Crystal

Claude directly in Obsidian. Claude Code CLI integration for working with notes — full power of Claude without web interface limitations.

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What is this?

Crystal is an Obsidian plugin that integrates Claude Code CLI directly into your note vault:

• Claude (Anthropic) — powerful analysis, reasoning, extended thinking for complex tasks

Not just a chatbot, but a full-featured agent with access to your vault. It sees your notes, can edit them, search the web, and work within the context of your knowledge base.

Why is this cool?

• Direct work with notes — mention files via @, the agent sees their content and can edit them
• Fine-tuned agent — permissions, models, Extended Thinking, personalization
• Skills system — 6 built-in skills for Obsidian + custom skill support
• Usage statistics — token tracking, visual limits, daily history
• One-click editing — AI responses can be instantly inserted into notes (replace, append, copy)
• Web search and analysis — Claude can search and read web pages (configurable permissions)
• Extended Thinking — deep analysis for complex tasks
• 8 interface languages — Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese
• Slash commands — quick actions: /summarize, /translate, /rewrite and more + custom commands
• Model selection — Claude Haiku/Sonnet/Opus 4.5

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Features

Fine-tuned Agent

Models:

Model	Characteristic
Claude Haiku 4.5	Fast and economical — for simple tasks
Claude Sonnet 4.5	Balanced — optimal choice
Claude Opus 4.5	Most powerful — for complex analysis

Permissions:

Permission	Description
fileRead	Read files from vault
fileWrite	Create new files
fileEdit	Edit existing files
webSearch	Search the internet
webFetch	Load and analyze web pages
task	Run sub-agents for complex tasks
extendedThinking	Deep analysis mode

Extended Thinking: Enable for tasks requiring deep analysis — Claude will "think out loud" before responding. Especially useful for:

• Complex analytical tasks
• Multi-step reasoning
• Tasks with ambiguous requirements

Personalization: Customize the agent:

• Your name and role
• Work context (what you do)
• Preferred communication style
• Current focus/projects

Skills System

6 built-in skills for working with Obsidian:

Skill	Description
obsidian-markdown	Creating and editing Markdown notes
obsidian-canvas	Working with Canvas (visual boards)
obsidian-base	Working with Bases (structured DBs)
obsidian-links	Understanding the link graph (backlinks, outlinks)
obsidian-tags	Working with tags and hierarchies
obsidian-dataview	Writing Dataview queries

Custom skills: Create your own skills in .crystal/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md

Working with Notes

• Mention files via @ — agent sees content
• Attach files and images
• "Replace", "Append", "Copy" buttons for quick response insertion
• Create new notes from AI responses

Built-in Commands

Command	Description
/summarize	Brief summary of a note
/translate	Translate to specified language
/rewrite	Rewrite more clearly
/expand	Develop and expand ideas
/fix	Fix errors and typos
/bullets	Convert to bullet list
/questions	Generate questions on the topic
/difficulty	Explain simpler or more complex
/compact	Compress conversation context

Usage Statistics

• Token tracking — input/output tokens for each session
• Cache tokens — display of cache_read and cache_creation tokens
• Visual limits — progress bars for 5-hour and weekly limits
• Daily history — view usage for recent days

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Requirements

• Claude subscription — Pro ($20/month) or Max ($100/month)
• Claude Code CLI — free tool from Anthropic
• Node.js 18+ — for CLI operation
• Obsidian Desktop — plugin works only on desktop version

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Installation

Quick Start (Recommended)

Crystal includes built-in onboarding that automatically guides you through the entire setup process:

1. Install Plugin:

   • From Community Plugins: Settings → Community plugins → Search "Crystal" → Install → Enable
   • Manual: Download release from GitHub, extract to <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/crystal-cli-llm/

2. First Launch:

   • Open Crystal chat view
   • Plugin will automatically detect missing dependencies
   • Follow the interactive setup wizard with platform-specific instructions

The onboarding will help you install:

• Node.js 18+ (if not installed) — with instructions for macOS/Windows/Linux
• Claude Code CLI — with one-click terminal commands
• OAuth authentication — guided browser authorization flow

Manual Installation (Advanced Users)

If you prefer manual setup:

1. Install Node.js 18+ (if not installed)

• macOS: via Homebrew (brew install node)
• Windows: Download from nodejs.org
• Linux: Via package manager (apt/dnf/pacman) or NVM

2. Install Claude CLI:

npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

3. OAuth Authentication:

claude

Browser will open for authorization. Tokens are saved:

• macOS: in Keychain
• Linux/WSL: in ~/.claude/.credentials.json
• Windows: in Credential Manager

4. Install Plugin (see Quick Start above)

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Usage

Basic

Just type in chat — Claude will respond. Use @ to mention files from your vault.

Commands

Start a message with / to see available commands. For example:

• /summarize — create summary of current note
• /translate english — translate to English

Context

• @file.md — Claude sees file content
• File attachment — drag file to chat or use button
• Selected text — select text in note, right-click and choose "Crystal: Mention in request"

Response Buttons

After Claude's response, buttons appear:

• Replace — replace content of current note
• Append — add to end of note
• Copy — copy to clipboard
• New page — create new note with response

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Configuration

Open Settings → Crystal for configuration:

Models

• Claude Haiku 4.5 — fast, for simple tasks
• Claude Sonnet 4.5 — balanced (recommended)
• Claude Opus 4.5 — most powerful, for complex analysis

Permissions

Control Claude's capabilities:

• Files — read, write, edit
• Web — search and load pages
• Sub-agents — run additional tasks
• Extended Thinking — deep analysis

Skills

Choose skills needed for your work:

• Markdown, Canvas, Bases, Links, Tags, Dataview
• Create your own skills

Personalization

Set up context for more relevant responses:

• Name and role
• Work context
• Communication style
• Current projects

Commands

• Enable/disable built-in commands
• Create custom slash commands with arbitrary prompts

Interface Language

Choice of 8 languages: Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese.

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Troubleshooting

CLI not found

Run npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code and check claude --version

Authorization error

Run claude in terminal and re-authorize via OAuth

Token expired

CLI automatically refreshes tokens. If not working — re-authorize via claude

Plugin not appearing

Reload Obsidian (Cmd/Ctrl + R)

High token usage

Check statistics in settings, use smaller models (Haiku instead of Sonnet)

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Development

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/gvukamolle/Crystal.git
cd Crystal
npm install
npm run build

Installing to vault

npm run install-plugin [path-to-vault]

Default path: /Users/timofeygrushko/Documents/Big Base

After installation, reload Obsidian (Cmd/Ctrl + R) and enable the plugin in settings.

Available scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Watch mode — auto-rebuild on changes
npm run build	Production build (type check + bundle)
npm run install-plugin	Install plugin to vault via symlink
npm run lint	Run ESLint

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Author

Timofey Grushko

License

MIT