SupaBase Jump for Obsidian

Demo

If the video is blurry, you can download it here.

Features

• Real-time collaborative editing - Two devices sharing the same account can edit the same note at the same time. Yjs CRDTs handle merging automatically; updates broadcast instantly as you type with no duplication.
• Real-time sync - Changes propagate across all your devices via Supabase Realtime
• Conflict resolution - Newer files always win (based on modification time)
• Binary file support - Images, PDFs, and other attachments sync via Supabase Storage
• Frontmatter parsing - Properties and tags from markdown frontmatter are stored in dedicated columns for SQL querying
• Selective sync - Exclude specific folders from syncing
• Settings sync - The .obsidian/ folder syncs automatically to share themes, snippets, and plugin settings across devices
• Platform-specific config - Choose which config files sync only to mobile or only to desktop (e.g. keep separate themes or plugin lists per platform)
• Self-hosted support - Works with any Supabase-compatible instance, not just supabase.com
• Mobile compatible - Works on both desktop and mobile Obsidian
• One-click setup - Automated database and storage configuration
• Offline-first - Local changes are queued and synced when you reconnect

Quick Start

1. Create a Supabase Project

1. Go to supabase.com and create a free account
2. Create a new project
3. Copy your Project URL and anon/public key from Settings → API

2. Install the Plugin

The plugin is pending review in the community plugin store. Install it via BRAT (recommended) or manually in the meantime.

Install via BRAT (Recommended)

BRAT lets you install and auto-update beta plugins directly from GitHub.

1. Install the BRAT plugin from the Obsidian Community Plugins store
2. Open Settings → BRAT → Add Beta Plugin
3. Paste the repo URL: https://github.com/brianstm/obsidian-supabase-jump
4. Click Add Plugin - BRAT will install it and keep it up to date automatically

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder: <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/supabase-jump/
3. Copy the files into that folder
4. Reload Obsidian and enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins

3. Configure the Plugin

1. Open Settings → SupaBase Jump
2. In the Initial setup section:
   • Generate a Personal Access Token at supabase.com/dashboard/account/tokens
   • Paste it into the Personal access token field
   • Click Run full setup - this creates the database table, storage bucket, and enables Realtime
3. Fill in your credentials:
   • Project URL - Your Supabase project URL (e.g. https://xxxxx.supabase.co)
   • Anon/public key - Your anon/public key
   • Email - Your Supabase account email
   • Password - Your Supabase account password
4. Click Connect

That's it! Your vault will start syncing automatically.

Usage

Automatic Sync

Once connected, the plugin automatically:

• Pushes local changes to Supabase (debounced by 1 second)
• Pulls remote changes from other devices in real time
• Syncs on startup (if Sync on startup is enabled)
• Syncs periodically based on your Sync interval setting

Real-Time Collaborative Editing

When two devices open the same markdown note, they join an ephemeral Supabase Realtime channel for that file. Edits are merged using Yjs CRDTs. Changes appear on the other device instantly as you type, with no full-document replacement or text duplication. The Yjs state is kept only in memory; once you close the note the channel is released and normal mtime-based conflict resolution takes over.

Platform-Specific Config Paths

In Settings → Platform-specific config paths, toggle which Obsidian config files should sync only to the current platform (mobile or desktop):

Toggle	Path	Example use
Appearance	appearance.json	Different theme on mobile
Themes folder	themes/	Mobile-only themes
CSS Snippets	snippets/	Mobile/desktop-only CSS
All plugins	plugins/	Desktop-only plugin data
Installed plugins list	community-plugins.json	Different plugins per platform
Custom hotkeys	hotkeys.json	Different shortcuts on mobile
Workspace layout	workspace.json	Different pane layout

Use the Custom paths field to add any other paths not listed above.

When a file matches a platform-specific path, it is tagged in the database (platform = 'mobile' or platform = 'desktop'). Pull operations skip rows tagged for a different platform.

Manual Sync

Use the Actions section in settings:

• Sync now - Full two-way sync (push + pull)
• Fetch now - Pull remote changes without pushing local files

Or use the command palette:

• SupaBase Jump: Force sync now
• SupaBase Jump: Fetch from database
• SupaBase Jump: Show sync status

Exclude Folders

To exclude folders from syncing, add them to Excluded folders (comma-separated) in settings.

Example: Templates, archive/old

By default no folders are excluded. If you want to prevent vault settings from syncing entirely, add .obsidian to your excluded list (or use the platform-specific config paths feature for finer control).

Self-Hosted Supabase

The plugin works with any Supabase-compatible URL. Enter your self-hosted instance URL in the Project URL field. Note that the one-click setup uses the Supabase cloud management API, so for self-hosted instances you will need to run the SQL manually using the guide in the settings panel.

