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Claude Chat for Obsidian

Direct Anthropic-compatible Claude assistant for Obsidian with note tools, image analysis, web search, and Git workflows.

Claude Chat is an Obsidian plugin that turns Claude into a practical vault assistant instead of a plain chat window.

It can read, create, edit, move, and organize notes in your vault, search the web, inspect images, and optionally run Git workflows for your note repository.

Why This Plugin Exists

Most Claude-in-Obsidian solutions rely on a local CLI bridge or a separate subprocess login flow.

This plugin takes a simpler route:

• Direct API connection through your own baseUrl
• No Claude CLI required
• No /login flow
• No local CLI subprocess acting as a fragile middle layer
• Easy deployment with Anthropic-compatible gateways, proxies, or self-hosted endpoints

If your API endpoint is compatible with Anthropic's /v1/messages API, you can point the plugin at it directly.

Key Advantages

1. Multi-model configuration with per-model credentials

You can configure multiple models in one config file, each with its own endpoint and API key:

{
  "models": [
    { "label": "My Claude", "model": "claude-opus-4-6-thinking", "baseUrl": "...", "apiKey": "..." },
    { "label": "Fast Model", "model": "claude-sonnet-4@20250514", "baseUrl": "...", "apiKey": "..." }
  ]
}

Switch between them using the dropdown in the chat toolbar. The selected model is remembered across sessions.

Global settings (maxTokens, gitRemote) remain at the top level.

2. Built-in vault actions

Claude can do real work inside your vault, including:

• read the active note
• list notes
• search note content
• open notes
• create notes
• replace note content
• append content
• replace exact text in a note
• move or rename notes

3. Image understanding

You can attach images directly in the chat UI and ask Claude to analyze them.

Supported input methods:

• click the Image button to choose files
• paste screenshots directly into the input area

Important:

• image analysis depends on your configured baseUrl and model supporting image content blocks
• if your upstream API does not support vision, the plugin will return the upstream API error

4. Web + Git workflows

The plugin can also:

• search the public web
• fetch public URLs
• inspect Git status
• commit and push changes to GitHub or another Git remote

This makes it useful for writing, research, note cleanup, and publishing workflows from inside Obsidian.

Features

• Direct Anthropic Messages API-compatible integration
• Multi-model support — configure multiple providers, switch from the toolbar dropdown
• Tool-use workflow for note operations
• Conversation-to-note generation with custom title and folder prompt
• Obsidian-aware Markdown rendering
• Image upload and screenshot paste support
• Web search and page fetch tools
• Optional Git integration
• Separate local config file for secrets and connection settings
• Desktop-only mode for local filesystem and Git support

Installation

Manual installation

1. Copy this folder to:

   .obsidian/plugins/claude-chat

2. Make sure these files are present:

   • manifest.json
   • main.js
   • styles.css

3. Enable the plugin in:

   Settings -> Community plugins

4. Open the plugin folder and edit:

   claude-chat.config.json

5. Reload Obsidian or disable and re-enable the plugin.

Configuration

The plugin stores connection settings in:

claude-chat.config.json

Example:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "label": "My Primary Model",
      "model": "claude-opus-4-6-thinking",
      "baseUrl": "https://your-api-host.example.com",
      "apiKey": "your-api-key"
    },
    {
      "label": "Fast Model",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4@20250514",
      "baseUrl": "https://another-host.example.com",
      "apiKey": "another-api-key"
    }
  ],
  "maxTokens": 16384,
  "gitRemote": "origin"
}

The repository includes:

• claude-chat.config.example.json as a template

Local runtime files are ignored by Git:

• claude-chat.config.json
• data.json

What the Plugin Stores

In claude-chat.config.json

Sensitive or deployment-specific settings:

• models array — each entry has label, model, baseUrl, apiKey
• maxTokens — global token limit
• gitRemote — Git remote name

In data.json

Local runtime preferences only:

• activeModelLabel — the model currently selected in the toolbar
• feature toggles
• UI/runtime behavior flags

This makes the plugin easier to open-source safely.

Usage Examples

Note organization

• "Read the current note and turn it into 5 key takeaways."
• "Create a note in Inbox/Weekly Review.md with a summary of today."
• "Search notes for project alpha and group the findings."

Writing workflows

• "Turn this rough note into a cleaner article outline."
• "Rewrite this meeting note into action items and decisions."
• "Append a short summary section to the current note."
• After a multi-turn chat, click 整理成笔记 to generate a polished Markdown note with Mermaid when useful.

Research workflows

• "Search the web for the latest information on X and write it into the current note."
• "Open these related notes and merge them into a single summary."

Image workflows

• "Analyze this screenshot and explain what it shows."
• "Extract the main information from this whiteboard photo."
• "Look at this image and turn it into structured notes."

Git workflows

• "Show git status."
• "Commit and push today's note changes."

Current Tool Set

Vault tools:

• get_active_note
• list_notes
• search_notes
• read_note
• create_note
• replace_note
• append_note
• replace_in_note
• move_note
• open_note

Web tools:

• web_search
• fetch_url

Git tools:

• git_status
• git_commit_and_push

Security Notes

This plugin can modify notes and optionally run Git commands in the vault repository.

Before enabling it for daily use, make sure you understand:

• it can create and edit markdown files in your vault
• it can fetch public web content
• it can run Git commit and push commands if Git tools are enabled

Recommendations:

• use version control for your vault
• review generated changes before pushing
• keep your real claude-chat.config.json private

Image Support Notes

Image upload is implemented in the plugin itself.

That means:

• the UI supports selecting images
• the UI supports pasting screenshots
• images are encoded locally and sent as message content blocks

Whether a request succeeds depends on your upstream API endpoint.

If your endpoint supports Anthropic-style image inputs, image analysis should work. If not, the plugin will still send the request correctly, but the upstream service may reject it.

Open Source Readiness

This repository is structured so it can be published safely:

• secrets are separated from tracked source files
• the plugin works without Claude CLI
• users only need to fill in their own config file

For community release, you will still want:

• a public GitHub repository
• tagged releases
• a license file
• a community-plugin submission PR to the Obsidian plugin list

FAQ

How does 整理成笔记 work?

After you finish a multi-turn conversation, click the toolbar button 整理成笔记.

A dialog appears asking for a note title and destination folder. Confirm to proceed.

The plugin sends the completed conversation transcript to the model in a note-writing mode, asks for a polished Obsidian Markdown note, optionally includes Mermaid diagrams when they help, saves the result to your chosen folder, and opens the new note.

Related local settings:

• Generated Notes Folder — default folder (can be overridden per-note in the dialog)
• Open generated note in right pane

Does this require Claude CLI?

No.

The plugin talks directly to your configured API baseUrl.

Does this support custom API gateways?

Yes.

If the gateway is compatible with Anthropic's /v1/messages behavior, you can point the plugin to it directly.

Does this work with any AI API?

No.

The plugin currently sends Anthropic-style messages, tools, and image content blocks to /v1/messages.

That means it works with Anthropic's own API and Anthropic-compatible providers or proxies. It does not natively support OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, Gemini, Ollama, or other custom schemas unless they explicitly emulate Anthropic's Messages API.

Does image analysis work?

Yes on the plugin side.

Whether the request succeeds depends on whether your configured API provider and model support image inputs.

Do I need GitHub for local use?

No.

GitHub is only needed if you want to publish the plugin source, use release assets, or push note changes to a remote repository.

License

MIT.