				}));
+		this.describeOutputFolder(outputFolderSetting, this.plugin.settings.targetOutputFolder);
 	}
 
 	// === TAB: History ===
@@ -499,9 +546,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		});
 		desc.style.marginBottom = '10px';
 
-		new Setting(el)
+		const enableHistorySetting = new Setting(el)
 			.setName('Enable history')
-			.setDesc('Save generated contexts for later review and comparison')
 			.addToggle(toggle => toggle
 				.setValue(this.plugin.settings.history.enabled)
 				.onChange(async (value) => {
@@ -509,6 +555,9 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 					await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 					this.display();
 				}));
+		const entryCount = this.countHistoryEntries();
+		this.setDynamicDesc(enableHistorySetting, 'Save generated contexts for later review and comparison',
+			this.plugin.settings.history.enabled && entryCount > 0 ? `${entryCount} entries stored` : '');
 
 		if (this.plugin.settings.history.enabled) {
 			new Setting(el)
@@ -522,9 +571,8 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 						await this.plugin.saveSettings();
 					}));
 
-			new Setting(el)
+			const maxEntriesSetting = new Setting(el)
 				.setName('Maximum entries')
-				.setDesc('Oldest entries will be deleted when limit is exceeded')
 				.addText(text => text
 					.setPlaceholder('50')
 					.setValue(String(this.plugin.settings.history.maxEntries))
@@ -533,8 +581,17 @@ export class ClaudeContextSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 						if (!isNaN(num) && num > 0) {
 							this.plugin.settings.history.maxEntries = num;
 							await this.plugin.saveSettings();
+							const used = this.countHistoryEntries();
+							this.setDynamicDesc(maxEntriesSetting, 'Oldest entries will be deleted when limit is exceeded',
+								`${used} of ${num} used`);
 						}
 					}));
+			{
+				const used = this.countHistoryEntries();
+				const max = this.plugin.settings.history.maxEntries;
+				this.setDynamicDesc(maxEntriesSetting, 'Oldest entries will be deleted when limit is exceeded',
+					`${used} of ${max} used`);
+			}
 
 			new Setting(el)
 				.setName('Auto-cleanup (days)')

styles.css

@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@
 	padding: 20px 0;
 }
 
+.cc-dynamic-desc {
+	color: var(--text-faint);
+}
+
 /* Tab navigation for settings */
 .cc-settings-tabs {
 	display: flex;