How It Works

Architecture

• Text files (.md, .txt, etc.) - Content stored directly in the vault_files PostgreSQL table
• Binary files (images, PDFs, etc.) - Uploaded to Supabase Storage; metadata in vault_files
• Database sync - Supabase Realtime broadcasts row changes to all connected clients for file-level sync
• Live editing sync - A per-file Supabase Broadcast channel carries Yjs CRDT updates for same-note co-editing
• Conflict resolution - Higher mtime (modification time) wins for file-level sync; Yjs handles in-session edits automatically

Database Schema

The plugin creates a vault_files table with:

Column	Type	Description
id	text (PK)	{vaultId}::{filePath} (slashes → __SLASH__)
vault_id	text	Unique ID for your vault
path	text	File path relative to vault root
content	text	File content (text files only)
storage_path	text	Supabase Storage key (binary files only)
frontmatter	jsonb	All YAML frontmatter properties
tags	text[]	Tags extracted from the tags: frontmatter field
platform	text	'all', 'mobile', or 'desktop'
mtime, ctime, size	bigint	File metadata
deleted	boolean	Soft-delete flag
user_id	uuid	Used by RLS to scope rows to each user

Querying Frontmatter from Supabase

Once notes are synced you can query them directly from the Supabase SQL editor or any Postgres client:

-- All notes tagged "book"
SELECT path, frontmatter->>'title', tags
FROM vault_files
WHERE 'book' = ANY(tags) AND deleted = false;

-- Notes where status is not "done"
SELECT path, frontmatter->>'status'
FROM vault_files
WHERE frontmatter->>'status' != 'done' AND deleted = false;

-- Notes by a specific author, sorted by date
SELECT path, frontmatter->>'date'
FROM vault_files
WHERE frontmatter->>'author' = 'Alice'
ORDER BY frontmatter->>'date' DESC;

-- Count notes per tag
SELECT tag, COUNT(*)
FROM vault_files, unnest(tags) AS tag
WHERE deleted = false
GROUP BY tag ORDER BY count DESC;

-- Desktop-only config files
SELECT path FROM vault_files
WHERE platform = 'desktop' AND deleted = false;

Storage Bucket

Binary files are stored in a private vault-attachments bucket with:

• RLS policies ensuring users can only access their own files
• Base64url-encoded keys to handle special characters in filenames
• Original file extensions preserved for MIME type inference

Troubleshooting

"Setup failed at step 1/2/3"

• Step 1 (Database) - Check your Personal Access Token is valid and has the required permissions
• Step 2 (Storage bucket) - If auto-creation fails, manually create a bucket named vault-attachments (Private) in Supabase → Storage
• Step 3 (RLS policy) - Ensure your Supabase project has the storage schema enabled

"Email not confirmed"

If you see this error after connecting:

1. Check your email inbox for a confirmation link from Supabase
2. Click the link to confirm your account
3. Click Connect again in the plugin settings

Or disable email confirmation:

1. Go to Supabase → Authentication → Providers → Email
2. Uncheck "Confirm email"

Files not syncing

1. Check the status bar (bottom-right) - it should show 🟢 Synced
2. Open the browser console (Ctrl+Shift+I / Cmd+Option+I) and look for errors
3. Verify your Vault ID is set in settings
4. Check that the file path is not in your Excluded folders list
5. Try Sync now manually from settings

Real-time editing not working

1. Ensure both devices are connected (🟢 Synced in the status bar)
2. Make sure both devices have the same file open
3. Check the browser console for channel subscription errors
4. The CRDT channel only activates for .md files in a MarkdownView

"Invalid key" errors

The plugin automatically handles special characters in filenames by base64url-encoding storage keys. If you still see this error:

1. Ensure you are running the latest version of the plugin
2. Check the browser console for the full error message
3. Report the issue on GitHub with the filename

Development

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/brianstm/obsidian-supabase-jump.git
cd obsidian-supabase-jump
npm install
npm run dev
npm run build

Project Structure

src/
├── main.ts            # Plugin entry point and lifecycle management
├── settings.ts        # Settings interface and UI
├── supabase.ts        # Supabase client and authentication
├── sync.ts            # File sync logic and Realtime listeners
├── realtime-crdt.ts   # Yjs CRDT manager for real-time co-editing
└── frontmatter.ts     # YAML frontmatter parser

Privacy & Security

• Your vault data is stored in your own Supabase project - not on third-party servers
• All database access uses Row Level Security (RLS) - you can only read and write your own files
• The CRDT broadcast channel is ephemeral - no Yjs state is persisted to the database
• Passwords are hashed by Supabase Auth - the plugin never stores plaintext passwords
• No telemetry or analytics - the plugin is fully open source

License

MIT - see LICENSE

Support

• Issues & Feature Requests - GitHub Issues

Acknowledgments

Built with:

• Obsidian Plugin API
• Supabase
• Supabase JS Client
• Yjs - CRDT library for real-time collaborative editing