How to show assignee images
An assignee chip can show a person's image beside their name. You keep the image reference in that person's note, then tell Operon which property to read. There is no image upload inside Operon: the chip uses an existing image in your vault or a direct web image URL.
This guide uses Bobby and a property named photo. You can choose another property name. The setting applies only to assignees; it does not change other fields or the task's own Task Image and Task Gallery.
MEDIA-DOCS-143-1: Bobby's image displayed in an assignee chip, alongside the person note's photo property and the Assignee image property setting.
Step 1: Add an image reference to Bobby's note
Create or open Bobby.md. The person note can be an ordinary note; it does not need to be a File Task. Put Bobby's image in your vault, for example at Assets/bobby.jpg, then add a Text property called photo to the note.
In Source Mode, its frontmatter would look like this:
---
photo: "[[Assets/bobby.jpg]]"
---
If Bobby's note already has properties, add photo to its existing frontmatter rather than adding a second frontmatter block. Keep the quotes around a wikilink in YAML so it remains a text value.
You can also use a local image path or a direct image URL as the property's single value:
photo: "https://example.com/bobby.jpg"
Replace that example address with a working image URL. A profile page URL is not an image source: Operon does not extract a person's photo from a web page. Local references are resolved from Bobby's note, not from the task's note.
Step 2: Choose the source property
Open Settings → Operon → Interface → Task Chips → General Chip Settings, at the bottom of the Task Chips list. In Assignee image property, enter photo.
Suggestions help you find existing vault property names, but you can type a name that is not suggested. Use the exact property name from the person note. This is one shared setting: each linked person's note supplies its own image from that property.
The setting is empty by default. Clearing it restores the usual assignee icons without removing any images or properties from your notes.
Step 3: Assign the linked person
Set the task's Assignees value to [[Bobby]], using the assignees field or the task's stored metadata. An inline task example is:
- [ ] Review the launch checklist {{operonId:: {{operonId}}}} {{assignees:: [[Bobby]]}}
The {{operonId}} template variable lets Operon supply the task ID when you paste the example. See operonId template variables.
Use a wikilink, not just the text Bobby. Plain names remain valid assignees, but Operon does not guess which note they refer to. For File Tasks, set the same linked value through the Assignees field; your visible property name follows your key mappings.
What you will see
Where an assignee chip is shown, a valid image replaces its usual field icon. The person's name and existing link behavior remain available. Chip visibility still follows your per-surface Task Chips settings.
In Table and embedded Table assignee columns:
- Detailed cells show each person separately, with their image or usual icon beside the name.
- Compact cells with one assignee show that person's image when available.
- Compact cells with multiple assignees keep the usual assignees icon; the tooltip shows the names.
If the usual icon still appears
The usual icon is the fallback, including while an image loads. Check that:
- Assignee image property contains the exact property name.
- The assignee is a wikilink to an existing Markdown note.
- That note's property contains one nonempty text value, not a list or object.
- The referenced image exists and can load. For a web image, the URL must return an image the app can access.
A missing note, empty property, unsupported value, or failed image load keeps the usual icon. Operon does not show a broken image in its place.
FAQ
Must the property be called photo or avatar? No. Choose the name you already use and enter it in Assignee image property.
Does Operon copy or upload the image? No. It reads the reference from the person note and displays the image from that source.
Can each person have a different image? Yes. Use the same property name in each person's note, with a different image value.